Nepal could show the world how to recover sustainably from a major disaster

Buddhist monks conducting death rituals in Nepal's Trishuli river valley in September 2026 to honour victims of devastating flash floods. (Usha Titikshu) , CC BY With chances of further sensational hydropower tunnel rescues dimming, the devastating ice-rock avalanche in August at the Nepal-Tibet border and catastrophic floods downstream are no longer making global headlines.

But now is the time to pay careful attention to community-centred lessons from past disasters as complex planning decisions are made about recovery and reconstruction that will shape long-term outcomes.

Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority recently released a Rapid Disaster Needs Assessment (RDNA) highlighting many of the challenges facing disaster-affected Nepalis, including the approximately 33,000 who have lost their homes.

As Nepal prepares long-term recovery and risk-reduction strategies, we offer insights from our collaborative research about post-disaster reconstruction and displacement following Nepal’s 2015 earthquake, as well as ongoing mountain hazards , to highlight areas of concern for the country’s affected communities.

Policies and funding must protect people’s livelihoods and rights while the global community must meet Nepal’s demands for climate justice and reparation .

A focus on the climate impact may help reduce long-term risk and vulnerability, but must proceed in tandem with in-depth engagement with affected communities, including many Indigenous Peoples , to determine what their immediate future will look like.

Farmers’ fields in Betrawati, Nuwakot, Nepal, following the floods. (Suman Nepali/Nepali Times) , CC BY Rebuilding livelihoods amid risk The destruction of entire villages, road-bridge networks and economic hubs raises major reconstruction challenges for Nepali communities and households.

After the 2015 earthquake that left more than 800,000 houses in need of reconstruction , most homeowners received small grants to rebuild through an “owner-driven reconstruction” model .

But families affected by the current disaster may find little point in rebuilding their homes if there are no nearby roads, schools or economic opportunities.

For many farmers, the land that underpins their agricultural livelihoods has been washed away.

The RDNA rightly states that “household recovery … depends on the restoration of connected services and access,” which in turn requires viable terrain.

Some households may find that upcoming technical assessments deem their land too hazardous to rebuild on.

As in past disasters, “integrated settlements” are being discussed to collectively resettle displaced communities.