One of the manifestations of the impact of climate change has emerged in the form of GLOF hazard – glacial lake outburst floods. A new hazard has been added to the lexicon of natural hazards and the frequency of this hazard has shown an increasing trend over the past decades, especially in the Himalayan region.

With a view to strengthen GLOF risk mitigation efforts, the Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery (BCPR), UNDP has been focusing on emerging hazards in the Himalayan region. Efforts have been made to understand the nature, patterns and factors contributing to increasing the seriousness of the hazard and the way it is affecting the hazard, risk and vulnerability profiles in the countries in the region. In order to complement the processes and the initiatives already underway in some countries, the Regional GLOF Risk Reduction Initiative in the Himalayas project, supported by Directorate General European Commission for Humanitarian Aid (ECHO) and implemented by BCPR through UNDP Country Offices in Bhutan, India, Nepal and Pakistan in close association with national/ local administrations, has sought to develop community-based or sociological measures. The aim has been to develop activities and initiatives which can be implemented in a feasible manner and can be sustained by communities and local administrations easily to mitigate the impact of GLOF events in the long run.