With support from USAID’s Tayar Nepal, Atullya Foundation has organized the ‘DIDRR Guideline draft
sharing workshop’ on February 18, 2021. The draft Guideline was developed to contribute
concerned government agency to introduce DIDRR Guideline to mitigate the risk of disaster for
persons with disabilities in an event of a disaster. The program was facilitated by Disaster Risk
Reduction (DRR) Experts Dr. Raju Thapa and Dr. Meen Bhadur Poudyal Chhetri.
Major Highlights
The Program Officer Ms. Sahara Neupane introduced the objectives of the workshop and welcomed
the participants to the event.
Mr. Pallav Pant the founder of Atullya Foundation Pvt. Ltd. and youth with disability thanked all the
Organization of Persons with Disabilities for the inputs they have provided during the previous
workshop. He said that the draft Guideline will help concerned government agencies to introduce
legally applicable Guideline to work on the disaster cycle (mitigation, preparedness, response, and
recovery) for persons with disabilities. Hence the workshop has been organized to obtain feedback
from all the beneficiaries and the stakeholders on the needs of persons with disabilities in the
disaster management cycle.
Dr. Chhetri shared the contents of the DIDRR Guideline. He has highlighted that the draft was
prepared with a rigorous process after incorporating feedback from various stakeholders and
reviewing several relevant pieces of literature. He anticipated constructive feedback and suggestion
to make the guideline more comprehensive.
Dr. Thapa DRR Expert requested all Organizations of the Persons with Disability (OPD) to provide
feedback and take ownership of this document. He hoped that government will consider the draft
DIDRR guideline and introduced a legally applicable DIDRR guideline to protect the life and property
of persons with disabilities. He thanked all participants and opened the floor to get the feedback and
suggestions of the participants.
Ms. Devu Parjuli from National Federation for the Disabled Nepal, Mr. Bal Krishna Gaire from
National Association of the Physical Disabled Nepal, Mr. Surya B. Bhudathoki Nepal National
Federation of Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Mr. Jagdish Prasad Adhikari from Nepal Disabled Human
Rights Center, and Mr. Hari Upreti from Nepal Stutters Association gave their consent for the
ownership of the draft DIDRR Guideline. They also said that they will work together to get the
Government to enact the Guideline.
Mr. Sanjay Neupane from Autism Care Nepal in his remarks said that the Guideline was a good
initiative for the community. However, he suggests all to do a lobby with a concerned government
agency to enact the Guideline. He added that persons with disabilities are left out during the
planning of policies and law hence resulting them in being left behind and under-budgeted
Mr. Subash Thapa a parent of a child with Down Syndrome said that the DIDRR Guideline may not be
a priority of the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Authority (NDRRMA) hence we may
need to think of the alternatives of NDRRMA for the prompt enactment of the draft guideline.
The breakout session was held among the four groups to discuss the Guideline and to receive
suggestions from the participants. One member from each group later provided their feedback on
the Guidebook.
Closing
Dr. Thapa and Dr. Chhetri thanked all participants for providing valuable suggestions and feedback
on the draft DIDRR guideline. They further mentioned that they will work with other experts to
accommodate the suggestion they receive during the workshop.
Mr. Pallav Pant formally closed the program thanking all the participants for their valuable time and
inputs for the draft DIDRR Guideline.