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N e w s l e t t e r | J a n u a r y 2 0 1 8PRAGATI Promoting Resilient and Sustainable

Urban Growth by Augmenting DRR Capacity of Local Authorities Through Active Private Sector Involvement

Strengthening Preparedness & DRR

“The MAGPI data collection at the household level, and the exertions of the ongoing PRAGATI to establish IMC, MEOC and CC/DRR learning centers in the municipality, are just some examples of how they’ve helped the municipality embrace concrete disaster risk management and disaster response measures.” Som Prasad Mishra, Mayor, Changunarayan

“My house collapsed in the 2015 earthquake,” said Suraj Kapali of Evergreen Secondary School. “Luckily no one in my family was harmed. I haven’t forgotten the diffi culties we experienced after the earthquake.” He added, “I now understand, our house collapsed because it was not build properly.”

“We saw people dying in front of our eyes, and we still couldn’t save them because we lacked the proper equipment and knowledge,” says Radha Krishna Shrestha, the Chairman of Ward 6 in the Shankharapur Municipality. “We had been talking about disaster preparedness for so many years prior to that, but when the earthquake actually struck, neither the government agencies nor community members were suffi ciently equipped to respond.”

The project will adapt the current rural focused approaches and tools to urban areas with the use of digital technologies and platforms for undertaking risk assessment and visualization tools such as preparation of open street map that is useful for everyone, including the public.

Strengthening preparedness for future disasters

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PRAGATI – A unique Project

Paintings paint ‘awareness’ stories

Interview - Mayor

ISHWAR RAUNIYAR

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The 2015 earthquake had come bearing a great many lessons, including for those people, government and non-governmental organizations that had long been talking about earthquake preparedness. The event rendered starkly clear the country’s readiness and capacity to cope with a mega-disaster.“We saw people dying in front of our eyes, and we still couldn’t save them because we lacked the proper equipment and knowledge,” says Radha Krishna Shrestha, the Chairman of Ward 6 in the Shankharapur Municipality. “We had been talking about disaster preparedness for so many years prior to that, but when the earthquake actually

struck, neither the government agencies nor community members were suffi ciently equipped to respond.” Chairman Shrestha is hopeful, however, that things are changing for the better. “That disaster taught us a great deal about the need to be prepared, not just for earthquakes, but all kinds of possible disasters, including fi res, fl oods, landslides, even traffi c accidents and electrocution.” Those lessons have borne some fruit: A number of initiatives are now in place to better prepare for similar disasters in the future.

One signifi cant example of this is the recent endorsement of the Disaster Management

Act by the government of Nepal, representing a much-awaited leap forward in terms of strengthening disaster resilience in the country. And guided by the Act, local authorities are also stepping into gear.A clear result of this new commitment has been the formation of ward and municipal-level Disaster Management Committees (W/MDMC). AmardipSunuwar, an offi cial at the Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development, says that these committees are designed to bring together people from different walks of life to discuss disaster management and come up with concrete measures to improve upon their existing capacities to prepare for and respond to disasters, with a view to minimize loss of life and property.

“The committees will engage in mapping disaster risks and hazards in a given area and create detailed profi les of the same,” Sunuwar says. “This will enable preparedness and response mechanisms to be tailored according to an area’s particular vulnerabilities.”After the 2015 earthquake, the need for better disaster mapping in order to manage and mitigate risks while putting in place an effective response measure has been made abundantly clear.

It was precisely in this vein that the Promoting Resilient and Sustainable Urban Growth by Augmenting DRR Capacity of Local Authorities Through Active Private Sector Involvement or PRAGATI project, with funding from the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Department (ECHO), has been coordinating with local government authorities to set up MDMCs in two municipalities of Kathmandu Valley—Changunarayan and Shankharapur. The project is being executed by a consortium of three organizations—Dan Church Aid (DCA), Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) and Volunteer Service Overseas (VSO)—with local implementing partners in the form of Friends Service Council Nepal (FSCN) in Changunarayan and the National Disaster Risk Reduction Centre (NDRC) Nepal in Shankharapur.

Strengthening preparedness for future disasters

Ishwar RauniyarCommunication Officer

The Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act 2074 has provisioned for the local level disaster management committee for disaster management in the rural/urban municipality. Aligning to the provision and guided by Local Disaster and Climate Resilience Plan Guideline (Draft), the project facilitated to form the disaster and climate resilience committees (DCRC) at ward and municipal level. So far the project has formed such communities in two municipalities – Changunarayan and Sankharapur and all wards (6, 7 & 9 of Sankharapur& 6 & 8 of Changunarayan) where the project is basically focused on. In Sankharapur, NDRC collaborated with Lumanti Support Group for Shelter to form these committees. And in Changunarayan, the FSCN facilitated the government bodies in the process of formation. During the formation of the committee the invited members from the community were oriented on roles and responsibilities of the committee before selecting the members. The committee is now expected to lead the planning and executing activities for disaster management and climate resilience in the community.

Formation of Disaster Management Committees

SHAKTI GURUNG

ISHWAR RAUNIYAR

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In the past, Nepal has been able to build substantial capacities to mitigate disaster risks through Community Based Disaster Risk Reduction (CBDRR) projects. There has also been an increasing attention towards School Based Disaster Risk Reduction (SBDRR). However, these efforts have mostly been limited to rural areas. Beside few projects, interventions in the urban areas are very limited.

The 2015 earthquake has laid bare the need to do more on preparedness, understanding existing disaster risk and capacity to manage information (collection, analysis and dissemination) and even more so in complex urban environment.

The project PRAGATI - Promoting Resilient and Sustainable Urban Growth by Augmenting DRR Capacity of Local

Authorities through Active Private Sector Involvement is different from other conventional disaster risk reduction projects in many ways. This project, funded by the European Commission Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Department (ECHO) will be implemented for 18 months till the end of October 2018 in Changunarayan Municipality in Bhaktapur district and Shankharapur Municipality in Kathmandu district, builds on the impressive list of preparedness related interventions so far in Nepal. The project has incorporated the learning and the gaps from the implementation of urban DRR projects.

The new learning from this project will also add value on scaling up DRM intervention in the urban areas. More specifi cally, PRAGATI is designed to address the four-priorities for action of the Sendai Framework (2015-2030). The Sendai Framework for Disaster

Risk Reduction charts the global course over the next 15 years. There are Seven Global Targets of the Framework which has been ensured through the above four priorities for Action.

Led by DCA, PRAGATI Project has brought three agencies together—DCA, ADRA and VSO—pooling together their unique experiences and expertise. A pilot project on Urban DRR for the consortium partners for EC and agencies, it is being implemented by two local partners FSCN in Bhaktapur and NDRC in Kathmandu. Both local partners have their own expertise in the DRR sector.

NDRC already has strong reputation in the DRR sector and have implementing various projects with many agencies for the last 15 years. FSCN has established good working relationship based on mutual trust with the Changunarayan Municipality. FSCN engagements in the district began immediately after the earthquake on the response and later through different recovery projects. Recently, with support from DCA, FSCN has successfully completed hazard vulnerabilities and risks survey in 2017 households. The household surveys were undertaken through the use of Magpi- a mobile phone application that DCA utilizes which accelerates the assessment process. Furthermore the consortium partners are also complementing the PRAGATI project with other urban projects currently being implemented in the Valley.

The project aims to bring together private sector, government and civil society to improve emergency response and preparedness capacity in the urban areas. The project will adapt the current rural focused approaches and tools to urban areas with the use of digital technologies and platforms for undertaking risk assessment and visualization tools such as preparation of open street map that is useful for everyone, including the public. The project will continue discussions with various agencies including the academicians and universities for the introduction and application of cutting edge technologies.

Building on the existing national and district emergency operation centers, the project will work closely with the Municipality for the establishment of the Municipality Emergency Operation Centers (MEOC) along with the establishment of the Information Management System within the MEOC. The MEOC will collect risk information from various stakeholders in the municipality in order to utilize it for preparedness and response. The project will support development of Local Disaster and Climate Risk Plan (LDCRP) (at the municipality level - MDCRP) and its integration in local development plans. Along with the risk assessments, the project will also undertake preparation of Risk Sensitive Land use planning (RSLUP). The capacity of MEOC will also be strengthened to provide First Aid and conduct Light Search and Rescue (LSAR). In each of the two municipalities, DRR and Climate Change Learning Center will be established. Similarly, Municipal Disaster Preparedness and Response Plan (MDPRP) will also be prepared in both the municipalities. Many of the initiative above stands out from other DRR/M projects.

More than preparation of plans it is important for the plans to be properly utilized. Therefore, the lesson from the limited utilization of Local Disaster Risk Management Plan (LDRMP) has also been incorporated during the preparation of the project.

PRAGATI will map the potential investments by the private sector in the DRR and emergency response. It will hold dialogues with the private sector in the municipalities including at the national level along with the FNCCI. Similarly, the project aims to integrate Disaster Risk Sensitive Planning in the Tourism Development Plan starting with NagarkotNaldum Tourism Development Committee. It will hold several dialogues with the different tourism related entities such as National Tourism Board, Hotel Association and Homestay Association. Engaging private sector and tourism sectors in DRR is a unique intervention being piloted through this project.

Four Priorities for Action for Sendai Framework (2015-2030)

Priority 1. Understanding disaster riskPriority 2. Strengthening disaster risk governance to manage disaster risk Priority 3. Investing in disaster risk reduction for resiliencePriority 4. Enhancing disaster preparedness for effective response and to “Build Back Better” in recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction

PRAGATI, a Unique Project

Cecial Adhikari Consortium Manager

ISHWAR RAUNIYAR

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One sunny morning in the outskirt of Kathmandu, hundreds of young children took out a rally to mark tragedy of 2015 earthquake and sensitize others on disaster risks and preparedness.The rally was organized also to celebrate the International Disaster Reduction Day. At least 200 students, teachers, political leaders, and bureaucrats among other participated in the rally.

Painting CompetitionA painting competition was held among the students, on the theme ‘Our Dream; Safe

Home”. Twenty-four students from eight schools participated in the competition. “My house collapsed in the 2015 earthquake,” said Suraj Kapali of Evergreen Secondary School. “Luckily no one in my family was harmed. I haven’t forgotten the diffi culties we experienced after the earthquake.” He added, “I now understand, our house collapsed because it was not build properly.”

Many students said that the painting competition helped them to understand how a disaster happens. “Information about safe building construction should be included

in our school text books,” said Samikshya Shrestha of Serene Hill Secondary School. “I learnt a lot of techniques about building construction while participating in the competition, the instructors gave us good information about safe building construction. I can now explain to my parents about the need of earthquake safe construction.”

Four of the best paintings were later painted in the municipality wall to raise awareness about the disaster issue. “It was a very useful event,” said Subarna Shrestha, Mayor of the Sankharapur Municipality. “We were able to bring people together to mark the day.” He believes that the four paintings painted on the wall of municipality offi ce will help raise awareness while reminding public of the importance of the safer construction.

Paintings on the Municipality WallMeanwhile, Samikshya and Suraj are happy to see their paintings painted on the wall of the municipal offi ce. “In his painting, I have tried to tell people fi ve useful things to do through the fi ve fi ngers. Every fi nger is important for us so do these fi ve techniques,” he said. He now knows that it’s not the earthquake that killed people; it is the weak infrastructures. The fi rst fi nger calls for anchoring anything in the house, including TV should properly; the second represents the need for open spaces to evacuate; the third calls for structural integrity of the house or retrofi tting; the fourth calls for the proper use of the wall; and the fi fth is about placing fl ower vessel in the proper places as they may fall on people during the earthquake.

“I have seen many people injured because of improper placement of fl ower vessel,” he said.Samikshya basically focused on the ten steps of the earthquake resilient building, including the advice from the engineer, selection of proper location, use of different bands and proper wall among others. The PRAGATI project organized this event in the Shankharapur Municipality in collaboration with the Lumanti Support Group for Shelter and in coordination with Shankharapur municipality offi ce.

Ishwar RauniyarCommunication Officer

Paintings paint ‘awareness’ stories

In a bid to mark the Day for Disaster Reduction, the PRAGATI project organized several events in both Changunarayan and Sankharapur Municipalities.

In Changunarayan Municipal i ty, an interaction programme was held to mark the day. The event was planned to orient government authorities, community members and local level stakeholders to enhance the i r knowledge and understanding on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Disaster Management (DM) related terminologies and issues. The event was very important to sensitize the participants on fact that “hazard is natural but hazards turns into disasters due to human activities”. Altogether 55 participants took part in the orientation programme, comprising of government authorities, local elected bodies, Red Cross representatives and representatives from Private sector among others.

Celebrating International Day for Disaster Reduction

ISHWAR RAUNIYAR

SURAJ KAPALI/EVERGREEN SECONDARY SCHOOL

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What would you say has been the contribution of development and humanitarian agencies in post-earthquake reconstruction efforts in Nepal?As far as Changunarayan is concerned, we’re very positive about the assistance we’ve received so far. Organizations working in this area have carried out their interventions in a very coordinated manner, and this has helped to prevent duplications in relief distribution and other forms of support. This was a major concern for us as a government institution—we wanted to have a common platform for all efforts in Changunarayan so that the real needs of the community could be identifi ed and addressed.

In this respect, various development and humanitarian organizations have been supporting the reconstruction process in our municipality. Their contribution has ranged from livelihood support and water supply schemes, to training of masons in safer construction practices, among others. Some, like DCA and FSCN, have also supported data collection to do with earthquake-affected households, which is a valuable asset for the municipality in the long run, enabling us to better plan future programmes and actions.

How far along is the municipality in terms of reconstruction?Reconstruction has begun in earnest, but the going is somewhat slow due to a variety of constraints. To start with, the procedure to apply for and receive grants in itself is rather lengthy and complex, and houseowners have reported diffi culty in completing and submitting the required forms and documents. Around 8,000 people so far have received the fi rst installment of the grant, whereas only 1,000 have so far received the second, and just one person has claimed the third. One of the issues was that people had to pay for getting their construction drawings approved, so with this in mind, we have made it free of cost for the next year to encourage people to come forth. The National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) has also arranged a meeting with the municipality’s ward chairs to hold discussions on the reconstruction process.

What are your expectations from non-governmental organizations?We’ve always been very appreciative of their concern and support for the people of Changunarayan; their work has so far well complemented the programmes and objectives of the municipality. So, at this point, we’re hoping for more of the same, really—we would like them to do their utmost to coordinate and collaborate with the municipality in taking their interventions forward.

Could you talk more specifi cally about the efforts of ECHO – ADRA and NDRC/

DCA and FSCN in the wake of the disaster insofar as recovery and reconstruction are concerned?Again, I’d say the experience has been very positive. DCA/FSCN have been steadfast in their willingness to help the municipality, starting immediately after the disaster. They provided relief materials like food baskets, cash support and water trucks, as well as psychological counselling for traumatized citizens. I myself was personally involved in these programmes.

And the support continued long after that initial period. The MAGPI data collection at the household level, and the exertions of the ongoing PRAGATI to establish IMC, MEOC and CC/DRR learning centers in the municipality, are just some examples of how they’ve helped the municipality embrace concrete disaster risk management and disaster response measures. They have also been instrumental in facilitating the formation of the MDMC and WDMCs, which the new DRR Act has now deemed mandatory for all municipalities in the country.

Do you have any recommendations to offer to increase the effi ciency of the reconstruction process in your municipality?In the case of Changunarayan, one of the most diffi cult issues we are facing at present is the fact that most of the earthquake-affected people have been living on land that they don’t own. And it’s very diffi cult to determine who the actual owners are, since many do not possess land-ownership documents, thereby preventing them from applying for grants.

Given this situation, we are presently lobbying with the NRA to develop a provision for people who have been living on a given piece of land for more than fi ve or six generations, to enable them to acquire the reconstruction grants and gain the authority to rebuild their homes on these plots, even without a land-ownership document. Only then can the reconstruction process be sped up satisfactorily.

Som Prasad Mishra has been serving as Mayor of Changunarayan Municipality in Bhaktapur for the past six months. For the fi rst issue of the PRAGATI newsletter, Mayor Mishra spoke to Shakti Gurung, the Project Coordinator of FSCN in Bhaktapur, about his views on the role of development partners in Nepal after the earthquake. Excerpts:

“We want I/NGOs to coordinate and collaborate with the municipality in taking project interventions forward”

INTERVIEW

ISHWAR RAUNIYAR

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I have experienced a drastic change in myself in the duration of three months. I have gained many useful experiences during my work. I am glad that this project has provided the opportunity to enhance my level of knowledge regarding disasters. I am able to disseminate the difference of hazard and disaster to the community people. I am happy to make small contribution to my community.

This Project is mainly focused on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) in Shankharapur municipality with ward 6, 7 and 9 as major working areas. I am excited to be the part of the project as it also works in my community.

With the introduction of the project, I am glad that I got an opportunity to coordinate with mayor, vice mayor and ward president of the municipality. Also I came to know, how effective planning helps in achievement of desired goals within the timeframe. I have learned how every work should be performed by making a proper schedule so that we can get the required outputs in the desired time.

I have been working in this project for 4 months and during this time I came to know about the necessary procedures for the conduction of a project. It was understood that for conducting any program, many informal meetings are to be held. For example: we have successfully formed Disaster Management Committees (DMC) and Municipal Disaster Management Committees in three wards. For the formation of DMCs, we had to work in different levels. In fi rst level we had to conduct an informal meeting which was possible during the construction of the road in the community. After several efforts, our proposal for the formation of DMC was fi nally accepted and thus the committee was formed.

Sometimes I became disappointed when I had to wait for many hours to meet the ward President but he had very limited time for us. However, I get really delighted when I meet people who appreciate our efforts.

I am really happy to work as a social mobilizer in the project which has also build my confi dence level.

Rojan ShresthaSocial Mobiliser,

NDRC

Learning Disaster Risk Reduction

EVENTS

Kick Off Meetings Held

The central, district and municipal level kick off meeting of the PRAGATI project has been successfully conducted with active participation of government authorities including Mayor, Deputy Mayor, Local Development Offi cer, Chief Executive Offi cer among others, community members, local business groups, tourism entrepreneurs, members of Red Cross Society, women groups, youth groups and other stakeholders. Organizing the event was utmost important to convey and convince regarding the project activities and gather support from the stakeholders for project implementation. The PRAGATI team shared the project objectives, activities, implementing approach and expectation from the community in the kick off events. The participants welcomed the project and suggested in incorporating the activities that helps to speed up the reconstruction in the community along with contribution in strengthening livelihood.

IM Training

In collaboration with Changunarayan municipality, Information Management (IM) Training conducted at Changunarayan Municipality on 1st and 2nd December 2017. All together 27 offi cials from government and private sector were present in training. Ward secretary and Information focal person represented the municipality. Training conducted to achieve different objectives – Sensitize and develop common understanding on Information Management tools and techniques; Build a common understanding in urban DRR and brainstorming on GIS based resource and risk mapping. Hands-on practice was one of the important part of training. In the inauguration session, Som Prasad Mishra, Mayor talked about importance of information and informed that Changunarayan is the fi rst municipality to complete household survey. He said, “Information is the Power and managing information is task”. During the training Shankar Hari Acharya, Head of National Emergency Operation Centre explained about coordination structure of Emergency Operation Centers based on new Disaster Reduction and Management Act.

A Social Mobiliser’s Diary

Training on DRM and LDCRP to members of WDCRCs of wards 6 and 8:

A two day long DRM and LDCRP training was held in Changunarayan Municipality. Altogether 35 members of ward level Disaster and Climate Resilience Committees of ward 6 and 8 which were formed in facilitation of PRAGATI project participated in the training. They were trained on basic concepts of DRM,

Acts and Policies, tools of risk assessment and draft Local Disaster and Climate Resilience Plan guideline. They were trained on using around ten tool of of risk assessment such as risk mapping, Venn diagram, crop calendar,

hazard mapping, problem analysis etc, developing risk profi le of their communities and oriented on the draft guideline to develop ward level Disaster and Climate Resilience Plan. They are also expected to support during the ward level VCA and municipal level Disaster and Climate Resilience Plan formulation process.

ISHWAR RAUNIYAR

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Disclaimer: “This document covers humanitarian aid activities implemented with the fi nancial assistance of the European Union. The views expressed herein should not be taken, in any way, to refl ect the offi cial opinion of the European Union, and the European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.”

Capacity Building of StaffThe consortium Team of PRAGATI project held different trainings in a bid to build capacity of the project’s partners’ staff.

Understanding DRR: The training was designed to provide information about the disaster risk reduction to the ground level staff especially social mobilisers so that they’d be clear about the disaster risk management.

Use of Magpi: Magpi, a mobile application, training provided opportunity to the social mobilizers and other project staff learn about conducting survey, data collection by using the mobile based technology.

In the News

Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS) Training: CHS Training was mainly focused on the project staff’s role while working with the communities. The CHS sets out Nine Commitments that organisations and individuals involved in humanitarian response can use to improve the quality and effectiveness of the assistance they provide.The CHS places communities and people affected by crisis at the centre of humanitarian action. As a core standard, the CHS describes the essential elements of principled, accountable and high-quality humanitarian aid.