The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) is an institution and the apex body for disaster management in Nepal, not India. It was established to manage and address all phases of Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) in the country, functioning under Nepal's Ministry of Home Affairs. The creation of the NDRRMA was driven by the need for a comprehensive, holistic, and integrated approach to disaster management, shifting focus to risk reduction and resilience building.
The NDRRMA works by coordinating with international agencies, donors, and all tiers of government, with a priority on empowering local governments for DRRM responsibilities. Its mechanism involves managing all four phases of DRRM: prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery. For an Indian reader, the NDRRMA is a crucial international concept because it directly connects to India's disaster management framework for cross-border issues in the sub-Himalayan region.
The NDRRMA coordinates with India's National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) on shared hazards like floods and glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs). For instance, the NDRRMA's data is vital for India's National GLOF Risk Mitigation Programme (NGRMP). The Indian equivalent, the NDMA, is an institution established under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, and is chaired by the Prime Minister of India. Recently, the NDRRMA's function has been expected to internalize the change in Nepal's governance system from unitary to federal, delegating DRRM responsibilities to local governments.