Response Strategy for Water Resources Management (2024).

The objective of the response strategy is to promote the development of climate resilient and inclusive water resources and WASH policies and plans, and to address climate risks and explore opportunities for water resources management. It consists of six chapters: I. Introduction; II. Barriers, Root Causes and Action; III. Response Strategy; IV. Financing for Strategy Implementation; V. Implementation Arrangement; and VI. Monitoring and Reporting Mechanisms.
Chapter I contains the background on water resources and WASH services in Nepal, along with the climate change policies, and the constitutional and legal provision in respect of water resources and WASH services. Chapter II describes the workshops conducted to identify the bottlenecks and barriers. Chapter III contains the vision, goal and guiding principles of the response strategy which include adoption of integrated water resources management, river basin approach, mainstreaming gender equality and social inclusion, and enhancing water users associations in conserving and managing water resources. Overall, 22 strategies for actions and sub-actions have been developed to mitigate the barriers prioritised for water resources management and WASH services under the following heads: Policy Implementation, Institutional Coordination, and Data and Capacity Building.
Chapter IV lays down the estimated costs for priority activities and the funding source. Chapter V identifies the role of the government, inter-agency committees, public participation and private sector, and also provides for the composition of the National Water Resources Coordination Committee. Chapter VI sets out the response strategy monitoring framework and the reporting mechanism for preparation of a consolidated national report.