Leveraging Collaboration for Disaster Risk Reduction in the Koshi Basin

The Koshi River basin, which supports over 40 million people, is prone to natural disasters. Floods, landslides, and droughts have transboundary impacts in this basin shared by China, India, and Nepal. Hydrometeorological events upstream lead to disasters downstream, affecting millions of people, destroying infrastructure and disrupting development.

Extreme weather events due to climate change and environmental degradation are likely to magnify the frequency and intensity of such disasters. Women and the marginalized are most vulnerable as they lack access to information and the capacity to prepare for disasters and deal with their aftermath.

There have been efforts to improve disaster risk reduction (DRR) in the Koshi basin but the related policies and practices still do not use a multi-hazard approach. Upstream-downstream linkages in the Koshi basin can form the basis for coping with shared disasters and provide opportunities for DRR and resilient livelihoods. Effective cooperation can be achieved by sharing knowledge and fostering practices that address the transboundary nature and scale of disaster.