Locations
Strengthening Urban Preparedness, Earthquake Preparedness and Response in Western Regions of Nepal
Summary
Strengthening Urban Preparedness, Earthquake Preparedness and Response in Western Regions of Nepal (SUPER) project seeks to enhance and institutionalize municipal and provincial preparedness for impending urban and earthquake risks for effective disaster response in select places in the western regions of Nepal. It does so by enhancing the understanding of risk, the preparedness measures against it, and coordinates among state and non-state stakeholders including private sectors, whilst engaging the at-risk communities.
The project is funded by the European Union Humanitarian Aid and responds to the Humanitarian Implementation Plan (HIP) 2021 call for both earthquake preparedness in Western Nepal and urban preparedness.
Background
In light of the new federal governance structure of Nepal, the European Union Humanitarian Aid has prioritized its support to build the capacities of the local and provincial governments for disaster risk reduction and emergency response to urban and earthquake risks. SUPER works towards this end so that there is ownership of the project approach through budget allocation in the government’s annual plans to ensure future sustainability of the work. SUPER is implemented by a UNDP led consortium, with UNICEF and UN Women as consortium members. The project works with multiple stakeholders at provincial and local government levels such as the community, private sector, academia, international institutions, UN agencies, Red Cross, I/NGO and more. The project results are be delivered under the leadership of respective government authorities.
Major Achievements
- Shared impact modeling of potential earthquake scenarios for risk information, assessed 4,000 vulnerable households, carried out vulnerability and capacity assessments in 6 wards across 3 municipalities, as well as conducted resource mapping exercise, all reaching over 2.3 million beneficiaries through various means, including IEC distribution, events, radio PSAs; and over 1.4 million people through social media, spanning over 200 media coverages.
- Assisted in strengthening Emergency Operation Centers by providing equipment, human resource, and information management support. Conducted trainings on Initial Rapid Assessment and supported the development of various disaster preparedness plans of municipalities and provinces that the project works in. Drone facility created through the project was deployed during the November 2023 Jajarkot earthquake for initial assessment in pilot municipalities.
- Initiated Inter-Province Resource Pooling (IPRP) process in Western Nepal and developed IPRP framework as well as conducted simulation exercise to test the framework by engaging three project provinces. SUPER supported small-scale risk mitigation work by kickstarting of the restoration of wells by introducing the concept of using wells as a source of water for mitigating fire, in Ward 7 and Ward 3 in Nepalgunj Sub-Metropolitan City; as well as conducting rehabilitation of damaged buildings vulnerable to landslides in Amargadhi Municipality.
- The SUPER consortium collaborates with UNRCO and other humanitarian agencies such as WHO, WFP, and IFRC to strengthen humanitarian architecture and cluster mechanisms in these provinces, also through development of cluster contingency plans to be better prepared for large scale disasters. The strengthening of cluster mechanism proved very useful during the November 2023 Jajarkot earthquake response in Karnali province.
Project Outcome
- Result 1: Shared understanding/ Anticipation for managing earthquake and urban risks
- Result 2: Systems strengthening at provincial and local levels through coordination mechanisms, plans
- Result 3: Clusters-specific preparedness, and improved coordination and interlinkages between province, local levels and humanitarian stakeholders
- Result 4: Demonstrating specific measures for reducing disaster risk in urban municipalities and provinces through enhanced preparedness
- Result 5: Advocacy and policy engagement for enhancing humanitarian preparedness and reducing disaster risk
Gender & Social Inclusion
The project is guided by a Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) lens in both the design and execution of all activities. To ensure inclusion, it integrates GESI and protection lens across the programme as well as develops targeted interventions to address the issue. SUPER’s work is informed by a GESI analysis on gender discrimination and how inequalities could be exacerbated in communities during disasters, looking across sex, age, disability, diversity to recommend remedial measures in preparedness plans, disaster risk reduction and response, with inclusion at the centre of its work. The project has been working towards enabling Gender, Equality, Disability and Social Inclusion Mainstreaming in Disaster Risk Reduction. Thus far, SUPER has:
- Developed Disaster Preparedness Disability Inclusive IEC Materials, which have been widely disseminated via social media and is available here.
- Ensured diverse participation in trainings reaching a total of over 2.3 million beneficiaries through various means, including IEC distribution, events, radio PSA. Among them, over 11,500 are female, 26 from LGBTIQ+ community, and 170 identify as persons with disability.
- Developed a Checklist for Gender Equality and Social Inclusion in Disaster/Emergency Preparedness.
- Conduced a GESI Analysis to understand existing social structure, gender discrimination, and inequalities for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management.
- Developed a scenario-based gender responsive costing framework for earthquake and urban flooding in Nepal.
- Conducted Women Safety Audit together with women led community-based organizations.
- Conducted inter-province simulation exercise on resource pooling with gender responsive considerations
Related Materials:
• Project Brief
• IEC Calendars
• Clusters chart
• Flipchart on disaster preparedness
• RCC and BMC Booklets
• Risk Transfer Animation
• Snakes and Ladders Game
• First Aid Box poster
• Go Bag poster
• GESI in DRR poster
• GEDSI Mainstreaming in DRR
• GEDSI Responsive DRR Audit Guideline 2080 .pdf
• Gender Responsive DRM Costing Brief
• Policy Brief on Resource Pooling
• Training on Protection Package for Government Stakeholders
• GESI Analysis Policy BRIEF-GEDSI v2
• One-pager disaster preparedness flyers
• SUPER achievement 2022 and 2023
• Inter-provincial resource pooling
• National Experience Sharing Workshop
Download the above knowledge products from here
Project details:
| Project Status | Active |
| Project Period | August 2021 – July 2024 |
| Project ID | 00120172 |
| Focus Area | Resilience and Environment |
| Collaborating Partners |
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| Consortium Members | UNDP, UNICEF, UN Women |
| Budget | USD 3756157.09 |
| Contact | CO Focal Point
| Project Focal Point
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