Disasters and Development in South Asia
Panel 1: Responding to disasters: The politics, policies and processes of disaster mitigation and management
This panel will discuss disaster preparedness, response and recovery in Nepal as a way to prevent deaths, disabilities and destruction disasters can cause. The panel will explore the successes and challenges of risk mitigation and disaster management in pre- and post-earthquake Nepal, and provide lessons for the future. Panelists will draw on their work in Nepal and around the world to examine the political, programmatic, and financial arrangements that are necessary for equitable risk mitigation and disaster management in urban and rural areas. Topics include: strengthening health systems, urban planning, legal measures, law enforcement, donor funding, and the design and implementation of health and development programs. In particular, panelists will address the role youth and women play in risk mitigation and disaster management.
This panel is moderated by Dr. Jennifer Leaning, director of FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Her research interests include early warning in response to war and disaster, human rights and international humanitarian law in crises setting. Panelists include Dr. Vincenzo Bolletino, Brabim Kumar, and Emily Troutman. Dr. Bolletino is the director of Resilient Communities Program at the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative. Mr. Kumar is a youth activist and the president of Association of Youth Organizations Nepal (AYON). Ms. Troutman is a journalist, photographer, and the founder of Aid Works where she wrote extensively about aid accountability and the Nepal earthquake.
