This research collects and documents the experiences of women in reconstruction at community level, district level, and national level after the 2015 Gorkha earthquake in Nepal. Quantitative data was collected from 679 respondents; 304 respondents who are going through, or have completed, the reconstruction of their house, 226 respondents that have taken part in mason training, and 150 respondents that were both going through, or have completed, the reconstruction of their house and taken part in mason training. Qualitative data was collected through interviews with women at district level (15 women in each district) and with 10 women at national level.
The findings indicate that the reconstruction has provided an opportunity for many women in terms of employment, training, and increased confidence. However, many women also face discrimination in the reconstruction, indicating that concrete and consolidated effort is required to ensure effective engagement of women; if more than 50% of the population are not engaged in the reconstruction it is impossible for it to be successful.