Nepal’s Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives, Federal Affairs and General Administration has called for nominations for the “Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Leaders Capacity Development for the Sendai Framework Implementation Enrolment 2027” programme supported by JICA in Japan. The notice seeks four suitable candidates, comprising two women and two men, from relevant government agencies and eligible institutions.

The programme offers a two-year master’s course from October 2027 to September 2029 and a three-year doctoral course from October 2027 to September 2030. Candidates should generally be young or mid-career government officials or prospective academics expected to contribute to disaster-risk reduction policy formulation or implementation. Applicants for the master’s programme should generally be 35 or younger, while doctoral applicants should be 40 or younger, calculated as of April 1 in the year of enrolment.

Applicants must hold the relevant academic qualification—at least a bachelor’s degree for the master’s track and a master’s degree for the PhD track—and demonstrate sufficient English proficiency. The stated benchmarks are TOEFL iBT 80, IELTS 6.5 or Duolingo 120–125. Candidates must also be in good health, physically travel to Japan for their studies and not receive or plan to receive another Japanese government-funded scholarship during the programme.

The nomination deadline is October 7, 2026, with participating agencies required to submit candidate details in the prescribed format. The ministry has also noted that qualified employees working within the ministry and its subordinate bodies may apply, while nominations must comply with the objectives and conditions specified in the programme’s project description.