Climate resilience

Pratibaddha III project builds on the successes of EU-funded projects "Pratibaddha I: Risk-Informed Landslide Management in Nepal’s Hill Areas" and "Pratibaddha II: Together for Disaster Preparedness and Early Action in Landslide Affected Hill Areas of Nepal". This third phase of the project (2024-2026) aims to expand the best practices from the previous phases to the western provinces—Karnali, Sudurpashchim, and Lumbini—while also integrating a multi-hazard approach for hill areas that includes earthquakes, flash floods, landslides, and fires. Additionally, the project will support the most vulnerable communities through the Crisis Modifier component for anticipatory action and early response in the event of a crisis.

The project targets western provinces, particularly areas recently affected by earthquakes, areas predicted to experience significant impacts from future earthquakes, and regions highly susceptible to landslide risks, with a total target of 183,169 individuals. The action aims to strengthen the leadership and joint risk ownership of at-risk communities, local governments, and provincial governments in disaster mitigation, preparedness, and early action through a whole-of-society approach. Integrating Gender Equality, Diversity, and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) and environmental considerations, the action adopts a system-strengthening approach to build the capacities of provincial and local governments to lead the development of a landslide disaster preparedness and early action framework.
It has three results:
Result 1: Reduces hazard exposure
Result 2: Enhances multi-hazard early action, strengthens SRSP and disaster risk financing (DRF), and
Result 3: Acts as a crisis modifier (CM).

 

People in Need (PIN) has developed a prototype of a "Community Climate Resilience Toy Model" (CCRTM) to help local governments and vulnerable communities in Nepal access and use scientific evidence for understanding and managing local climate risks, such as droughts, floods, and landslides. The model combines Human Centric Development, Citizen Science, OpenStreetMap, and satellite data to project risks and design solutions collaboratively with experts from various sectors. The initiative aims to improve decision-making at the community level in disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation (CCA).

The CCRTM focuses on creating a user-friendly tool and a stakeholder platform to produce a low-cost, replicable product. It has been piloted in Gurbhakot Municipality, Surkhet, Karnali Province, focusing on the Goche River watershed. The model helps local governments identify natural disasters and climate change impacts, informing adaptation policies and plans.

This initiative aligns with PIN's global efforts in climate resilience, which include climate reports and advanced analyses of climatic and agricultural patterns in countries like Syria, Iraq, Angola, and Ethiopia. These reports use big data and remote sensing to assist local institutions and farmers in understanding climate trends and making informed agricultural decisions.

Alliance 2015 (A2015) Urban Resilience (UR) Project has been conceptualized by the consortium of People in Need (PIN), Helvetas Nepal and Welthungerhilfe Nepal keeping in mind the impact of external shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic on ultra-poor neighbourhoods of urban areas and the inability of communities within these informal settlements to cope with such shocks. Therefore, considering the need to strengthen these communities and build their resilience to such shocks, the UR project will focus on sustainable interventions to build Urban Resilience through increase income and employment generation opportunities.  

In partnership with Federation of Woman Entrepreneurs Associations of Nepal (FWEAN), the project is being implemented in Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) and Godawari Municipality through interventions in sustainable livelihoods, access to finance and access to social protection mechanisms and services that are consistent with the Market System Development (MSD) Approach. The project has three output which were: 

• Improved Income Generation through Skills Development and Capacity Building
• Improved linkage to Social Protection Schemes through Local Champions
• Improving access to Financial Services

Based on the UKaid funded Durable Solutions II programme, People in Need(PIN) in consortium with CSRC (Community Self Reliance Center) is facilitating the Durable Solutions III project for landless households at risk of or displaced by floods in two municipalities of Madhesh Pradesh in order to ensure that vulnerable landless households are put on the path of increased resilience.

The project aims to systematicallyincludelandless households at risk of floods to access governmental grants before, during, and after the floods through facilitation of durable solutions for their increased resilience. 

The project focuses on five major output:

• Technical Support to municipality
• Facilitating integration of DRR and Land Agendas
• Supporting access of landless communities to services
• Advocacy across all three tiers of the government 
• Practical inclusion of landless into Anticipatory Action, Shock Responsive Social Protection, and Climate Change Adaptation 

Building on achievements and learnings of Pratibadhha I (2020-2022), Pratibaddha II focuses on disaster preparedness and early action in four municipalities highly prone to landslides in Bagmati province. Pratibaddha II focuses on improving inclusive disaster preparedness and early actions, especially towards households at risk, especially marginalized and indigenous families. It aims to do so by unlocking potential for better preparedness and response at the local government through nature-based solutions, early warning systems, anticipatory actions, and shock responsive social protection.

At first, the project entails engaging municipality representatives, communities at risk, and key stakeholders across three tiers of the government to commit and work together. This includes supporting the local government in decision making through categorization of settlements as per the guidelines set by the Government of Nepal into CAT II in need of mitigation, and CAT III in need of relocation. Alongside, the project will implement nature-based solutions for landslide mitigation, raising awareness, and advocating for better preparedness for landslides.

Secondly, the project focuses on localizing forecasting, and developing early action protocols to strengthen the capacity of local government and at-risk communities for early action. The activities will facilitate knowledge exchange among experts and practitioners on landslide forecasting and early warning system.

Additionally, Pratibaddha II will contribute to broader topics that are fundamental for the Government of Nepal to be better prepared in case of future humanitarian crisis in hill areas of Nepal.  It seeks to advocate for effective early action by leveraging the governmental Social Protection programs. The project will collate knowledge, understanding and evidences for Shock Responsive Social Protection.Through all these activities, the project will demonstrate different opportunities for risk reduction and preparedness for response in Nepal’s hilly areas.

Pratibaddha aims to improve the resilience of hill communities in four municipalities of Sindhupalchowk and Dolakha districts through strengthening risk-informed landslide management at the local level. The key objective of the project is to work with local authorities and disaster management institutions, key actors involved in road construction and infrastructure projects, communities and national government to increase their understanding of landslide hazards, the risks they pose and the impact of human disturbance on communities exposed to hazard risks. This will be achieved through three main results.
 
First, engaging local authorities and disaster management bodies in a series of capacity-building programs using innovative hazard and risk-mapping tools, as well as through awareness-raising campaigns and workshops for local user committees, private contractors, engineers, and relevant stakeholders to enhance their knowledge of hazards, risks, and human disturbance.
 
Second, the action will design and deliver innovative participatory programs for at-risk communities using custom-built 3D topographic maps and landslide models to increase understanding of physical hazards and practical ways to incorporate risk-informed planning such as through improved land use and mitigation measures at local level planning.
 
Third, the action will seek to raise awareness of and advocate for effective landslide management at the national level through facilitating exposure visits to “champion” municipalities to encourage cooperation and information sharing between local and national authorities. Additionally, thematic events around innovations and best practices in landslide management will be organized at the national level focusing on local experiences, challenges, and opportunities.
 
Through these results, the action will seek to establish an innovative model for landslide management that can be replicable, affordable, and scalable into other parts of Nepal.
 

The demand for reconstruction of resilient and adequate houses across all 32 earthquakes affected districts outstrips the capacity and efforts of the national, district and local stakeholders and all other actors involved in technical and financial assistance. There are still a large number of households that need assistance in rebuilding. There are many challenges encountered by earthquake-affected households that have contributed to the slow progression of reconstruction of earthquake resilient houses. For instance, limited access to technical expertise and guidelines, scarcity of skilled masons and carpenters, high prices for construction materials and subsequent transportation costs and limited knowledge about guidelines have prevented households, especially the most vulnerable ones, from reconstructing their houses. These households cannot address all the barriers on their own.

People in Need and its consortium partners propose to implement a community-driven reconstruction program that will address and mitigate those barriers to reconstruction by offering tailored socio-technical assistance according to the specific barriers experienced at a household and community level. The assistance will vary from access to technical consultations by the engineer, builder trainers, and on-the-job trainings, to provision of skilled masons and carpenters, construction tools or material and transportation cost subsidization in remote areas and facilitation of exchange of labor through community reconstruction groups. The target locations will be selected based on the reconstruction progress and the vulnerability of the population, prioritizing the vulnerable households as per the Nepal Reconstruction Authority guidelines.
 

The Government of Nepal and Nepal Reconstruction Authority have designed a policy pertaining to the relocation of and durable resolution for people both displaced by the 2015 earthquake and at risk of future harm of displacement by geo-hazards, such as landslides. PIN and Community Self-Reliance Centre (CSRC) have formed a consortium to support the implementation of the durable solution programs and to ensure that the affected households are put on the path to resilient reconstruction. The goal is to create a national precedent and framework for fair and voluntary relocation of citizens following a disaster. All displaced and landless households should have a viable chance to reconstruct their houses on safe land after receiving new land and shelter support from the programs.

The consortium will ensure that affected people are adequately informed about the relevant policies, households have the documents needed to access government designed solutions, and are supported to enroll in relocation programs and to apply for the Rural Housing Reconstruction Grant. This work will be managed through a secure data management system. Moreover, we will focus on building the resilience of displaced and relocated households to make sure they have a reasonable life-chance following their relocation. This shall be done through Her Safety training, which focuses on empowering women and girls to address their protection needs through the formation of (mostly female) groups called Safety Committees and through tailored training on sexual and reproductive health, gender and sexual violence, safe foreign employment, financial management, and emotional wellbeing and conditional cash grants to those groups.
 

People in Need, in partnership with Apeiron, implemented a livelihood recovery project in Sindhupalchok district, to address the needs of the displaced population. The aim was simple: through this project, we wanted to support the return of those displaced by the earthquakes and strengthen their ability to recover livelihoods. We taught women the new skill of knitting so that they could keep their families warm and sell their products. We also provided livelihood recovery support, which included business training and small grants to families to help them re-establish their livelihoods.

The project benefitted 1,500 individuals, who were employed through cash for work programming, supported by technical training and micro cash grants/in-kind for livelihood recovery, or received winterization support. In particular, women were direct beneficiaries. Aid recipients for livelihood recovery support (cash grants) were the most vulnerable households, especially from IDP camps and returnees.
 

The goal of this project was to identify and understand the real context of displaced households and displacement sites, to support their voices to advocate for systemic changes needed in order to ensure solutions are found for both displaced households’ immediate needs and long-term problems. The project focused on empowering women and girls to address their protection needs in the displacement camps and communities through formation of (mostly women) group as Safety Committee and through tailored trainings and conditional cash grants to those groups.

PIN’s protection team conducted training on sexual and reproductive health, gender and sexual violence, safe foreign employment, financial management and emotional wellbeing. As part of the trainings, the Committee mapped out risks in their communities, looking especially at safety risks for women and girls. Once they identified these risks, the Committees were given small cash grants to implement their own solutions.

 

In the remote Himalayan regions, trails are the only way to travel between villages providing access to schools, health facilities, markets, and the forests where people collect natural resources. All the locals, elderly, children, and pregnant women use these trail routes, which are inconsistent, narrow, steep and steps are either slippery or wider in height or short. Therefore, People in Need started the Unnat Goreto project to reconstruct the trail providing job opportunities to the local villagers. The project gave priority to female-headed households, families with limited sources of income, pregnant and lactating women, elderly people, people living with a disability and marginalized groups affected by the 2015 earthquake. All the participants are paid equally regardless of their age and gender.

The project reconstructed over 125 km of trails, 9 footbridges, and 15 rest areas and at least 800 meters of handrails along with the hazardous areas in remote Himalayan villages by employing over 2,000 residents from the communities. Over 1 million GBP has been dispersed in the local communities through employment. The project provided local residents with temporary jobs, helped revitalize their local economies, and improved access to the entire region. Local people were able to invest in the reconstruction of their houses, livelihood, and their children’s education.
 

People in Need has been focusing on renovation primarily in the hard-to-reach mountainous regions of northern Nepal. PIN prepared a program that helped vulnerable communities define their priorities for the reconstruction of key infrastructure in their communities. PIN’s team facilitated discussion between citizens, community organizations and municipality delegates to reach consensus while identifying priorities and to choose those which would help to re-establish people’s livelihoods the best. It is important that the reconstruction process not only takes place according to the needs of the community but also teaches stakeholders and community groups how to identify solutions for the short and long-term needs of the community. For this reason, PIN works directly with local governments and community groups to carry out reconstruction works, providing them with the necessary training and technical support whenever necessary.

Thanks to the financial support of the Czech Radio Foundation, a new school is being built in Baruwa village. All the five schools of this village were destroyed in the earthquake and are merely running under temporary learning centers (TLC). That worsened access to quality education for kids from the community and most of them attend other schools, which are difficult to access. Ganesh Basic School will help bridge this gap. Local people have been mobilized to participate in the construction of the building. Besides an earthquake resistant school building, adequate classroom furniture will be provided: desks, benches, black/white boards, office furniture and chairs.

For this reason, PIN works directly with local governments and community groups to carry out reconstruction works, providing them with the necessary training and technical support whenever necessary. Moreover PIN provides communities by trainings in DRR (Disaster Risk Reduction) and gives technical consultancy to help reduce disaster risks through systematic efforts. PIN aims to see various livelihoods, such as farming, livestock rearing, carpet production, and blacksmiths restored to functionality through the replacement of vital assets, such as tools and machines, and the provision of additional trainings whenever required.