Enhancing Children Safety and Community Resilience

Good Practices on
Child - Centred Disaster Risk Reduction

UNICEF Nepal, May 2016

1
 Acronyms and Abbreviations
CAC Citizen Awareness Centres
CBDRR Community-Based Disaster Risk Reduction
CCA Climate Change Adaptation
CCDRR Child-Centred Disaster Risk Reduction
CFLG Child-Friendly Local Governance
CoP Conference of Parties
CPAP Country Programme Action Plan
CSSF Comprehensive School Safety Framework
DDRC District Disaster Relief Committee
DEO District Education Office
DEOC District Emergency Operations Center
DHM Department of Hydrology and Meteorology
DRM Disaster Risk Management
DRR Disaster Risk Reduction
DWSS Department of Water Supply and Sewerage
FA First Aid
FCHV Female Community Health Volunteers
HCG Himalayan Conservation Group
IEC Information, Education, and Communication
LDMC Local Disaster Management Committees
LDRMP Local Disaster Risk Management Plans
LSAR Light Search and Rescue
MACF Margaret A. Cargill Foundation
MoFALD Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development
MWASH-CC Municipal WASH Coordination Committee
NAPA National Adaptation Programme of Action
NCCSP Nepal Climate Change Support Programme
NDRRMC National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council
NEOC National Emergency Operations Centre
NRCS Nepal Red Cross Society
NSET National Society for Earthquake Technology
SIP School Improvement Plan
SMC School Management Committees
SSP School Safety Plan
ToT Training of Trainers
UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund
VCA Vulnerability and Capacity Assessment
VDC Village Development Committee
WASH-CC Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Coordination Committee
WCF Ward Citizens’ Forum

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 Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the support of the Margaret A. Cargill Foundation (MACF), which has
generously supported the implementation of the first phase of the Child – Centred DRR Programme,
“Enhancing Children Safety and Community Resilience” in Nepal.

I would also like to acknowledge the contributions of the Emergency & DRR Programme Unit: Ms.
Kathlyn Kissy Sumaylo, DRR Specialist, for compiling the document, and Mr. Surya Prasad Paudel, M&E
Consultant, for his contribution to the stories. Ms. Sunita Kayastha, Emergency Specialist, for her
guidance on the document and Mr. Asim Shrestha and Toya Nath Subedi for their feedback t. I would
also like to thank our Regional and District Field Offices in Saptari, Dhanusha and Accham for their
support during field monitoring and FGDs with stakeholders. I am also grateful for the support of our
sectoral focal points from WASH, Education, Nutrition, Child Protection and Health for their
contribution in mainstreaming child-centred DRR into their respective programs.

I would also like to thank our implementing partners Nepal Red Cross Society (NRCS), National Society
for Earthquake Technology (NSET), the District Development Committee (DDC) of Saptari, and the
Himalayan Conservation Group for their contribution in the Good Practices guide. In the field, we have
been assisted by our district program officers and field mobilizers and focal points of various line
agencies have been crucial in providing us insights as to how DRR is being taken forward.

The members of local disaster management committees (LDMCs), School Mangement Committees
(SMCs) and child clubs and school safety clubs served as invaluable resource persons during our
fieldwork. We are truly grateful to the members of the local communities for their cooperation and
patience, and we are inspired by the resilience.

Through this booklet, we aim to document their contributions in making positive changes to make
their communities and schools safe and disaster resilient.

Shairose Mawji or Toomoo Hoizumi

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 Report Overview

Disaster risk reduction, a priority for UNICEF, is an approach to reduce the vulnerabilities of children
and community members and to mitigate the negative impacts of disaster and climate change. To
support this, UNICEF Nepal has been investing considerable resources in mainstreaming disaster risk
reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA) into its country programme. UNICEF’s Country
Programme Action Plan (CPAP) 2013 – 2017 addresses inequities to enable all children, adolescent
and women to have access to basic social services in order to fulfill their rights to survival,
development, protection and participation. The CPAP contains one Intermediate Result (IR) for
emergency preparedness and another for DRR to make a clear distinction between conventional
disaster management and resilience programming.

In order to support risk-informed programming and meet the IR on DRR/resilience, the Country Office
developed a child-centred DRR programme with the following four outcomes:
i. Enhanced children and community resilience to assess, manage, and plan responses to
disaster risks;
ii. Sustained disaster risk assessment and risk reduction in planning, design, and implementation
stages of district and regional development programs and projects;
iii. Integrated and multi-sectoral approach to child-centred DRR and CCA is adopted and learnings
shared and applied; and
iv. Child-focused, integrated approaches to DRR sustainably incorporated into local and national
development planning.

In line with this, UNICEF has been working with national and local stakeholders to ensure that
children’s voices on disaster risk reduction are heard in their communities, schools, and local decision
making bodies. Similarly, the government understands the threat of climate change and disaster risks
in eroding or even reversing development gains over the last decades, thereby perpetuating poverty
and vulnerability. For this reason, the Government of Nepal has a long history of supporting DRM,
climate change and sustainable development, among the National Strategy for Disaster Risk
Management (2009), the National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA), and the Local and District
Disaster Management Planning guidelines (2011, 2012). Continued support and monitoring is needed
to ensure that DRR becomes a priority in local development planning and in sectoral plans and
programs.

This report documents UNICEF Nepal’s the good practices from the implementation of the Child-
Centred Disaster Risk Reduction Programme. The programme was implemented in six districts –
Saptari, Dhanusha, Accham and Parsa, with key components of community-based DRR, school-based
DRR and mainstreaming Child-Centred DRR into national policies and plans. The good practices that
were captured in this report were compiled from field monitoring and focus group discussions with
children, community members and local officials. The programme document is divided into five key
areas where the UNICEF made an impact on children’s life and community resilience:
1. Child-Centred DRR Capacity-building: Children initiate actions to reduce disaster risks in their
communities
2. Mainstreaming Child - Centred Disaster Risk Assessment and Priorities into the Local
Development Plan
3. School-based DRR: Promoting Safe Learning Environment for Children
4. Promoting Multi-Sectoral and Integrated Approach & Learning and Exchange on DRR
5. Preparing Children and Adolescents for Disasters and Emergencies
6. Enhancing Community Safety through Community Early Warning System.

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 The report hopes to provide readers, including fellow practitioners and development agencies,
insights into how child-centred DRR can be applied into their programs.
Table of Contents
Acronyms and Abbreviations Page #

Acknowledgements

Report Overview

Good Practices on Child-Centred DRR Capacity Building: 5-9

Children initiates actions to reduce disaster risks in their community
Good Practices on Community-based DRR: Mainstreaming Child - Centred Disaster Risk 9-14
Assessment and Priorities into the Local Development Plan
Good Practice: Promoting A Culture of Safety in Schools and A Safe Learning Environment 15-30
for Children
Good Practice: Preparing Children and Adolescents for Disasters and Emergencies 31-37

Good Practice: Enhancing Community Safety and Resilience through Community Based 38-40
Early Warning System

End note and Way Forward

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 Foreword

As Nepal advances the DRR agenda as part of its commitment to the Sendai Framework of Action 2015
– 2030, UNICEF is looking at ways how it can build the resilience of communities and vulnerable
populations from disaster and climate change. As we begin to fully grasp the high costs of disasters,
there is a heightened urgency for different stakeholders, including the UN and the national and local
governments, to invest on building community and institutional capacities to prepare, manage,
respond to and recover from shocks and stresses brought about by natural and climate – induced
hazards. The 2015 Gorkha Earthquake for instance has shown us the lasting impacts disasters have on
already vulnerable communities, including the 1.1 million children who have been affected.

UNICEF contributes to disaster resilience by ensuring that children have the knowledge, capacities and
skills to protect themselves from the negative impacts of disasters and so that they can be agents of
change in their households, schools and communities. UNICEF has also been strengthening the
capacities of local governments, in line with the Local Self Governance Act of 1999 and the LDRMP
guidelines by MoFALD, to be able to assess local risks, and plan for and implement disaster risk
management actions. The technical support for planning is complemented by additional assistance to
demonstrate child-centred, community-driven risk mitigation actions, in partnership with key
technical line agencies. Through its pilot Child-Centred DRR program, “Enhancing Children Safety and
Community Resilience, “UNICEF and its implementing partners are working in 12 villages in four
districts – Saptari (eastern); Dhanusha and Parsa (central) and Accham (far-western) on community
based DRR, with a program reach of 50,000 children and community beneficiaries, and in 442 schools
in six districts (Saptari, Parsa, Dhanusha, Accham, Humla and Bajura), with a reach of more than 90,000
children and teachers. As a way to reflect on programme implementation, we are documenting some
of the good practices that were borne out of the CCDRR interventions. The pilot phase of the
programme, which ran from December 2013 to April 2016, is aligned with the Child-Friendly Local
Governance (CFLG) framework, which seeks to strengthen role of children in local governance.

The Good Practices on Child-Centred Disaster Risk Reduction booklet aims to document positive
changes in the knowledge, behavior and practices of children, community members and local
governments and how they have used these knowledge to promote a culture of safety.

Good Practice mainstreaming describes how children brought their key issues to the local authorities
and it features actions undertaken by the Village Development Council local disaster risk management
plans and risk mitigation actions.

The Good practice on school-based DRR features children’s participation in school safety clubs, the
role of teachers and school management committees in advocating for a safe learning environment,
and the risk mitigation measures that have been undertaken jointly with communities and the District
Education Office.

The last feature on the Good Practices booklet is on UNICEF’s support on establishing community-
based early warning systems (EWS), which account for community and children’s participation,
technical assessment, and coordination with the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology.

Together with our implementing partners, UNICEF is proud to share some of the results of our work
and its impact on the lives of children, women and community members.

Thank you.

Tomoo Hoizumi

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 Good Practices on Child-Centred DRR Capacity Building:
Children initiates actions to reduce disaster risks in their community

Enhancing the knowledge, attitude and practice of children and local communities is one of the main
outcomes of the programme. An approach used to achieve this was to mobilize and train children in
child clubs to promote their role in disaster risk management and enable them to become agents of
change with their peers and in their communities. Children were trained on how to assess their
disaster risks and develop risk maps from the ward up to the village level. This process helped changed
community view of children from passive actors to active members of community. The actions of
children below describe how children have initiated actions to reduce disaster risks in their
community.

• Raising household awareness on seasonal disaster risks

Every year, children in Harpur VDC in Parsa District experience cold wave, which affect their health
and school attendance. So in December 2015, child club members in the VDC decided to take actions
by visiting each house before the start of the winter. During the visit, children carried with them some
materials with information on how to prepare for different hazards, including cold wave. They would
discuss with parents as well as children on how to take precautions during the winter.

On other seasons, children had conducted before the summer season and the monsoon to talk about
fire and flood hazards. Such initiatives from children have helped create awareness of community
people regarding the preparedness actions they need to take during seasonal hazards.

Ms. Sarita Sah, a housewife and mother of two children in Harpur VDC, expressed the benefits from
these awareness-raising activities.

“We used to ignore simple signs and measures to be safe from cold wave such as wear multiple layers
of clothes and drink plenty of hot water and fluids and much more focused on fire and blankets on
winter season. But now, I will apply as many methods as I can to protect my family from the cold wave.
The children we came repeatedly encouraged me to be prepare for it. This is a very good efforts taken
by our children.”

In Saptari District, members of the child club carried out similar awareness-raising initiatives in the
programme VDCs. By using the results of the disaster risk assessment, child club members are able
convince community members to prepare for and manage their risks. Chandani jha, a child club
member of Ramnagar, VDC expressed that after receiving training, they developed a risk map and a
seasonal hazard calendar of their community. The major hazards for their village are fire, drought and
cold wave. He said that they plan to raise further awareness on how children can be protected from
these hazards. Discussions with community members and children indicate that there is no adequate
preparation for cold wave, and children tend to lose some days of schools. School teachers say they
allow children to stay at home or tell them to have hot food and have adequate warm clothes during
the winter.

Children’s efforts are bringing positive changes, and community members are taking notice. Sobhit Lal
Sada, a villager of Ram Nagar VDC, shared that: “The children are doing good job by reminding us what

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 we need to do to be safe. They are taking initiatives to clean- up the villages and informing parents on
how they can protect their children form cold wave.

Priyanka, 16, Child Club Leader in Saptari District

Priyanka, 16, is an active member of the child club at Ramnagar VDC and
has just completed her School Leaving Certificate (SLC), a school-level
exam for class 10. She shared that that after receiving training on
disaster risk assessment, she and other child club members prepared
the risk maps and identified fire, flood, drought, snake bites and cold
wave as key hazards in our community. After identifying the key risks,
they discussed the findings with the community members. She proudly
said that:

“They listened to our voices. Some of our concerns were also

addressed, one of which is the road to the village and schools, which
was maintained after we showed them the situation. Now we feel more
empowered and more confident.”

• Children’s risk map identify landslide-prone areas in Payal VDC, Accham.

In Payal VDC in Achham District, children

led tree planting activities in the landslide
prone area in their community. This was
identified as one of the high risk areas in the
risk map that they developed. As indicated
in the risk map, there are more than 50
houses close to the landslide-prone hill, and
during the monsoon, there is further threat
of erosion.

With support from the programme field

mobiliser and LDMC members, children Child club in Payal planted trees to protect this barren hill from landslide
coordinated with the District Forest Office
to request for saplings and planted around 500 trees in the barren hill. The planting was completed in
a week, and the child clubs as well as the LDMC is monitoring the growth of the saplings.

Mr. Dambar Dhami, a child club member, feels proud about his participation:

“We selected the species such as Ritha and Amala because they not only help reduce landslide risk;
they can also help generate income when they are harvested. Through this programme, the confidence
among us has been increased that we also can contribute to our village’s development.”

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 • Child Club members present their DRR and WASH findings to Municipal WASH Coordination
Committee (M-WASH CC)

Among the successful demonstration of children’s role as change agent was in Janakphur Municipality,
in Dhanusha District, where the Water Supply, Sewerage and Sanitation Office (WSSDO), together with
the Municipal WASH Coordination Committee (M-WASH CC), initiated discussions on how DRR can be
integrated into WASH, in 2014. Dhanusha District is one of the eight districts in the Terai, and has a
sanitation coverage of only 39%. The district is also vulnerable to floods, fire, drought, cold wave and
disease outbreaks. The child clubs were identified as the best network that could trigger awareness
on DRR and environmental sanitation. The WSSDO initiated the risk mapping with existing child clubs
of Janakapur. Janakapur Municipality consists of 16 Wards, and each ward has already formed a child
club. A three-day training on Disaster Risk Mappping and P/A vial testing was participated in by 32
children from 16 child club wards. After the risk mapping session, children prepared risk maps of their
wards. They were also trained on photography and how to document the situation in their community.
After the training, children spent four days doing community observation and conducting water
testing sample collection and observation. Their findings show that out of the 215 samples they
collected, 112 samples were found to be positive of contamination (50% of the 112 samples were
temples, hospitals and schools). That result was alarming, and the children felt the urgency to
disseminate the message.

Disaster risks identified by children:

• Poor waste management
system
• Schools are near the pond
• Crossing railway track
• Hand pumps are in very dirty
places
• Open defecation area
• Roads are without footpath
and no zebra crossing

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 Total Sample Public Places

TEMPLE 10
18
215 11
CHOWK 18
HOSPITAL 6
112 115 7
100
SCHOOL 8
53 59 13

TOTAL SAMPLE HH PUBLIC 0 5 10 15 20

Series1 Series2 Series2 Series1

The WSSDO called the M-WASH Cluster Committee meeting and the children were invited to share
the findings of the Child club, including the disaster risk reduction action plan.

Illustration 1: Children engagement with M-WASH CC

Coordination 3 days Sample Sample Awareness

by WSSDO to training/orient collection from observation Campaign
Municipality, ation on 16 Wards and through
DWASSH CC, Disaster Risk (HH, Public Dissemination Radio
Child Club Mapping and places including in MWASH CC programme,
P/A vial testing schools, meeting/ Street Dram,
hospitals,
Media
temple etc.

Children proposed the following actions to the M-WASH CC, including public awareness (street drama,
poster, pamphlet, and media mobilization) and school level activities (water purification, Use of
toilets/Environmental cleanliness/HW practice/Maintain distance between water sources and
toilet/cleanliness of sewerage and water sources). The management of wastes, including those of the
dumping trucks, was also in their proposal. Further coordination will be taken up to ensure that M-
WASH CC as well as key line agencies such as the District Health Office can support their
recommendations.

It is found that after the children’s presentation of the findings, community members started to drink
water after purification, such as boiling, filtration etc.

Concluding Note
The capacity-building of children on child-centred disaster risk assessment has been a critical input
to enhancing the role of children in community-based disaster risk reduction. The initiatives taken by
the children range from providing information to their peers and community members to
coordinating with the Local Disaster Management Committee and the Municipal WASH Coordination
Committee to implement their priority risk mitigation actions. Community members find children’s
initiatives to be effective in changing traditional views about the role of children. Children also said
they feel more confidence as a result of the training and were listened by adults. They can also apply
these skills to help reduce disaster risks in their community.

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 Good Practices on Community-based DRR:
Mainstreaming Child - Centred Disaster Risk Assessment and
Priorities into the Local Development Plan

Nepal has mandated the development of Local Disaster Risk Management Plans (LDRMP),
accompanied by a guideline in 2011. The LDRMP is a medium term plan that seeks to enable the village
to assess its disaster risks need, as well as plan and budget for them. The LDRMP development follows
a consultation process from the community by sensitizing local leaders from the Ward Citizen Forum
(WCF), the Citizen Awareness Centres (CAC) and other local groups. Consultations are also conducted
with children on how they perceive their risks. The results of children’s risk assessment is instrumental
in bring their priorities to the attention of community leaders and to the Local Disaster Management
Committee (LDMC), who then leads the development, review and implementation of the plan. The
following stories show how children have mainstreamed the risk assessment results to implement risk
mitigations actions.

• Child club and LDMC take action to making school attendance safe for children
During the monsoon season, Ms. Kalpana Bhandari and her friends, who are from Muli VDC in Achham
District, used to worry about having to cross the Shere Khola River on their way to school. While the
water level doesn’t reach very high levels, the stream gets flooded and overflows into the unpaved
road, thereby damaging it and making walking to school difficult for children. Now, there is a retaining
wall that protects the road from being flooded.

The retaining wall (above) was constructed by VDC to mitigate the risk identified by child club
in Muli, Accham. @SPoudel

The retaining wall was constructed by the VDC from their budget after the child clubs in the village
presented their priorities and convinced the village officials by showing the risk maps they developed.
Kalpana was satisfied that the VDC has taken on their recommendation:

“We used to face difficulties while walking to school during the monsoon season because Shere Khola is
flooded. So, during the child club meeting, we made a decision to prioritize safety by protecting the road
from flooding. We presented this to the VDC officials, and they acknowledged the need and built the
retaining
The wall using
child-centred the fund
disaster allocatedwas
assessment forsupported
disaster asby
well as othercommunity-based
UNICEF’s VDC funds. We feel safer
DRR to walk to
initiatives.
school.”
Prior to the programme, the VDCs didn’t any local disaster risk management plan and have not

11
consulted children on DRR. The case of Muli shows how children can successfully demand for their
priority mitigation actions.

Mainstreaming Child Centred DRR Process in Action

The selection of the retaining wall for rural road protection work in Muli VDC, in Achham was an
example of the recognition of children’s role in the planning process. The mainstreaming of Child
Centred Disaster Risk Reduction into the local development planning follows a process of: i) training
of children on PCVA; 2) risk mapping and vulnerability and capacity assessment; and 3) prioritization
of risks and needs. Once children complete their risk maps and action plans, they present these to
community leaders and VDC officials at the beginning of the planning process (typically from
November). Once agreed, the VDC officials include their priorities, along with other needs in the
communities, into the budget for the next fiscal year.

Child club members in Muli VDC discuss the risk map. @SPoudel.

The local officials acknowledged the contribution from the children. “Through the child clubs risk
assessment, we got some important perspective, which we would have overlooked. The
recommendation from children helped us to develop a better plan”, said VDC secretary Mr. Narayan
Poudel.

In Ghodasen VDC, also in Accham, the child club network presented their risk map as well as their
proposed risk mitigation for landslide in Jukane to the VDC. The VDC, in turn, recognized the need for
the measure and decided to implement it. Raghubir Rokka, VDC Secretary, recalls the process: “After
reviewing the request from the child clubs, we realized this to be a top priority and thereby constructed
it. We utilized funds from VDC as well as from the National Climate Change Support Programme, which
is also supporting our village in climate change adaptation as well as disaster risk reduction issues. The
children in Ghodasen are very active.”

• Children promote DRR and fire prevention in the Terai

In Saptari District, located in the southern plains called the Terai, members of the child club in
Ramnagar VDC proposed the repair and widening of a local road, which was originally narrow and
dilapidated, to allow fire trucks to enter in case of fire. The VDC acted on their suggestion and widened
the road using VDC funds. Now, fire trucks can easily enter the village. Badri N. Yadav, an LDMC
member, shared how children’s perception of risk had changed their thinking:

“We knew the road was in bad condition, but didn’t care much about it. When the child club members
brought this issue during the meeting, we took it seriously and maintained it with the VDC budget.”

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 LDMC members share their DRR plans and how they incorporated child club issues.

Similarly, in nearby Rautahat VDC, the community selected Disaster Risk Reduction activities,
particularly awareness raising and mitigation measures for flood as their top priority during the ward
level planning meeting in November 2014. In previous years, infrastructure development used to
dominate the list. The change was brought about by the increased awareness of community members
on the urgency for DRR. The regular orientation on DRR and the risk assessment that the programme
had facilitated for members of the Ward Citizen Forum (WCF) had been key to this. Shiv Narayan
Mandal, a WCF member, says that “we are now more aware about the Disaster Risks in our community
and can better plan for it. Thanks to the Enhancing Children safety and community resilience
programme for their regular facilitation.”

• Schools and communities implement risk mitigation actions

One of the key results of the programme intervention is the established linkages between schools and
communities. The programme has supported community-based and school-based DRR interventions
in the same VDCs. This approach has been effective in harmonizing risk priorities.

To demonstrate this linkage, all three programme VDCs – Payal, Ghodasen and Muli - in Accham have
identified school safety as their DRR priority using the 5% DRR fund from the VDC block grant. The
DRR fund, typically NPR 50,000, has been matched by programme support of NPR 160-170,000 per
VDC as well as community contribution. The LDMC and the SMC coordinated closely to implement the
community risk mitigation projects in schools.

An example of this was in Ghodasen VDC where the LDMC built the school compound wall to prevent
accidents from potential slope failure. The school teachers and members of the School Management
Committees were trained on basic DRR and school safety planning.

13
 Child club members, LDMC and SMC construct school compound wall in sloped area to protect school children from
accidents in Ghodasen VDC. @KSumaylo

In neighboring Muli VDC, child club members, LDMC and the SMC jointly identified school safety as a
priority. The action taken was to build stairs in Sishusudhar High School for school children on their
way to school. Before the construction of the stairs, children have to walk through a rugged path,
which becomes wet and muddy during the monsoon and difficult for those with disabilities. The

Before (September 2015)@SPoudel After (March 2016)@KSumaylo

Table 1 summarizes the programme supported community risk mitigation for school safety.

Accham District Mitigation Actions

Muli Construction of concrete stairs from the small pathway to the school area to
increase mobility and ease of access. Prioritized by SMC and LDMC

Funding: NPR. 185,000 (Programme support: 160,000, community: 25,000)

Ghodasen -Construction of school compound wall to act as barrier on unprotected

slope. LDMC and SMC decided on this common priority.

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 Funding: NPR 209,914 (170,000 – programme: 39,914 - community
contribution)

Payal -Maintenance and strengthening of roof of school building. LDMC and SMC
decided on this priority.

Funding: NPR 190,000 (160,000 – programme; 30,000 community

contribution)

The joint action between community members, child club members and school stakeholders has
forged ownership of the risk mitigation action. Community labor contribution has also been a key
factor in the success of the risk mitigation.

Concluding Note
The inclusion of children’s disaster risk issues and priorities is crucial for enhancing their safety and
empowerment. First, children’s perception of risks is unique and not necessarily the same with adults.
Risk maps drawn by children show how some hazards identified by children are not regarded with the
same lens by adults. Second, through the programme, children are provided the platform to not only
participate in the consultation process, but get them prioritized and budgeted in the annual plans.
Third, children tend to have a higher retention of knowledge and skills, and complemented with
building their leadership potentials, they are able to initiate follow-up activities beyond the training.

15
 Good Practice: Promoting a Culture of Safety and Safe Learning
Environments for Children

Children in school settings are highly exposed to the various disaster risks, among them earthquakes,
landslides and riverine and flash flooding. Exposure to these risk can affect school attendance,
children’s safety and well-being. Addressing school – based DRR is a key component of the Child
Centred DRR programme, ensuring that the pillars of Comprehensive School Safety– safe learning
facilities; school disaster management; and disaster and resilience education – are established in the
implementation.
Piloting Demonstration Schools for DRR
The programme developed a phased approach to implement its school-based DRR Programme. Of the
500 schools reached, the programme has selected 20 schools as demonstration sites and another 5 as
model schools for infrastructural resilience. Together with the District Education Office (DEO) and the
DDC, these schools were selected on the basis of basis of teacher – student density and the level of
vulnerability of said schools from multi-hazard disaster risks. Figure 1 shows the implementation
approach for school based DRR component of the CCDRR Programme.

Coverage: 20 Schools
DRR Demonstration

Coverage: 5 schools
training

retroffiting
School based DRR basic

Broad coverage of 475

Model Schools for

schools -Non-structural mitigation
-2 teachers trained on -2 Teachers and 4 Students -Allocation of funding and
SBDRR trained on Disaster implementation of
-6 hours of orientation on Preparedness (LSAR, Retrofitting for 1 school
DRR BMER, ER) building per district (in 5
-Preposition of emergency districts)
- 50% of schools with
school safety clubs supplies for LSAR and first -Mason's Training
aid
-Disaster reponse plan and -Hazard Assessment
simulation drills -CCA activities
-DRR Learning Centre
-Schol Safety Clubs

The good practice in DRR Demonstration schools shows the successful collaboration between UNICEF
and NSET, the DEO and the education stakeholders by strengthening the capacities of education
stakeholders, students and teachers and school management committees on DRR and in prioritizing
specific non-structural risk mitigation measures through DEO funding. These schools also serve as
DRM learning centres for other schools. The case of Sodasha Devi School in Accham District how
comprehensive school safety can be implemented.

• Implementing School Safety in Accham District

The Sodasha Devi Higher Secondary School, a demonstration school in Accham District, is located on
steep slope grounds. The school building’s physical conditions was also not in good shape, including
the main outdoor staircases making it difficult for them to access their classroom. A good part of the
roof was not protected against high wind and dust storms, with only slates placed on top of the
roofing. Noticeably, there were not enough trees planted in and around the school compound. Also,
the school didn’t have solid waste management. To add to some of the school’s difficulties, the water
tank was also not functional, which is a concern for sanitation and for students with disabilities to
fetch water to bring to their nearby hostel.
This was the condition of the Sodasha Devi Higher Secondary School in Achham before the start of the
child centred DRR programme. The school based DRR interventions focused on encouraging student-

16
led learning activities, which enable them to practice and apply skills and knowledge on DRR. This was
made possible through awareness and skills-based training on DRR for selected teachers and students,
formed and strengthened the school safety clubs as venue for interaction with peers on DRR.
The members of the school safety club and other students, with guidance from teachers, conducted
Vulnerability and Capacity Assessment of school premises and surrounding community (catchment
area of school). Students were trained in various participatory tools of VCA during the program
implementation. After VCA safety club members identified key DRR/CCA priorities in schools. The
school safety club then identified the repair of stairs and the strengthening of roof from high wind as
their priority safety measures.

Some findings of the VCA at Sodasha Devi HS

school in Achham

• Staircase is deteriorated and narrow

• CGI roof is vulnerable to windstorm
• Water tank for disabled students is out of
use
• Not enough trees inside the school
compound
• Toilets for students are not used
• Nonstructural items are not fixed

School safety club members conducting PCVA in the school

catchment area.

The programme support the school with both technical and financial support of NPR 140,000 to
implement their priority risk mitigation work. A seed fund of NPR 5,000 was also provided to the school
safety club for other DRR measures. Now, the school has repaired and widened the stairways leading
to the school and installed railings to make evacuation safe. Now the staircase is wide enough to hold
the pressure of students and easily accessible for mentally and visually disabled students.

Before the intervention After the improvement

The roof was strengthened by removing the loose stones and fixtures and putting a band to protect
it from high winds and rains.

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Initiating climate change and DRR awareness activities.

Aware of the impacts of climate change, the school safety club coordinated with the school
management committee to request the District Forest Office (DFO) to provide plants and saplings to
cover their school ground. The DFO provided plants to the school and they also participated in the
planting. Major problem during plantation was preservation of plants because school doesn’t have
proper fencing. The school safety club requested NSET district team to get support for protection.

In addition to the school safety activities, the

school safety clubs are conducting various
community awareness activities such as
awareness rally, door to door visit and
participate in other social activities. The
children also organized cultural events with
songs and poems on disaster safety, which
are the effective at the community level. Teej
songs (festival for women where they express
every message through local songs), folk
songs and cultural competition have been
organized at the school by the teachers and
children. The school also collaborate with
other schools of the community in disaster
awareness activities.
School children in Accham attend the Earthquake Awareness
Day @NSET

Through the school-based DRR capacity building activities, students were able to influence their
teachers and the SMC to priorities their disaster risks and priorities, reach out to their fellow students
and the community and schools outside of theirs. The combination of support for non-structural
mitigation, capacity building for disaster risk assessment and school safety planning, awareness raising
activities and government support help achieve meaningful results for comprehensive school safety.

In other schools in Accham, the programme supported non-structural measures such as strengthened
roofing to protect from high wind and construction of waste management pit to prevent from disease
outbreaks.

Strengthened roofing from high wind. Ghodasen VDC. @KSumaylo

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 School waste management pits were built to help prevent disease outbreaks and maintain
sanitation, Ghodasen VDC. @KSumaylo

• Building the Knowledge, Skills and Capacity of Children and Teachers in School on DRR and
Climate Change
The programme support comprehensive district level training to teachers and students on
vulnerability and capacity assessment (VCA), climate change as well as basic preparedness skills on
first aid and light search and rescue in 25 schools across the five programme districts. The training
led to teachers and students working closely to conduct VCA in their schools, develop emergency
preparedness and response plan and hazard-specific evacuation plan.

A school evacuation plan in Ghodasan VDC, Accham District Head teacher in Ramnagar shows the School Evacuation
@KSumaylo Plan and Disaster Risk Management Plan in Ramnagar VDC,
Saptari District @KSumaylo

At the school level, the programme also sensitized 87, 105 students and 4,208 community members,
school management committees and teachers on the importance of DRR and climate change, in
partnership with the District Education Office and the Department of Education.

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Simulation drills for earthquake, fire and
lightning also a conducted as way to build
awareness and test the emergency response
and evacuation plans.
Students and teachers indicate that they feel
safer with all these measures in place and
help them conduct their regular awareness
raising activities and simulation exercises
easily. After the VCA, Student Safety Club,
with the assistance from programme staff,
prepared emergency evacuation plan of the
school and is conducting regular drill. After
the orientation to students and teachers, they
realized the importance of emergency plan
and drill. The main purpose of testing the evacuation plan and doing the emergency drill is to
prepare the children to adopt appropriate steps during a disaster or any emergency. Schools would
established a system of drill in regular interval as decided by the school.

Concluding Note
The good practices on school-based DRR demonstrate that a combination of capacity building
support on risk assessment and school safety planning and leadership skills of children and teachers,
combined with implementation of non-structural and structural measures have been key to building
a culture of safety. Disaster preparedness measures and conduct of simulation drills allow school to
continuously test their emergency plans and adjust them accordingly. Overall, the programme
component on school-based DRR shows the importance of commitment from both schools and
district education authorities to follow-through the results of the VCA, to listen to school children’s
disaster risk priorities and to leverage technical and financial resources for retrofitting and school
safety plan implementation.

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 Good Practice: Preparing Children and Adolescents for Disasters
and Emergencies

To make community based DRR work, community members must be involved in their identification
of their risks and their needs. They also need to be made capable how to protect themselves and
how to respond to disasters and related emergencies. Ideally, community members are the first
responders in such events. To enable this, community members, including children, have to know
how to act in a timely and appropriate manner. This thinking moves away from the traditional view
of children as passive beneficiaries of
aid.

Recognizing the knowledge and

potentials that children and
adolescents have, the programme has
ensured that children and adolescents
have the knowledge and basic skills in
disaster preparedness and response
and the coordination task forces for
Early Warning System and Search and
Rescue.

Secondly, the programme supported

skills-training on life-saving methods Sarita Bista, A child club member of Ghodasen demonstrate her skills to provide
such as swimming and for fire first aid service during emergencies. @NRCS
management prevention.

Initial results of the training programmes have shown that the target communities and children are
better aware and prepared for emergencies. Children have expressed confidence that the trainings,
particularly the first aid, has been very useful in them to treat minor injuries. Lalsa Kumari Sahani, a
first aid training participant, proudly shared that:

“After the training, I started to provide first aid support if someone is injured during household
activities or from other causes in the community. Sometimes, people also call me the little doctor.”

After receiving the training, other children were also able to demonstrate their skills in the
community. One such incident was on 15th January 2016, when a fire was started in a yard at ward
No 4 of Siswa Belhi VDC in Saptari District. People gathered to put out the fire to stop it from
spreading to the village houses. Arjun Mandal, a participant of the adolescent search and rescue
training, said he was able to apply the knowledge he learned in the Search and Rescue Training.

“My friends supported to extinguish the fire by fetching water from the nearby tube well in a faster and
safer way. We lined up from the tube well and carried water in buckets and helped to extinguish fire.
The process we learned was safe and efficient”.

Arjun shared about his contribution. Jagdhar Mandal, a local villagers shared that Arjun’s skills were
very useful in stopping the fire.

The training has also been changing people’s behavior towards fire safety. Amit Sah, a child club
member of Parsa, shared:

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 “…during training, we learned how to extinguish fire safely. During the practical exercise, we could
learn many things about how the fire spreads and how we can stop it. This exercise will definitely help
us if there is fire incident, moreover, it will also help us to prevent it because now we will clear up the
materials which catches fire early as well as other things that help to spread the fire. Previously, we
knew that dry litters catches up fire early but through the exercise, we can see how the fire moves
ahead.”

Trained children share their learning to fellow child club members. @NRCS.

The stories of positive behavioral change and increased knowledge and skills from the programme
have helped develop their confidence and capacities to respond to future disasters. The programme
works closely with community and village stakeholders to ensure they active facilitate discussions and
refresher so that learnings are not forgotten.

Bringing community service providers for DRR

Disaster preparedness life-saving training has also been complemented by orientations to community
service providers for nutrition and health, the female community health workers (FCHVs), Gender
Based Violence (GBC) watch group, a grassroots protection mechanism, and mothers’ groups on DRR.
This is to ensure that child-centred DRR becomes a community-wide priority in planning and service
delivery.

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 Good Practice: Enhancing Community Safety and Resilience
through Community Based Early Warning System

The availability and dissemination of timely risk information can enhance community safety, minimize
damage and losses and save lives during a disaster. That’s why a community- based early warning
system, also called EWS, is a crucial component for effective disaster risk management. EWS follows
the following cycle of:

1. Generating risk knowledge through various methods such as disaster risk assessment and
geo-spatial hazard mapping
2. After generating risk knowledge, an early warning service or system is set up where they are
needed. In areas with existing EWS for specific hazards, say flooding or rainfall, communities
and local authorities such as the VDC and the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology
can link them up to existing hydro meteorological channels. Linking communities to risk
communication can be done by establishing a risk communication channel. EWS instruments
may be automatic sensors or manual stations such as rainfall and flood gauges, which
require a monitor. In manual stations, a local personnel and a community trained can be
trained to maintain the system and keep records of rainfall on an agreed basis.
3. Once the EWS and communication protocols are established, communities are trained on
how to act and respond to EWS warning signals. For flood, this means ensuring that there
are trained community members and first responders with skills on first aid and swimming.
Emergency equipment can be prepositioned as part of the disaster preparedness and
response planning process. Evacuation routes and safe spaces need to be identified
beforehand, and simulation drills can be done on a regular basis.
4. Information Dissemination involves ensuring that information is timely, reliable and are
known to community members. These can be done through community meetings, child club
discussions and training, and planning forums with WCF, CAC and LDMC. IEC materials can
be produced for different types of hazards and what community members need to know and
prepare for before, during and after.

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To demonstration innovations and linkages with community based disaster risk management, UNICEF
is supporting local governments and communities, in partnership with the Department of Hydrology
and Meteorology and the Nepal Red Cross Society, to establish early warning systems, including risk
communication channels, across the four programme districts. The selection of an appropriate EWS
measure is informed a technical and social field assessment as well as an inventory of existing EWS in
place. Children also participated in this process. The goal is to ensure that communities have access
to timely information on rainfall and flooding, which allows them to better prepare for and mitigate
potential risks. The 12 VDCs face hydro-meteorological hazards such as riverine and flash flood and
drought as well as geological hazards such as landslides and earthquake. In Nepal, early warning
systems are available for major river basins such as in Koshi and the Karnali rivers, but no reliable one
for flash flooding. For landslides, there is no one methodology and proven technology for landslide
prediction, but could be assessed in terms of susceptibility from both rainfall and geomorphological
conditions. In both instances, UNICEF has worked closely with communities, VDCs and DDCs as well as
with technical agencies like the DHM and the Himalayan Conservation Group to assess the suitability
of the proposed systems.

• Piloting early warning and risk management for landslide risk in Accham District.

The risk map of the Muli village shows that a

number of locations are at risk to landslide. One
villager, Mr. Bal Ram Bista, expressed his fear
during the interview: “The whole village is risk of
landslide. During monsoon, we always live in fear
that any time a huge landslide can sweep our
village. We don’t know when the landslide could
happen, but if we could get a few minutes of early
warning message, we could move to a safe place.”
Two programme VDCs, Ghodasen and Payal, are
also at risk to landslide, and LDMC and child club
members have all proposed risk mitigation
measures to prevent further damages to their
lands.

UNICEF is working with a team of landslide risk

experts from Himalayan Conservation Group (HCG)
to technical assess the geological conditions as well Elevation map of Accham, indicating 3 VDCs
as the hydro meteorological data. Initial findings
yield that all three VDCs in Accham are located in located in midland areas on top of large-scale
landslide mass. The mass is moving every year, and water management is an issue. If not managed
properly, the mass can trigger slope failures and more landslides Old landslide mass is convenient for
settlements and are fertile grounds for agriculture. Terraced lands require irrigation to have higher
productivity and allow diversified cropping patterns. About 53% of these lands are rain-fed. The VDCs
also experience six months of water and food deficits. Evidence from field investigation also show
unsustainable practices that contribute to land degradation. First, forestation is not widely practiced
in the villages. Increasing vegetation in the terraced lands on the slops is important for soil
conservation and water management. Second, open grazing for livestock farming, a major source of
household subsistence income, is putting stress on declining vegetation. Community forestry is not
widely practiced. Third, land use management is absent, so soil type and slope factors are not

24
considered in the choice of location for settlement, road construction, and for farming lands. In
Ghodasen, for instance, the small community road built by the VDC was carved out of a landslide mass.

Installed automatic rain gauge station in Kamal Bazaar, Accham for Muli and Ghoden VDC @NRCS

UNICEF is trying to help vulnerable communities in Accham by combining support for landslide risk
mitigation with establishing community based early warning system. Adjoining VDCs Ghodasen and
Accham will be served by an automatic sensor based at the Kamal Bazaar Municipality. The data from
the station will be sent to DHM in Dhadeldura Regional Office. In Payal, a manual rainfall gauge is
being set up, with an agreed threshold of 140 mm per hour. HCG is collaborating with DHM to refine
the rainfall threshold levels to be set for the early warning system. NRCS’ role is to make sure that
communities are consulted and are informed of the EWS. Through programme support, community
members have been sensitized on community-based EWS and selected community members,
including children, have been selected as part of the EWS task force.

• Connecting upstream and downstream communities in the Terai for flood EWS.

Three districts in the Terai are at risk to riverine and flash flooding and inundation. Joint field
assessment with UNICEF field offices, NRCS, DHM, the Distrct Development Committee (DDC) and
Practical Action were conducted to assess the feasibility of an early warning system (EWS) in the 9
programme VDCs.

Two VDCS (Mukhiyapatti and Naktajih) in Dhanusha and three VDCs (Harpur, Pidhari Gutti and Jhawa
Gutti) in Parsa are at risk to flash flooding. While no EWS has been developed yet for flash flooding,
the programme is supporting community awareness activities, setting risk communication channels
to connect upstream and downstream communities (with DEOC), and conducting simulation drills and
disaster preparedness measures.

25
 Communication channel between upstream and downstream for flash flooding.

VDCs which are at risk to riverine flooding from Kamala River like Bala Saghara in Dhanusha will be
linked to upstream hydrological stations in Sinduli and the river gauge at Godar Bridge. While riverine
flooding have not led to casualties, it has eroded riverbanks and encroached into farm lands.

Risk Communication Channel for Kamala River, connected to Balahan Saghara

VDC in Dhanusha @UNICEF

In Saptari Distrct, the DDC is coordinating with NRCS and Practical Action to establish risk
communication channels in the three VDCs. Flood early warning systems in the district have been
established for the Koshi River basin but not for smaller tributaries.

The three programme VDCs- Ramnagar, Rautahat and Siswa Belhi are prone to flash-flood originated
in the Churiya hills. Those VDCs will be linked with upstream communities – Hardiya VDC for Ramnagar
and Rautahat and the ward no. 9 of Khojpur VDC for Siswa Belhi VDCs.

26
Concluding Note
Good practices from programme implementation of community based EWS show the need for both
community risk assessment and technical analysis to determine the feasibility and appropriateness
for identified risks in the villages. UNICEF, together with NRCS, has established strategic coordination
with the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM) in all the sites to ensure that risk
communication channels are linked to existing hydrological stations, such as in Dhanusha, Saptari and
Parsa, and creating a forum for joint discussions between upstream and downstream communities.
Where setting up EWS equipment such as those at risk to flash flooding from the Churia range is not
feasible due to lack of tested technology, UNICEF and NRCS have intensified community based
awareness raising activities for DRR.

In Accham, UNICEF has engaged technical landslide risk assessment to inform future risk mitigation
measures (including those relating to agro-forestry, water management and livelihoods) and support
DHM to refine rainfall threshold models. At the national and district levels, UNICEF and NRCS are
closely coordinating with DHM to ensure the flow of data and risk communication from the newly-
established EWS stations in the three VDCs the communities and that these stations are maintained.

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End Note and Way Forward for Child-Centred DRR

The compilation of Good Practices in this booklet aims to show the benefits of building children and
adolescents’ knowledge, skills and capacities and how they have in turn utilized these to advocate for
the inclusion of needs and priorities in the local plans. The programme’s approach which followed a
systematic and complementary process of sensitizing and providing technical support to community
indicate the value of capacity development as well as demonstrating tangible community mitigation
measures. Further work will be done to ensure that communities are able to bring their local disaster
risk management priorities to the attention of district stakeholders, including the DDC, DEO and
district line agencies.

The potential to scale up school – community cooperation on DRR is very high and needs to be support
in all phases of planning and implementation on DRR.

For early warning systems and channels that have been established during the programme, the
ownership of the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology will be crucial to the maintenance of the
stations and the reliability of the data. As the programme has started in the first phase, continuous
community engagement such as awareness-raising activities, orientations to child club and school
safety clubs on DRR, and simulation drills can help retain knowledge and interest of the community.
The use of data from social risk assessment, through participatory methods, and technical assessment,
using socio-economic, geological and hydro-meteorological information, are important to create a
more realistic view of local risks and appropriate actions.

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