The fragile geology and steep topography have made Nepal amongst the topmost disaster-prone countries in the world. Nepal ranks 4th, 11th, and 30th with regard to relative vulnerability to climate change, earthquake, and flood hazards respectively. It faces high magnitudes and intensities of a multitude of natural hazards such as flood, landslide, earthquake, fire, cold waves, hailstone, windstorm, thunderbolt, cloudburst, drought, Glacier lake outburst flood (GLOF), avalanches, and epidemics. Historical records from Desinventar and DRR portal visualizes that the country has been suffering from a number of disasters. Within the horizontal extent of 90-120km, the elevation of the country ranges from 30m(Terai) to 8848m(Mt. Everest). Nepal lies in one of the most seismically active regions of the world with a long history of earthquakes. Besides, the hilly areas, with rough topography and very young geology, are susceptible to landslides while the lowland Terai is very much prone to floods. Avalanches, GLOFs, and snowstorms are also common in the high hills of Nepal.

Despite the existing risk imposed by the hazards, the approaches towards Disaster Risk Reduction and Management still seem primitive. The multi-hazard lens of reacting to the disaster with effective preparedness seems way below par. Similarly, the level of understanding of risk and dynamics of hazards hasn’t improved much thereby creating visible gaps in disaster and development. There are some records of very limited practices and piloting of science and technologies-based innovations, however, there have been problems of scaling and implementation on the broader scale. The country has been aligning with the SFDRR, a number of treaties and agreements related to DRR, and marking its way to sustainability. However, the implementation side has been found challenging with the need for effective prioritization on achieving the DRR indicators. Existing systems, institutions, and mechanisms seem to require a sound intervention from the united Pool of Professionals and External Think Tank.

Thus, With a vision of preparing risk-informed societies for achieving disaster resilience and sustainable development, an interdisciplinary team of academicians, experts, practitioners, and early career professionals founded the Institute of Himalayan Risk Reduction. Here at IHRR, we promote innovations and science-based decision-making in the DRRM. Through the successful piloting and reference of best practices, we aim to co-create economic and feasible solutions to the problems. The gaps between the policy and implementations will be solved through Advocacy and meaningful Intervention while the capacities will be constantly upgraded through the blendings of science, technology, and local resources. The lens of the multi-hazard spectrum aided with the interdisciplinary approach and wide multi-stakeholder collaboration will be the prime focus of IHRR.