KATHMANDU, AUGUST 14
The International Organisation for Migration has planned to provide capacity building training in Disaster Risk Reduction and Management for all elected representatives and officials of all the 753 local levels.
The training seeks to enhance local authorities' capacity in DRRM and is expected to provide assistance in the development, drafting or revision of local DRRM acts and/or strategic action plans in the local context.
In her video message to participants of provincial level training of trainers for Bagmati Province, organised from 10 to 13 August in Kathmandu, the UN Resident Coordinator for Nepal Sara Nyanti said, "Disaster Risk Management does not only curb losses from disasters, but enhances the wellbeing and resilience of our communities."
"DRM is our collective responsibility and I look forward to enhancing the collaboration between the UN and everyone of you as we strengthen the capacity of our communities and systems to understand the risk, mitigate the impacts of disasters and transform into more resilient, stronger, healthy and prosperous communities in the future," she added.
Previously, in March 2020, a five-day national level training of trainers was conducted for 21 selected participants, including six females and 15 males in Kathmandu.
Of them, 14 participants, including four females and 10 males were selected on the basis of observation of their performance during the NToT. A rescheduled refresher training was also conducted in February 2021 as the training schedules had to be halted due to the COV- ID-19 pandemic.
The selected 14 master trainers will roll out a total of 19 four-day long Provincial ToTs across all seven provinces to participants from provincial ministries, district disaster management committees, district coordination committees, local levels and the project's implementing partners. Subsequently, the participants from 19 PToTs will conduct capacity building trainings at all the 753 local levels together with staffers from selected implementing partner.
Addressing the participants, Joint Secretary at the Ministry for Federal Affairs and General Administration Bishnu Gautam said, "Disaster Risk Reduction and Management can only be achieved when three tiers of the government work in tandem.
I believe these trainings will contribute to the government's strategic vision of disaster management, which aims to build a resilient community with Local Level Disaster Management Act in all local levels," he said.
The training is part of the Promoting Action for Disaster Risk Governance and Working to Achieve Preparedness for Risk Reduction through Technical Assistance in Nepal (PARIWAR- TAN) project being implemented by the IOM under the leadership of the MoFA- GA with financial support of the USAID's Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance.
The project is basically designed to build upon the activities carried out through Phase I project that contributed to the government's effort related to the implementation of DRRM Act endorsed in 2017 and amended in 2019 in a bid to expedite improved federal, provincial and municipal DRRM legislative regulatory framework that facilitates timely and comprehensive disaster risk management with strengthened capacity to build a resilient community.
IOM developed the training module in coordination with the MoFAGA and the Ministry of Home Affairs on the basis of the findings of the needs and capacity assessment study conducted in 14 selected municipalities across all seven provinces in 2018.
The study highlighted the current DRM scenario at the local level as the 'Moment of Maximum Opportunity' to enhance capacity building of the elected municipal leaders and staffers so as to design and implement robust DRRM policies and plans and further contribute to the localisation of the DRRM Act at the provincial and local levels.
A version of this article appears in the print on August 15 2021, of The Himalayan Times.
