Abstract
Earthquake preparedness policy is described as a faltering policy process in Nepal. By reconstructing a chain of policy events at the national and international level, it is shown that relevant policy knowledge was already available by international networks in the early 1990s and was also used for national policy initiatives at that time. Effective building regulation, however, was introduced only late and inconsistently. The sluggish and faltering policy process is essentially explained by (1) a cultural and developmental context in which governments are overloaded with clashing problems, displacing creeping policy issues; (2) endemic policy discontinuity and inconsistency generated by political instability; (3) weak infrastructural power in which public administration is unable to implement policy choices on the ground; (4) rampant corruption, slowing down consistent policy enforcement and compliance with building regulation.
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Annex 1
Annex 1
List of Policy-Events Visualized in Fig. 3.
No. | Abbr. of policy-event | Explanation | References |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | NGS | Nepal Geological Society | |
2 | NCR Act | Promulgation of Natural Calamity (Relief) Act | Ministry of Home Affairs (2011a) |
3 | 8th WCCE, San Francisco | 8th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering | Shah et al. (1993) |
4 | SAARC | South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation | Dash (1996) |
5 | MoHA SDU | Establishment of Special Disaster Unit (SDU) in Ministry of Home Affairs | Ministry of Home Affairs (2011a) |
6 | UN IDNDR | International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (UN) | Aitsi-Selmi et al. (2015), Tozier de la Poterie and Baudoin (2015) |
7 | IDNR-NC | Formation of IDNDR National Committee; Formation of NGS-IDNDR Council | Ministry of Home Affairs (2011a) |
8 | IDNDR-Comm. & Council | IDNDR-Committee and Council | Ministry of Home Affairs (2011a) |
9 | 10th WCCE, Madrid | 8th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering | Shah et al. (1993) |
10 | DPCT | Establishment of Disaster Prevention Technical Center (DPTC) in Nepal | Ministry of Home Affairs (2011a) |
11 | ECHO | European Commission Office for Humanitarian Aid | Versluys (2009) |
12 | WSSI | 1st World Seismic Safety Initiative in Bangkok | Shah et al. (1993) |
13 | NSET | National Society for Earthquake Technology | |
14 | DPNET | Disaster Preparedness Network Nepal | |
15 | NNBC and Action Plan Formulation | Formulation of Nepal National Building Code and National Action Plan on Disaster Management | Ministry of Home Affairs (2011a) |
16 | WCDRR Yokohama | World Conference on Disaster Reduction, Yokohama, Japan | Aitsi-Selmi et al. (2015), Tozier de la Poterie and Baudoin (2015) |
17 | NAPDM endorsement | National Action Plan on Disaster Management endorsed by government | Ministry of Home Affairs (2011a) |
18 | NRCS DM Sect | Disaster Management section was setup at Nepal Red Cross Society (NRCS) | Ministry of Home Affairs (2011a) |
19 | DIPECHO | ECHO’s Disaster Preparedness Programme (DIPECO) | Hollis (2014) |
20 | BA ad. By Parl. | Building Act adopted by Parliament | Ministry of Home Affairs (2011a) |
21 | KVERMP | Kathmandu Valley Earthquake Risk Management Project launched | Dixit et al. (2000) |
22 | ES Day, 1st. | First Earthquake Safety Day (ESD) celebrated | Ministry of Home Affairs (2011a) |
23 | LSG Act | Local Self Governance Act promulgated | Ministry of Home Affairs (2011a) |
24 | DIPECHO Nepal | First DIPECHO project launched in Nepal | |
25 | Mandatory Impl. NBC | GON decides mandatory implementation of Building Code | Ministry of Home Affairs (2011a) |
26 | 10th Plan | The Tenth Plan (2002–2007), providing overall strategic framework for government policy and planning | Ministry of Home Affairs (2011a) |
27 | Nepal Report | Nepal Report within Hyogo Framework for Action | Disaster Management Section, Ministry of Home Affairs; Aitsi-Selmi et al. (2015) |
28 | WCDRR Hyogo | World Conference on Disaster Reduction, Hyogo, Japan | Aitsi-Selmi et al. (2015), Tozier de la Poterie and Baudoin (2015) |
29 | AMCDR Beijing | First Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Beijing, China | Aitsi-Selmi et al. (2015) |
30 | Global Platform DR Geneva | Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction established in Geneva, Switzerland | |
31 | Nepal Platform DRR | National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (NPDRR) established | Ministry of Home Affairs (2011a) |
32 | HFA Progress Report | Nepal Report within Hyogo Framework for Action | |
33 | NRRC | Nepal Risk Reduction Consortium Launched | Ministry of Home Affairs (2011a) |
34 | NEOC | National Emergency Operation Center established at the national level | Ministry of Home Affairs (2011a) |
35 | HFA Progress Report | Nepal Report within Hyogo Framework for Action | |
36 | HFA Progress Report | Nepal Report within Hyogo Framework for Action | Ministry of Home Affairs (2015a) |
37 | WCDRR Sendai | World Conference on Disaster Reduction, Sendai, Japan | Aisi-Selmi et al. (2015), Tozier de la Poterie and Baudoin (2015) |
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Schneider, V., Witting, A. (2018). Earthquake Preparedness Policy in Nepal. In: Kruhl, J., Adhikari, R., Dorka, U. (eds) Living Under the Threat of Earthquakes. Springer Natural Hazards. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68044-6_20
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