At the outset, I feel proud to inform our readers that NCDM is observing its 20th anniversary this year.  NCDM is one of the few pioneering organizations established in Nepal mainly devoted to work in the areas of Disaster Management (DM). In the last few decades, we have witnessed a paradigm shift in DM and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) world-wide. DM has now got firm foothold as an established field of multidisciplinary subject and has also gained respect as a stand-alone subject in Academic institutions and training programs. DM has also emerged as a focused priority agenda in many countries as the frequency and severity of disasters have significantly increased and impacted lives and livelihoods of millions of people every year. The severity of hydro-meteorological disasters that include flood, cyclone (hurricane), landslide, extreme temperature and draught etc. is now unequivocally accepted as a consequence of climate change. Nepal had also suffered from a number of mega-disasters such as the Gorkha Earthquake of 2015 and many floods and landslides occurring almost every year. Nepal is not an exception to be impacted by the recent Covid-19 pandemic, which has shattered the entire humanity, and the world is still fighting against it.

In our 20 years of existence, it is now time to reflect on our achievements and shortcomings. I feel happy to mention some of NCDM’s key achievements. The Natural Calamity Relief Act 1982 was truly out of date that focused mainly on the rescue and relief operations. Hence, a new proactive Act that would encompass the whole gambit of DM viz, Mitigation, preparedness, Response and Recovery, equipped with an independent effective organizational structure was in dire need. After over two years of exercise and having a country-wide consultation among stakeholders, NCDM drafted a completely new bill that encompassed the whole aspect of DM, and also prepared a Disaster Management Policy. The draft bill was handed over to the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Policy was to the National Planning Commission in 2007 for further action. After years of engagement, lobbying, persuasion, meetings and workshops, finally the “Disaster Risks Reduction and Management Act, 2017” been enacted by the Government. We feel happy to mention that our effort was materialized with further inputs on the draft bill and policy by respective Government agencies and all stakeholders