By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Dec. 8: The International Conference on Nepal’s Reconstruction (ICNR) 2021 is starting on Wednesday in the Capital. President Bidya Devi Bhandari is scheduled to inaugurate the second edition of the conference on post-quake reconstruction.

The first conference was held in June 2015, in the aftermath of the devastating Gorkha Earthquake on 25 April the same year that killed 8,970 people and damaged about 800,000 houses, cultural heritages, education and health facilities and development infrastructure.

International guests and delegates have begun to arrive in Kathmandu on Tuesday. The organiser of the event, National Reconstruction Authority (NRA), said that the conference named “From Reconstruction to Resilience” was being organized to share Nepal’s learning and experiences with national and international communities.
The conference also aims at strengthening relationship between government and multilateral agencies, bilateral agencies and civil society considering the way forward on resilient Nepal, and informing the government about the disaster-related laws and policies.

Various research papers will be presented at the ICNR on different aspects of reconstruction like private housing reconstruction, rebuilding of cultural heritage sites, reconstruction of public infrastructures, initiatives on livelihood and economic recovery and governance.

Various issue-based parallel sessions will also be organized during the three-day conference. There will be separate sessions for political parties, journalists, non-government organisations, private sector and other stakeholders. A dedicated webpage (www.icnr.nra.gov.np) is also developed and published targeting the conference.

Leaders from the reconstruction bodies in New Zealand, Pakistan, India, France, Japan, Switzerland, Canada, and the United Kingdom will participate in the deliberations during the conference. It will be attended by the representatives of the bilateral and multilateral agencies.
The NRA had initiated the preparations for the conference since a year ago. It has organized various seminars, workshops, published research articles in international journals, created a mobile app, and managed the logistics for the conference.

The reconstruction body was established on 25 December 2015 with a five-year mandate. With the expiry of its deadline, it got a year’s extension till 24 December 2021.
The NRA has completed the basic reconstruction and rehabilitation works of infrastructures damaged in the April 25, 2015 earthquake during almost six years of its establishment and has already handed over the responsibility of remaining works to concerned ministries, departments and agencies, read a statement issued by it in October.

The first ICNR in 2015 had garnered support of Rs. 321 billion from the international community. Out of this amount, agreements have been signed for Rs. 313 billion which is 97.5 percent of the committed amount.