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Nepal beholds vast topographic, climatic, floral and faunal diversity. These are however shaped and reshaped by disasters since ages. The slow but persistent mass movements of tectonic plates beneath its surface puts Nepal in a very active seismic zone, ranking it as the 11th most vulnerable country to earthquake risks. The monsoon rainfalls, trapped by the Himalayan range in the North, brings crucial life sustaining rainfall in the country. However, it brings equal hardships, as the rivers flowing from steep mountain ranges cause widespread flooding due to excessive precipitation. In addition, it induces numerous landslides in the mountain and hill regions of the country. Both floods and landslides further increase greater inundation in the southern plains of the country. The rapid alterations in the climatic condition is further exacerbating both the intensity and impact of such disasters in Nepal. Apart from such stated disasters, the country is also exposed to fire, storms and other various human induced disasters. Nepal has been ranked as the 30th most vulnerable country to flood risks and the 4th most vulnerable to climate change induced risks; while Kathmandu in particular has been considered to be the 21st most vulnerable city in the world.

Hazards that give rise to disaster risks in Nepal could be classified into the following categories – geological (e.g. earthquake due to tectonic plate movement, fragile young mountain), geo-physical (e.g. high mountain peaks, steep land, dry landslide, river basin and low plains), hydrological (wet landslide, flood, inundation), meteorological (e.g. rainfall, storm, tornado), climatological (e.g. extreme temperature such as heat wave, cold wave, drought, fire), biological (e.g. insect infestation, epidemic) and human induced (technical, nuclear, chemical) hazards. Fragile young mountainous areas together with rising population, poverty, and haphazardly expanding urbanization are causing multiple hazards occurring simultaneously, putting Nepal at a very high level of disaster risks. Nepal faces floods and repeated inundation in the southern low lands of Nepal. Moreover, the climatological extremes and extensive exploitation of natural resources (of stone aggregates, boulders, sand, soil, water, forest) are increasing occurrence and intensity of disasters, putting more and more of development investment at risk; and making more people vulnerable, particularly the poor, the women, the socially excluded and marginalized groups suffering from disaster risks. These vulnerabilities are often exacerbated by other factors such as age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, caste ethnicity or religion. Pre-existing societal structures, social norms, discriminatory practices and gender roles create or contribute to heightened risks for some members of the community-such as children, persons with disabilities, sexual and gender minorities, people living with HIV/AIDS, adolescent girls, single women, female headed household, pregnant and lactating mothers, senior citizens, Dalit women, women from religious and ethnic minorities and indigenous women.

It is also worth to note the armed conflict, one of the major humanitarian crisis that Nepal faced during the beginning of this millennium. These natural and human induced disaster risks, together with the Earthquake of 2015 has forced Nepal to learn several lessons and to expedite its efforts on disaster risk reduction and response management.

Under the federal structure now, Nepal has three tiers of government. There is however not adequate understanding about Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRM). The Government of Nepal (GoN) is therefore intensifying its efforts to build understanding and capacity of key federal ministries and the provincial as well as local governments for effective Disaster Risk Reduction and Management at all levels.