Australia Awards South and West Asia

On 13 September, Australia Awards – Nepal organised a webinar on ‘Disability-Inclusive Disaster Risk Reduction (DIDRR)’. Alum Pallav Pant chaired the webinar and shared his expertise on the topic with more than 30 alumni. Pallav received an Australia Awards Fellowship in 2017 to study ‘Developing a Framework for Inclusive Disaster Management in Nepal’ at Queensland University of Technology.

During the webinar, Pallav highlighted various facts and statistics about disability and disaster risk reduction. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), an estimated 1.3 billion people—approximately 16% of the global population—currently experience significant disability. In Nepal, government data reports that 2.3% of the total population has at least one type of disability. However, organisations working in disability sectors claim that people with disability actually represent as much as 10% of the population in Nepal.

Pallav (top right) conducting the presentation.

According to the United Nations, people with disability are more likely to be left behind, and their mortality rate is two to four times that of those who are not living with disabilities. The main factors in this inequality, as shared by Pallav, include limited mobility, communication barriers, lack of access to information and assistive services, evacuation challenges, and medical service needs. As a result, people with disability experience many adverse outcomes, including loss of life, injuries, damage of property, displacement and homelessness, and different socio-economic challenges.

Pallav also touched on the government policies and institutional mechanisms that address disaster risk reduction in Nepal. He said DIDRR has been a subject of attention among policymakers and other stakeholders since the massive 2015 earthquake in Nepal. While acknowledging Nepal’s progress in DIDRR, Pallav also highlighted the challenges that the country faces, including poverty, deep-rooted prejudice and discrimination against people with disability, institutional roadblocks, and administrative hurdles. To overcome these challenges, Pallav urged stakeholders to raise awareness of DIDRR and ensure that people with disability participate in policy making.

Alumni participating in the webinar.

In addition to drawing on Pallav’s studies, the webinar also reflected his practical experience. He was actively engaged in formulating a DIDRR resource book that seeks to disseminate comprehensive information and raise awareness about various disabilities and the concept of DIDRR. This resource was later endorsed by the Government of Nepal. Pallav has also developed a mobile SOS app called Bachau. The app is designed for people with hearing impairments (hard of hearing and deaf) looking for medical response or other assistance in an emergency. They can use this app to send alerts to the ambulance, fire brigade and police to seek help or a response. Pallav used support from an Australia Awards Alumni Disability Initiative Grant to further develop guidelines for using the Bachau app to receive accessible alerts and notifications.

He was a member of Australia Awards – South Asia & Mongolia’s Alumni Disability Advisory Group (ADAG) until recently and delivery of the webinar was part of his commitments as an ADAG member.