KATHMANDU, MARCH 9
Stakeholders have stressed the need for media to extensively raise the issues of disaster management as the media sector can play an important role in reducing disaster risks.
They made this statement at a discussion organised today here by the IT and Media Group under the National Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction.
The event was facilitated by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority and the Disaster Preparedness Network-Nepal.
The participants viewed that media should disseminate right and analytical news reports and build opinion on the issue of minimising disasters, which according to them caused a loss of two percent of the gross domestic product of the country.
Saying that making and implementing a five-year plan related to disaster risk reduction could be effective, acting president of the DPNet Raju Thapa urged Nepali media to help make efforts carried out by the state in controlling disaster risks known to the international forum.
NDRRMA Spokesperson Dr Dijan Bhattarai said the government wanted to cooperate with media in its disaster risk management efforts and the group would be an appropriate channel towards that end.
Giving a presentation on the topic of media initiative in disaster risk reduction, Group joint-coordinator Om Prakash Ghimire highlighted the widening role of media in disaster reduction in view of economic, social, policy level and technical aspects.
Group coordinator Kamala Panthi spoke of the need to broadly analyse disaster and inclusiveness in development and disaster issues.
According to a study, over 40,000 people have lost their lives to disasters in the past 45 years (1971-2015) while over 75,000 others have been injured. The number of the affected is around three million, it is shared.
Sixty per cent of the total area of Nepal is always vulnerable to disasters and 80 per cent of the people are at constant risk.
As stressed at the programme, involvement of media in disaster reduction is crucial to save such a large section of people from possible consequences.
A version of this article appears in the print on March 10, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
