Disaster displacement: Nepal country briefing

This Nepal country briefing explains why events including monsoon floods, droughts, landslides, and earthquakes force thousands of people to leave their homes each year and shows how stronger data can support prevention and preparedness. It assesses the scale and major causes of displacement, along with the impacts on health, housing, livelihoods, and education. It analyzes the long-term effects on families, considers the government’s disaster risk reduction and displacement plans, and outlines how granular data could be used to draw up more inclusive prevention strategies as climate change intensifies.

Key takeaways from the briefing include:

1. Nepal is heavily affected by disaster displacement, with 3.4 million displacements recorded during 2012–2021. Climate change and low levels of human development increase the risk of disaster displacement.
2. On average,  96,000 people could be displaced in any given year in the future by earthquakes and riverine floods.
3. Nepal has adopted comprehensive policies to respond to internal displacement’s negative impacts on IDPs. National frameworks could be expanded to include measures to prevent disaster displacement beyond disaster  risk reduction.