Poster #100 - Seizing the Moment: Nepal’s Post-Earthquake Disaster Governance Reform through the Lens of the Multiple Streams Framework

• In Event: Saturday Poster Luncheon

Abstract

Policy change in developing countries often unfolds not through planned progression but during moments of crisis, when long-standing problems, policy alternatives, and political conditions align. This paper applies Kingdon’s (1995) Multiple Streams Framework (MSF) to examine the formulation of Nepal’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act (2017) and the subsequent creation of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA), following the 2015 Gorkha Earthquake. Using qualitative document analysis of policy documents and institutional reports, along with a literature review, the study traces how the earthquake served as a focusing event that exposed critical weaknesses in Nepal’s disaster governance. The analysis shows how policy communities—including civil servants, international organizations, and domestic NGOs—had long developed reform proposals aligned with global frameworks such as the Sendai Framework. These ideas gained traction when the newly adopted 2015 Constitution established a federal structure, ushering in political support and institutional reconfiguration. The findings show that the convergence of the problem, policy, and political streams created a rare policy window. Policy entrepreneurs leveraged this window to advance transformative legislation and institutional change. Nepal’s case provides insights into how developing countries can navigate crisis moments to institutionalize reform, particularly when prepared policy solutions and favorable political contexts align. The findings contribute to scholarship on agenda-setting, crisis-driven policy change, and disaster governance.

Author

• Bikash Adhikari, University of Central Florida
  Presenting Author