National Business Initiative (NBI), in partnership with Asia Pacific Alliance for Disaster Management (A-PAD), held the first National Platform Preparatory Meeting in Kathmandu.

The meeting was organized to share the ideas and suggestions compiled from previous meetings conducted with multi-sector stakeholders. Discussions focused on how to establish the multi-sectoral National Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) platform in Nepal including the roles and responsibilities of the private sector in DRR, current policies and legal provisions, issues and challenges in disaster management and ways to reduce disaster risks in the future. The secretary of NBI, Mr. Suresh Pradhan, opened the meeting and the president of NBI, Mr. Kush Kumar Joshi gave welcoming remarks and shared the meeting’s scope. He stated, “The private sector can and is already contributing through corporate social responsibility (CSR) during emergencies. This can be developed into a sustainable mechanism by channeling CSR funds into disaster risk reduction. In addition, the private sector can look for business and innovation opportunities even during times of disaster.” Subsequently, Mr. Karna Bahadur, APAD’s Nepal Country Coordinator shared the objectives of the meeting including a brief introduction of A-PAD.

After a summary presentation of the previous meeting, DRR expert Mr. Ram Chandra Neupane presented on the current situation of Nepal and the existing platforms and networks working in disaster management. During the discussion, participants suggested working closely with the government and National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (NPDRR), empowering and engaging local communities, and developing a mechanism to highlight the contributions from the private sector during emergencies.

Consequently, the floor was opened to gather ideas from the participants. They had shared that the establishment of the National platform is a step in the right direction and that further private sector involvement in DRR is urgently required, Additionally, the participants reiterated the importance of the link with NPDRR and raised concerns on sustainability of the platform. 

Participants included: Tayar Nepal (USAID), ECO Nepal (CSO), Kathmandu University (Academia), NSET (CSO), Nepal LP GAS, Dakshinkali Municipality,  Radio Sagarmatha, Chambers of commerce, FNCCI, online newspaper, Federation Women entrepreneurs, Federation of Grill and Steel Fabricators Nepal,  Disaster Preparedness Network, setoghar.com, bizcarenepal, Corporatenepal.com etc.