UNDP has been present in Nepal since 1963, working towards greater development impact in the most remote, poor, and vulnerable areas. Reduction of vulnerability to disaster and climate risks is one of the core programmatic approaches in promoting sustainable and resilient development. Over the years, UNDP has established itself as the Government of Nepal's key partner on disaster risk management, in the areas of policy and institutional capacity enhancement as well as community-level risk reduction. Include relevant background information and objectives of the unit/project.
UNDP, as consortium lead, is implementing the Strengthening Urban Preparedness, Earthquake Preparedness and Response in Western Region of Nepal (SUPER) project since 2021, with the aim to strengthen institutional and legislative aspects of disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) in Nepal.
The project is supported by the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO), it’s one of the priorities to support the newly formed Local and Provincial Governments of Nepal to build their capacities for disaster risk reduction and emergency response to urban and earthquake risks. ECHO has identified the need for improved coordination among state and non-state stakeholders, humanitarian actors including humanitarian cluster leads and co-leads and private sectors critically important for enhancing municipal and provincial preparedness for urban and earthquake risks. Under HIP2024 ECHO is supporting the current phase of SUPER project i.e. SUPER- II from August 2023 to July 2026. It is being implemented by UNDP led consortium (other consortium partners are UNICEF, UN Women and Handicap International. It is implemented in 3 provinces of the Western Nepal i.e. Lumbini, Karnali and Sudurpaschim encompassing the core urban areas of Nepalgunj (Banke), Dhangadi (Kailali), and Birendranagar (Surkhet) urban municipalities. The project is aimed to institutionalize operational urban and earthquake preparedness and response in targeted provinces and municipalities and link it with federal mechanism. With inclusion at the heart of the action, addressing specific needs of vulnerable groups especially women, children and persons with disabilities, it is intended to upscale interventions in project area and beyond.
The project focuses areas are i) Institutionalization of Government-led operational system for urban and earthquake preparedness at provincial and local level for effective response ii) Strengthening coordination and information management at provincial and municipal levels, aligned with national framework, for disaster risk governance; iii) Enhanced policy engagement for scalability of disaster preparedness and response mechanism at federal, provincial, and local levels.