Gender Equality and Social Inclusion
1. Gender Equality- Pre-disaster Context
Nepal ranks relatively low on the UNDP Human Development Index; 145th out of 187 countries, which
places it within the least developed country index. The percentage of the population living below the
poverty line has steadily fallen from 42 in 1996 to 25.4% in 2011i. Nepal ranks 98 out xxxxx countries
on the gender inequality indexii. Women make up 50.5% of the Nepali population and the total fertility
per women is 2.3 births. Females have a slightly longer life expectancy than males: 69.6 compared to
67.3 years. The education gap between women and men is quite large. In the 15-49 age group, over
40% of the women have never been to school, compared to 14% for men. Male literacy rate is 75.1%
compared to female literacy rate of 57.4%. It is estimated that female-headed households (FHHH)
make 25.7% of all national households. With the large scale male out migration, women have crossed
all boundaries of gender division of labour and sociocultural norms. The share of women’s wage
employment in the non-agricultural sector has more than doubled, from just under 19.9% in 2009 to
44.8% in 2011.
Although there have been some progress, such as the creation of Ministry of Women, Children and
Social Welfare (MOWCSW) and introduction of gender responsive budgeting, women remain poorly
represented in state mechanism and decision-making processes at all levels. Poor participation and
representation is the lowest amongst Dalit and indigenous women. The share of women’s
representation in Constituent Assembly, the cabinet and in the public life is less than the required
30%. Similar to decisions making processes, women have limited access and control over household
and economic assets. Only 19.7% of the household ownership of land, house or both is in the name of
a female member of the householdiii.
The national mechanism for promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment is through the
MOWCSW. The Ministry is responsible for formulation, implementation and monitoring of national
policies and strategies as well as providing support to other line ministries in gender mainstreaming
in the sectoral activities. This structure is reflected at the subnational level through the Local
Development Ministry at the district level and the Village Development Committees (VDC). However,
participation of women and disadvantaged groups remains low (16%) at the VDC council meetings.
However, local governments have established ward citizen forums and Community Awareness Centres
(CACs) in the villages, which have women’s participation rate of 80%. WCF and CACs play an important
role of facilitating women's participation in integrated planning process.
Furthermore, Nepal has Gender responsive budget (GRB) with the aim to ensure that the needs and
interest of women and men from different groups are addressed in governments’ budget. More recent
years, the Ministry has put significant emphasis on the importance of making deliberate efforts to
translate policies aimed at addressing gender inequalities into targeted and funded programs and to
track public expenditures from a gender perspective.
Vibrant civil society woking on humnn rights and women’s empowerment. Collaboration with
government
Commuity centres
Based on the Nepal 2011 national census, the 14 most affected districts include approximately:
Social Group
Total population of affected women and girls
Female headed households
Population Size
2.7 million
0.327 million
People living with disabilities
Senior Citizens (over 65yrs)
Girls under the age of 14 years
Pregnant and lactating mothers
Dalit Population
0.322 million (0.04 million are women and girls)
0.163 million (women only)
0.794 million
0.092 million
????
2. Disaster Impact
Women and girls sustained higher levels of deaths (55%) in comparison to men (45%)1. This higher
levels have been attributed to a number of factors including the skewed higher number of women in
comparison to men due to absent male population which is living outside Nepal. This skewedness
could also explain why the number of male deaths are higher in Kathmandu, which has a higher male
population than that of women. Furthermore, the higher number of female deaths also reflects their
gender roles, women and girls are more likely to be inside the house than men, hence the high number
of deaths, but also it was also reported that women delayed their escape during the earthquake to
rescue their children and their elderly family members as well as valuables. The differences in
behaviours between the two sexes also explain the inverse ratios in injuries between men and women
as per the figure below. More men and boys than women and girls were injured because they were
able to run faster and escape deaths with injuries.
INJURIES
Female
48%
Male
52%
Studies across the globe have shown that women and girls tend to be disproportionally affected than
men and girls due to their gender roles. The differences in deaths and injuries between men and
women have implications on future disaster risk reduction policies. Tailoring of earthquake and
disaster risk reduction awareness programmes and messaging for women, girls and men and boys on
what to do in an earthquake will be essential.
SOCIAL SECTOR
Housing Sector
It is estimated that 326,943 households in the 14 affected districts are female-headed (27% of all
households). However, it can be anticipated that this figure will increase due to households who have
lost their husbands to the earthquake. Similarly, it can anticipated that there will be an increase in
single male households due to a higher earthquake fatalities rates among women. Special attention
1
Based on the data provided by the Nepal Disaster Risk Reduction Portal: http://drrportal.gov.np/
may be needed in Gorkha, where a third of all households are female headed. This is largely due to
high migration rates among males of productive age. It is noted however that contrary to other
countries, FHHH are, on average, less poor than the MHHH. Studies conducted in 2004 showed that
only 24% of the FHHH population lived below the poverty line compared to 32% of MHHH. Some have
attributed this difference due to higher remittances flowing to FHHH – approximately 65%, in contrast
to only 24% flowing to male-headed households (CBS 2005). The table below shows that FHHH in the
most 14 affected districts have sustained damage and loss of approximately $97 billion rupees.
Table X: Damage and Loss Sustained by Female Headed Households:
District
Sindhupalchowk
Kathmandu
Nuwakot
Dhading
Rasuwa
Gorkha
Bhaktapur
Kavrepalanchowk
Lalitpur
Dolakha
Ramechhap
Makawanpur
Okhaldhunga
Sindhuli
Total
Total Damage
(NPR million)
34,438.68
74,604.63
31,976.54
26,893.39
4,020.74
38,053.41
18,121.44
31,951.29
15,531.58
26,333.94
15,955.83
15,197.85
5,378.72
12,004.79
% of
FHHH
24%
28%
21%
28%
22%
37%
22%
21%
24%
34%
28%
23%
28%
25%
Damage to FHHH
(NPR Million)
8,282.50
20,740.09
6,811.00
7,481.74
904.26
14,159.67
4,021.15
6,796.04
3,716.71
9,058.87
4,477.21
3,427.12
1,527.56
2,949.58
350,462.84
26%
94,353.50
Total Losses
(NPR million)
727.74
3905.57
683.83
595.28
84.79
1055.07
705.62
721.38
640.64
577.41
347.69
383.72
110.57
274.08
10,813.39
FHHH
Losses (NPR
million)
175.02
1085.75
145.66
165.61
19.07
392.59
156.58
153.44
153.30
198.63
97.56
86.53
31.40
67.34
Total Effect
(NPR
million)
8,457.52
21,825.83
6,956.66
7,647.35
923.33
14,552.27
4,177.72
6,949.48
3,870.01
9,257.51
4,574.77
3,513.64
1,558.96
3,016.92
2,928.48
Although, FHHH do not make up the poorest households, the statistics can obscure the extremely poor
female headed houses hold especially widows, divorced, and separated women and single
(unmarried) women. Women also face low rates of land and home ownership, which only stands at
10.7%. Closely tied to women’s access to land and property is their ownership of home-based
economic resources and assets that are limited but nonetheless significant to their well-being. Based
on the Nepal Living Standards Survey 2010/11, some of the major ones that are relevant to female
members of the households include kitchen utensils, jewellery, livestock and poultry, as well as various
agricultural implements. These items are vital to women’s economic livelihoods since 64% of women
across the country are engaged in self-employment activities and/or unpaid family labour and loss of
these assets would translate into direct loss of women’s income and livelihood options (Census
2011).Although the impact of the disaster is not disaggregated by other diversities such as ethnicity
and disability, assuming that ownership patterns follow those observed in the 2011 census, it can be
assumed that damage and losses incurred by marginalised groups are very high, especially considering
that the housing quality of marginalised groups tend to be poor.
Most households will not be able to reconstruct new homes before the start of the monsoon. Indeed
it was noted during field visits that women and men were allocating substantial amount of time
salvaging building materials like bricks and iron roof to construct temporary shelters. One of the
shelter concerns raised in some of the districts such as Sindhulpachowk and Kavre include the risk of
sexual violence for female headed households and their daughters as they are now sleeping in highly
unsecured shelters.
97,281.97
Recovery Needs:
a) Short-term need: construction of shelters that have separate sleep areas for women and girls,
and men and boys. In addition shelter construction should be accompanied by provision of
segregated toilet and wash facilities as well good lighting to deter sexual violence, and
accessible to PLWDs. Further construction should include spaces for women and children.
b) Considering the high levels of FHHH, it is recommended that at least 25% of the house
reconstruction and rehabilitation funds should be allocated to FHHHs. Care should be taken
that this assistance reaches single women, divorced women and widows who are the poorest
groups within the FHHH, PLWD;
c) Considering that only 10.7% of women own land and houses; access to new homes or home
building finance should be made on condition of joint spouse ownership and full ownership
to female heads and single women. Care should be taken to ensure that single women are not
denied of new homes because they cannot get consent for ownership.
d) Consultation with women in the design and construction of the house is essential as women
often use their homes for income generation. Earthquake proof design should also take into
account of ethnicity and cultural heritage and sensitivities, as well the needs of PLWD.
e) Participation of women in the actual rebuilding is also crucial to provide them with new skills
and alternative income. At least 30% of all trained masonries should be women.
Education
The educational attainment of females is lower than that of males even though the gender gap has
narrowed in recent years. There are marked gender disparities in literacy rates: 72% of males aged 6
years and older are literate in contrast with 51% of females. The ratio of girls to boys in primary school
(grades one to five) has improved significantly since 1990, and the MDG target set for 2015 had been
achieved by 2013. However, it’s worth noting that only 11.8% of Dalits girls are enrolled in secondary
or higher level of education. It is estimated that 1.6 million children were enrolled pre-crisis in 14 most
affected districts. Department of Education (DoE) reports that a total of 32,145 classrooms; 27,242
(public) and additional 4,903 (private) school classrooms estimated have been totally destroyed or
majorly damaged. As a result of the disaster, it is estimated that 1, 399, 037 children out of school
(699,100 girls and 699, 937 boys) in the 14 most affected districts.
Although schools have opened, parents indicated that they were afraid to send their children to school
because of safety of school buildings should another earthquake happen. Interviews with children also
showed that children are afraid to leave their parents and return to school. Taking into account the
lower enrolment of girls in schools in comparison with boys, there is an added risk of girls being pulled
out of school to help with household work. An assessment of reason for not attending school for
female population (6-24 years) who have ever attended schools reveals that two major obstacles for
girls not attending schools are "parent did not want" (35.3%) and to "help at home" (29.6%) (NLSS,
vol. Table 5.2). Another imminent risk is to girls in school is early marriage, which is still rampant in
Nepal. Okhaldhunga, Dhading, Gorkha and Rasuwa have the highest risk to early marriage for girls as
more than 70% marry before the age of 19. Parents could resort to as a coping mechanism against the
impacts of the disaster on household expenditure. For the family of the groom bringing a new member
in family would mean adding working hands, particularly in rural agricultural contexts. Within the most
affected districts,
The District Education Office representatives in Sindhupalchowk and Kavrepalanchowk reported plans
to merge the schools where the number of students is low, as a post-disaster recovery strategy. The
time to commute to school could increase for both boys and girls but girls are likely to suffer more
because of safety issues (including sexual harassment) and the fact that they would allocate less time
to domestic chores if commuting takes long. Toilets in public schools have also been damaged.
Inadequate access to safe, hygienic and private sanitation facilities can be a source of shame, physical
discomfort and insecurity for school going adolescent girls.
Recovery Needs:
a) Short-terms: Reconstruction of segregated and disability friendly school toilets should be
prioritised, even where children are in temporary schools to provide privacy for menstruating
girls.
b) Medium –term: A sustained monitoring for the next 12 months of school attendance rates for
boys and girls will be critical to monitor potential drop of children to support household work,
income generation and early marriage will be critical.
c) Medium term School feeding programme for the next 12 months be factored in to create an
incentive for vulnerable household to send their children to school so they have less mouths
to feed and also to keep girls in school.
d) Long-terms: Social welfare support to vulnerable households, particularly the elderly headed
housed holds who have become responsible for orphaned children will be critical to ease the
financial burden and promote school retainement. Social welfare could also be extended
included socially excluded groups
Health and Population:
The Nepal Maternal mortality rate is still among the highest in the world (170, per 100,000 birthsiv).
This situation is exacerbated by early child marriage and early pregnancy. According to an Amnesty
Internationalv, it is estimated that more than 600,000 Nepalese women suffer from conditions related
to uterine prolapse due to early marriage, early pregnancy, overwork and neglect. The UN estimates
approximately 1,408,189 are of reproductive age in the 14 districts. 138,367 of the affected female
population are pregnant or will be pregnant in the next 12 months. About 18,600 will need obstetric
care in the coming 12 monthsvi. It is also estimated that 10,327 babies are born every month in the 14
affected districts without access to basic healthcare (UNFPA 2015). Damage sustained by local
hospitals and health centres has limited women’s access to sexual and reproductive health services.
It was noted in Nuwakot, for example, that all 27 birthing centres have been destroyed.
The approaching monsoon rains, compounded by displaced people sleeping outdoors, could promote
an increase of vector borne diseases such as malaria, which may affect children and pregnant mothers
more negatively. Further, potential disease outbreaks could add an additional work burden to women
who are the normal caretakers of the sick.
The impact of the disaster on the mental health of the affected population is not well documented.
However interviews with women and children showed that they are inconstant fear of collapsing
building and of another big earthquake happening again. Some women who lost their children in the
earthquake were distraught and exhibiting trauma related symptoms such as not eating and not
sleeping well. In Kavre, women reported that they are afraid to let their children out of sight, main
reason being that children are constantly wondering into condemned homes as they don’t understand
the danger the damaged house presents. In Kavre, women reported that they sleep holding their
children fearing separation should another an earthquake occur in the middle of the night. Women
are also concerned by the quality of school building and fearful of letting their children return to
school. Similarly, children are afraid to go to school. Despite the huge need for psycho-social support,
the affected districts have rudimentary systems for psycho-social support.
There will be a great need in the next 12 months for rehabilitation services for people who are
recovering from their injuries. The pre-disaster situation indicates that only two of the most affected
districts have rehabilitation facilities. Effort should be made to reach women with injuries who may
not be able to seek these services.
Recovery Needs:
a) Short-term: distribution of mosquito nets to pregnant and lactating mother for prevention of
dengue and malaria
b) Rehabilitation of damaged birthing centres is an immediate priority;
c) Ensuring safety and well-being of female health workers, particularly those living in damaged
houses;
d) Need for surveillance on mental health of the affected communities who may not able to
access social workers, especially in the context of continuing aftershocks, which serve as a
stark reminder of the devastating effect of the earthquake and also of what could potentially
happen if there was another earthquake;
e) Training of additional or temporary social workers to support the affected population through
psycho-social support is also needed, accompanied by provision of private and confidential
counselling spaces.
Nutrition:
Changes in food consumption patterns ahead of the monsoon this year as a result of the earthquake
have implications for nutritional status. Protein consumption is reported to have decreased in 10 out
of 18 surveyed VDCs in Gorkha, Sindhupalchok, Nuwakot, Dhading, Rasuwa and Dolakha, where
people are eating less meat, milk, and eggs due to loss of livestock and market disruption (FAO
22/05/2015). Women, young children and the elderly are the most vulnerable to health impacts of
altered nutrition. There may be infant growth effects of seasonal rainfall and related agriculture
outcomes at the household level (Tiwary and Jacoby 2013). Socially women and girls are deprived of
nutritious food as they culturally eat last after the male family members have eaten. The combination
of cultural norms and the impact of the disaster on food security and nutrition could be detrimental
to women, particularly pregnant and lactating mothers.
Recovery Needs:
a) The proposed school feeding programme (see education recovery recommendations) can also
support the nutritional needs of school going children as well as reduce the food requirement
needs at the household level
b) Food supplements should be provided to pregnant women in the most affected districts to
reduce malnutrition and anaemia and also to act as an incentive for women to visit pre-natal
clinics for maternal care.
Water and Sanitation:
In the region, which contains the highest number of earthquake-affected districts, the overall
sanitation coverage was 62.8% and water supply coverage was 85.2% as of mid-2014vii. Women and
girls are traditionally responsible 75% of household water securityviii. Due to water source drying up
and disruption in the supply of water as result of shifts in hydrology, fetching time of water has
increased up to 3 hrs in some of the affected areas such Dhadhing and Gorkha, which has considerably
increased the work load of women and girls (see Page xxxx on time use).
The earthquake has also resulted in an estimated loss of more than 180,000 household toiletsix. The
destruction of toilets compounded by lack of water and poor living condition, which do not offer
privacy for women and girls have been a serious impact on the personal hygiene and menstrual
hygiene of women and adolescent girls. Women also report that having toilets would offer them
privacy to change their clothes. In Sindhulpalchowk, women and girls who no longer have access to
toilets report getting up early in the morning or late in the evening to go to bushes for ablution, which
also heightened the risk of sexual and gender based violence for them. In Kavre, women expressed
concern that open defecation could increase the spread of diseases, especially considering that they
didn’t proper kitchens and could not cover food properly as a result of loss of kitchen utensils.
Recovery Needs:
a) Rehabilitation of water supply is urgently needed before the monsoon start, which will ease
the burden of work for women but also as a disease prevention measure; location of taps
should also be made easily accessible for children and PLWD
b) Construction of toilets as part of the housing programme would alleviate the problems that
women and girls are facing with regarding to privacy
c) For the same reason, schools, health facilities and IDP sites should be a priority for repairs
and/or construction of toilets and water sources.
d) Monitoring health surveillance for outbreaks of diarrhoeal disease will be necessary to
prioritize quick response with sanitation and hygiene interventions as rainfall increases.
Possible damage and loss of Water and Sanitation Table
Cultural Heritage:
Hindusim is central to the Nepalese culture. Temples build and sustain social capital. Religion should
be seen as a form of cultural capital for women and men, which also provide support mechanisms and
forge spiritual connection between individuals.
Recovery Needs:
a) Rehabilitation of village temples through cash for work programmes or other forms of
community infrastructure rehabilitation programmes could play a key role in restoring the
mental health of the traumatised population.
b) Dalits and indigenous people and ethnic minority groups have a strong and unique cultural
heritage, which is an important part if their identity. Post-disaster recovery interventions,
particularly to do with housing and relocation should preserve rather than undermine these
cultural heritages.
PRODUCTIVE SECTOR
Tourism
Although tourism only contributes 3.9% to the Nepal’s GDP, the positive externalities of tourism are
significant in form of employment for women and men in some of the affected areas. A 2014 Tourism
Employment Study Report, conducted by Ministry of Culture, Tourism & Civil Aviation Planning &
Evaluation Division Statistical Section, which covers seven of the most affected 14 districts indicates
that there is total of 11,381 persons were working in 192 tourism industries About 5% of the
tourism personnel were self- employed and 95% of the personnel were employees. Based on the data
available so far shows that the sector largely employs more men than women due to its connection
with the trekking, which largely male dominated. About four out of five (80%) workers were male and
only one-fifth were female (20%). The proportion of male workers was higher than female workers in
all types of tourism industries, except in homestays where 57% were females compared to 43% males.
Destruction of hotels and homestays and the current and expected drop in number of tourists coming
to Nepal as a result of the earthquake will affect the livelihoods of men and women employed in the
sector. Although the sector employs a small percentage of women, and due to the fact women tend
to be employed in unskilled labour such as housekeeping, women will most likely be the first to lose
their jobs and less likely to find alternative jobs than their male counterparts.
It’s also important to consider the fact that there are five protected areas in the affected district
including Mt Everest National Park, which also employ women. Barpak village in Gorkha which was
completely destroyed, was developed as a model for village tourism where women’s engagement
would have been high. Furthermore, some of the women’s livelihoods, such as handcrafts and
weaving are intrinsically linked with tourism and they will also suffer loss of livelihoods as a result of
the disaster.
Table on damage and loss based on Gender- here or it may sit under employment
Recovery Needs:
a) Access and provision of soft credits and low interest rates to female owners of hospitality
establishments to enable them to recover fast from the disaster. This is particularly the case
so for female owned homestays, who may struggles more than their male counterparts in
recovery
b) Development of external markets for craft products produce by women to reduce the reliance
on local tourist markets and cushion against future disaster shocks.
c) Skills transfer and access to micro-finance for women who have lost their jobs as a result of
the disaster.
Agriculture and Livestock:
Issus of ownership especially among the Dalits and other caster groups
Although there is a decreasing trend in agricultural employment and increasing importance of nonfarm work for income security, agriculture still remains the mainstay for rural communities, especially
women. Agriculture sustains nearly 80% of the population and is large contributor (34.7%) to the GDP
of Napel. The increasing trend of external and internal male migration for alternative non-farm
agriculture means women now outnumber men in some of the rural areas. Women who constitute
about half of the total population of Nepal, exceeds men by 7.5% in rural areas. Women therefore
play a very important role in providing household food security but they also contribute the most to
Nepal’s agricultural economy, even though their role is often unrecognised. Women contribute to 60%
of the agricultural economy; whilst men contribute 40%x. Concerning livestock; 70% of females are
employed in the sector in contrast with 50% for males. Within the 14 affected countries; 63% of the
women are employed in the agricultural sector. However this figure rises to 83% once Kathmandu,
Lalitpur and Bakhtpur, urban cities, are excluded.
However despite the prominence of women in the sector and their contribution, only 10% of women
own land. In some of the affected areas, such as Rasuwa, ownership is as low as 4.7%. Additionally
only 31% of the women employed in the sector receive extension services. One trend that is having a
dramatic effect— both positive and negative—for Nepali women is the increase in out-migration of
working-age Nepali men. The 2011 census found that approximately one in ten Nepali men is
employed abroad. This demographic shift have created economic empowerment opportunities for
women who have stepped into more leadership roles than they have traditionally had. On the other
hand, data from the successive census by CBS reflects that women’s participation in agriculture labour
force has jumped from 36% in 1981 to 48.1% in 2001. This indicates that agriculture is being highly
feminized in recent years. Both poverty and emigration of men have added extra work load on women
for sustaining household food security. Furthermore, the women left behind face discrimination,
harassment, and social and community gender based violence.
The loss of food stocks, particularly grains and pulses, which is buried under the rubble have huge
implications on food security and nutrition of households, particularly women who socially eat last.
The destruction of food stocks will also increase the burden of women for women, who will have to
find alternative sources of foods. Loss of farmland due to land fissures, collection of debris, and
landslides triggered by the earthquake may could create new challenges for women who already have
low rates of land ownership. Loss of land may create new food security challenges for Hill Dalits who
own only 15% of the agricultural landxi. Concerns were also raised regarding storage for the new crop
harvestxii. Women reported that there is an urgent need for seeds for planting before the monsoon
starts.
Loss of livestock could have a devastating effect on women as livestock is one major source of
independent income for women, particularly goats, pigs and poultry that are often given to them as a
gift. The additional work demands could also have a negative effect on agriculture production for the
next growing season. In Sindulpalchowk, women mentioned that due to increased burden of work,
they had cut back on hours spent in the fields. New widows become also take on the additional burden
of repaying loans taken by their deceased husbands compounded by a drop in income.
The disaster effect on agriculture for private and household agricultural production is estimated at
27,074,532,286.95 Nepali Rupees for 24 of the affected districts. Taking into account that women
contribute the most to agriculture, it can be estimated that women have suffered a disaster effected
of xxxxxxxx
Recovery Needs:
Taking into account that the largest contribution to the agricultural economy comes from women, it
is imperative that post-disaster recovery measures considers comprehensive support to women
through:
a) Women are responsible for seed management. Immediate provision of early maturing crop
varieties accompanied by expansion of extension services to women and provision on
essential agricultural inputs will be critical.
b) Taking into account that farmers may not receive seeds in time for monsoon growing season,
additional support mentioned above should also be provided for winter crops.
c) Targeted support to widows who can now not access to information and technology credit
and inputs, which was being accessed by her husband.
d) Reaching FHHH requires women specific agriculture interventions. In addition, skills
development for female farmers to reduce dependence on agriculture and reduce the
feminisation of agriculture.
e) Long-term training of female extension workers is needed to ensure that women, who
contribute the most to the sector and are excluded from extension service, are able to access
extension services.
Commerce, Industries and Supplies
Communications
Energy:
Firewood is the primary fuel used for cooking food in most part of the country. Overall, 64% of
households use firewood as their main source of cooking fuel. Other fuels used for cooking are: LPG
18%, cow-dung/leaves 14%, and “other” fuels 4%- (Poverty CBS). Loss of alternative clean energy
resources such as biogas, improved cooking stoves (ICS) and solar panel has been reported in 11 of
the affected districts. A total of 4,395 biogas, 35,013 ICS and 3,221 solar panel have been damaged
with an estimated loss of NPR 801,525,000 (NPR 801 million) in 11 districts studied.
The use of alternate clean energy for cooking reduce women’s time and has less impact on women
and children’s health (reduction of respiratory disease due to reduction of indoor smoke and
pollution). Loss of clean energy is meant that women’s already scarce time will need to spend for
collecting fuelwood from forests, cooking, grinding grains due to grinding mills being inoperable
without electricity. The increased workload for women will have a negative impact on their
engagement in community leadership, and participation in economic and skill development activities.
Women sleeping outdoors without electricity also face an additional risk sexual and gender based
violence.
Recovery needs:
a) Green based recovery and reconstruction with active participation of women, youth,
indigenous peoples, economically and socially disadvantaged groups of local forestry and
conservation groups. Focus on environment sensitive roads, infrastructures and land use
practices and incentive for women and poor people
Transport
GENDER INEQUALITY AND SOCIAL INCLUSION
General issues:
Although all interviewed district officers recognised the need to give special attention to the needs of
women and girls, PLWD, Dalits and excluded ethnic minorities, they all indicated that this was not
strictly observed in the distribution on relief items. The main reason was for the maintenance of
community cohesiveness at the expense of the needs of marginalised social groups.
Sexual and Gender Based Violence: Nepal has relatively high levels of violence against women and
girls. It is estimated that one in five women have been the victim of physical violence and more than
one in ten reported experiencing sexual violencexiii. ‘A study on Gender Based Violence conducted in
selected rural districts of Nepal2’ revealed that almost half of women (48%) had experienced violence
at some time in their lives. Domestic violence, marital rape, dowry-related violence and trafficking of
women and girls for sexual and non-sexual labour exploitation are particular problems. About a third
of married women suffer from spousal violence, with higher rates among those with no education and
marginalised. About 49.1% of Dalit women encounter violence with only 4.4% of incidents being
reported to the police. A variety of factors construct and reinforce male dominance and female
subservience so thoroughly that neither the violence nor the failure to complain about it are unusual.
These include gaps in legislation and weak implementation of laws. In relation to rape, one of the
major legal barriers to obtaining justice is Nepal’s 35-day statutory limitation for filing reports of rape.
Weak penalties for rape also impede women’s access to justice. Other factors include economic
dependency, cultural obligation and social position of women, women’s lack of awareness of rights
and the social stigma that discourages women from reporting violence and seeking redressxiv ).
Furthermore, women’s lack of autonomy, high economic dependency on their husbands, men’s
perceived entitlement to sex, lack of education and knowledge of sexuality, marriage practices, lack
of family and legal support to women, and husband’s use of alcohol, are all noted to contribute to risk
of violence (UNFPA, UN Women and UK Aid 2013).
Global studies in other disaster have shown that women and girls are likely to face elevated levels of
violence after disasters. Increased stress and feelings of powerlessness due to bereavement, loss of
property and loss of livelihood; mental health problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder; the
scarcity of basic provisions and contribute to higher levels of violence. Reported cases of sexual
violence seem to indicate that there is an increasing trends since the earthquake happened. For
example in both Kavre, the Women Development Officer reported one rape and three attempted rape
cases within one week in contrast with 26 cases per year or about 2 cases a month. Furthermore,
Reports of sexual and gender based violence (SGBV) received through safe spaces show that there is
concern for young girls’ safety after the death of parents and other relatives who would normally look
after them. Interviews with the affected women in both Kavre and Sindhulpalchowk indicated that
female headed households are very worried for their safety and that of girls, especially considering
that they are now sleeping under unsecured tarpaulins.
Furthermore, sexual harassment and gender discrimination have been reported in Kavre districts, with
women facing discrimination and exclusion during their menstruation period in the camps3. In
addition, poor lighting, lack of segregated toilets and wash facilities in temporary shelters can
2
Study conducted by conducted by OPMCM/TAF/CREHPA
Based on information gathered from the gender Equality Bulletin No. 1- Response to the Nepal Earthquake –
20 May 2015
3
contribute to an increase in sexual violence against women and girls. Reports from the shelter cluster
indicate that overcrowding is one of the challenges facing communities staying in shelters and camps.
Recovery needs
a) Establishment of sexual and gender-based surveillance in temporary camps;
b) Referral systems and provision of information on where women and girls can get support
through the strengthening of local actors who provide these services
c) Providing confidential counselling sessions for women at risk, where they can talk about
domestic violence, sexual, physical and mental abuse and other personal problems
d) Medium to Long term: Review and reform the legal process for reporting and responding to
rape and gender-based violence in order to make it more accessible to women and girls.
e) training of health for psycho-social support
Human Trafficking of Women and Children: According to International Labour Organisation (ILO),
12,000 women and children are trafficked to the Middle East and India every year, mainly for
exploitation in brothels or as forced labour and other forms of servitude. Girls aged over 14 to 16 years
old are more likely to enter sex trafficking through a route of fraudulent marriage. Traffickers conduct
a phony marriage ceremony and subsequently take the ‘bride’ to settle in India, or traffickers pose as
marriage brokers for businessmen in India. The risk is being trafficked is even more heightened for
girls in districts with high levels of child marriage. Some of the severely affected districts, particularly
Sindhulpalchowk, Nuwakot Dhading, and Kavre are historically known for high rates of trafficking of
women and childrenxv and hence may face elevated levels of human trafficking. There are cases of 64
children being trafficking from Dolakha and Dhading districts, both of which were devastated by the
earthquakes, and other 11 from between the ages of 10 and 12 from Dolakha to Kathmanduxvi.
The move by the Government to ban the travel of children under age of 16 without parents or
approved guardians could deter human traffickers who authorities fear are targeting vulnerable
families. For example reports indicate that in Dolakha, Sindhulpalchowk and Nuwakot, traffickers are
entering temporary shelters disguised as relief workers4. However, sustained surveillance in the
coming 12 -24 months will be needed. The situation could worsen as traffickers target newly orphaned
children and vulnerable families.
Child Protection: Children in the most affected districts could be facing an added risk of child
trafficking, child labour, early and forced marriage and gender-based violence as a result of the
disaster. As already mentioned above, there is a heightened risk of human trafficking for children who
have lost their parents. Data is not available in all the 14 districts, however in Sindhulpachowk, it was
reported that 89 children had lost their mothers. Increased child marriage is also a real risk,
considering the already high current 41% rate of child marriage by the age of 18; and 1 in 10 girls being
married before the age of 15xvii. In Dolakha for example, 11% of the girls were married between the
ages of 10-14 years. 55% of the girls between 15-19 years were married (Nepal Census 2011). Dalit
women marrying age is below 16 years. There is concern that the underlying vulnerability girls face in
terms of early marriage could be exacerbated as families to marry off their daughters an early age as
an economic survival strategy to reduce their economic burden. Similarly families may force their
children to support/augment household income and household work. Income from working children,
even if small, can make a difference to a household, whose livelihoods have been devastated by the
4
Based on information gathered from the gender Equality Bulletin No. 1- Response to the Nepal Earthquake –
20 May 2015
earthquake. Of particular concern are girls who may be asked to drop out of school to help with
household work (see Page xxxx on time poverty).
Another dimension of the disaster impact is the loss of birth certificates for children. Furthermore, in
Sindhulpalchowk it was note that there are number of babies, whose parents died before they were
registered.
Recovery needs for Human Trafficking and Child Protection:
Medium term
a) Establishing mobile teams in the most affected areas, to ensure that children who have lost
their birth certificates are able to obtain a new one.
b) Strengthen community-based child protection mechanisms to ensure child protection cases
are identified, reported, documented and responded to.
c) Monitoring through local authorities5, on the situation of boy and girls, including those living
with disabilities, school attendance, child marriage, child labour, trafficking and GBV.
d) Provide capacity building for national, district and VDC-level authorities and police on child
protection in emergencies.
e) Establish alert systems, counselling and community safety nets, paying particular attention to
the most vulnerable and marginalized groups of children who are at risk of trafficking,
violence, abuse and exploitation
f) Establish child-friendly community awareness programs and reporting mechanisms including
“listening posts” and other channels by which communities and children can report concerns,
targeting high risk areas and marginalised children at risk of violence, abuse and exploitation.
Long term
g) Strengthen the Civil Registration and Vital Statistics System to ensure that it is resilient to
future shocks and disasters, ensuring that children are able to easily replace lost birth
certificates.
h) Support relevant government agencies6 to review and enhance the implementation of the
National Master Plan on Child Labour and Action Plan on Trafficking.
i) Strengthen the National Child Protection System and child protection services through
capacity building, inter-institutional networking, and strategic partnerships at the national
and sub-national level.
j) Undertake a comprehensive review of existing child protection systems and their
appropriateness to respond in the context of humanitarian situations to inform the
development of strategies for child protection in emergencies.
k) Establish a system of accreditation for social workers and develop a common social work
curriculum including specific content on child protection and child case management in
emergencies.
l) Enact the Children’s Bill ensuring that it includes, inter alia, legal prohibition of all forms of
violence against children and legal provision for the establishment of child protection
committees at the village level.
5
e.g. Women and Children Office, District Child Welfare Board, municipalities, Police, Women and children
service centres
6
Ministry of Labour; Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare, Nepal Police and other justice counter
parts.
Disability: About two percent (1.94%; 513,321) of the total Nepali population reported to have some
kind of disability. Physical disability constitutes 36.3% of the population with disability followed by
Blindness/Low Vision (18.5%), Deaf/Hard to hearing (15.4%), speech problem (11.5%), multiple
disability (7.5), mental disability (6%); intellectual disability (2.9%) and deaf-blind (1.8%). Within the
14 most affected communities it can be deduced that 322,110.78 have physical disability, 163,043 of
which are women and girls. However, although there is no data available, it can be assumed that this
figure has increased due to injuries sustained in the earthquake.
Disasters make the situation worse for people living with disabilities, with regard to access to essential
services. Presence of debris as a result of the earthquake will create challenges for people with
physical disability to move around, but also in accessing relief items. Furthermore, access to temporary
shelters, toilets, etc could be a challenge which needs to be addressed in the design of community
shelters. Furthermore, there will be a great needs in the next 12 months for rehabilitation services for
people who are recovering from their injuries. The pre-disaster situation indicates that only two of the
most affected districts have rehabilitation facilities. Effort should be made to reach women with
injuries who may not be able to seek these services.
Recovery Needs
a) People who have become disabled because of the disaster may find difficult to accept this
new reality and may need peer counselling. Connecting them with PLWD for counselling
would be essential
b) Design and reconstruction of homes and shelters need to take into account of the accessibility
for people with disabilities
c) Relocation of PLWD have to ensure that PLWD are resettled in areas where they can easily
access essential services such as schools, health facilities etc.
Senior Citizens: Approximately xxxxxxx of the affected population are people above the age of 65
years, 163,043 are elderly women. Elderly women were identified as the most vulnerable social groups
that will struggle the most in coping with the disaster, seconded by children. In the aftermath of a
disaster, senior citizens face additional challenges in accessing livelihood opportunities. They also have
restricted mobility in accessing post disaster recovery activities. Furthermore, the increased number
of orphans will create a new burden for the surviving elderly guardians in providing care for their
children.
Recovery Needs
d) Ensure senior citizens, especially women, have access to aid, and in case of relocation, they
are settled in accessible areas
e) Consultations with the elderly and Design/development of housing structures that support
mobility of the elderly;
f) Provision of social protection support to the elderly who have the additional burden of
caring for children who have lost their parents
Caste Designation and Ethnicity
The Disadvantaged Group Mapping data, 38% of the VDCs in all earthquake affected districts have
‘high’ to ‘very high’ concentration of disadvantaged groups. This is particularly so due to the high
prevalence of Adivasi Janajatis ethnic groups and Dalits and those in the bottom income quintiles, in
the affected districts (See Table 3). Furthermore, 42% of Dalits live under the poverty line 80% of which
are Dalit women. 63.8% of Dalit families do not have food sufficiency and 70% of Dalits suffer from
malnutrition (FEDO). They face multiple forms of discrimination and exclusion, which has affected how
they have experienced the disaster but will also affect their ability to recover from the disaster.
As a result of the earthquake, Dalits have been discrimination and exclusion in the rescue and relief
efforts as the services are reachable to the headquarters. Dalits on the other hand live in a different
settlements away from the dominant habitants. Their social status means that Dalits are some of the
worse affected social groups.
Recovery needs:
a) It is important to consider the issues and concerns of ‘minorities within minorities’ across all
sectors being considered in the recovery framework. Recovery efforts should consider the
multi-dimensionality of discrimination and exclusion of the Dalits and ethnic minorities.
b) To avoid urban bias in post disaster recovery efforts, recovery funds should be earmarked to
support Dalits and other minority groups
c) Promote the participation of Dalits in the design, implementing and monitoring of recovery
programmes and activities.
Employment and Livelihoods:
With the large scale male out migration, which escalated since the violent conflict (1996-2006),
women have crossed all boundaries of gender division of labour and sociocultural norms that confine
them to subsistence agricultural and household activities. Labour force data (NLFS 1998/99 and 2008)
show a significant shift in their labour force participation entering into labour market both in formal
market and informal sectors as wage workers, micro credit and savings groups, entrepreneurs, own
account workers, family labour, paid and unpaid, and others) in addition to their conventional unpaid
care and subsistence agricultural work. Women contribute significantly, compared to men, in all the
sectors of the economy; as shown in the table/figure. Table (put following info in a table)
They contribute 72 % of their work time in the management and care of the household and family
compared to 28% by men, 50% in the subsistence agriculture, 42% in the informal sector and 47% in
the formal market. At times of emergency situation, such as during the conflict period, women were
reported to have deployed their labour for the livelihood of their families and of themselves. Their
work time input in different activities intensified, measured in number of hours, with the escalation
of the conflict. It shows that for poor and rural women’s labour is the main resource at their disposal
for their livelihood during such times. This was found to be true across districts and ethnicity
depending on the available opportunities, and level of household income
Labour force data show on among the economically active population aged 10 years and above,
activities performed during the last 12 months, show that 35% are involved in “own agricultural”
activities, 17 % in wage and salary and “own non-agricultural” business activities for only 10% of the
total population of 2,04,95,515. Rest of the population (38%) are active in extended economic and
“non- economic” household care activities and those seeking for employment. By employment status,
employers constitute 2.2% and employees 27.5%. Overwhelming majority are own account workers
constituting 66%. Only negligible proportion of the women are in the status of employers (0.7%), 7%
of them are employees, whereas majority work as account workers constitute 33% in par with male
own account worker (see tables in annex ...employment and livelihood). After effects of the
earthquake would have a devastating effect on the livelihood of the people not only in the 14 most
hit districts but also in the hills and mountainous areas of the Central Development Region.
Women’s participation in and contributions to the country’s development are constrained by a lack of
employment or alternative livelihood opportunities, compounded by their limited access to economic
resources. Most women are engaged in unpaid, home-based labour - 74.8% of the unpaid family
labour is carried out women. Girls have responsibilities of helping their mothers with housework while
men and boys are not expected to assist with domestic work. Nepalese women have much higher
work- load than the global average. 77% of economically active women are engaged in agriculture, a
rising figure due to the extensive labour migration of men from rural areas.
The limited opportunities and the constraints have also driven many women to seek employment
opportunities elsewhere in Nepal or abroad, a trend accompanied by concerns about their
vulnerability to sexual exploitation, forced labour and abuse, and their concentration in the informal
sector. Endeavouring to contribute to their family income through remittances (which contribute to
about a quarter of Nepal’s GDP), women often leave through unofficial and unregulated channels,
rendering it difficult to have realistic figures of the overall number of women choosing foreign labour
migration. However, according to official data, women’s share of total foreign labour force has
increased thirtyfold from 0.19% in 2006/2007 to 5.96% in July 2012.
In addition, women’s economic activity is still low in non-agriculture sectors possibly due to a lack of
education and a tradition of working in agriculture. Naturally, women engaged in self-employment
activities and/or unpaid family labour is very high (64% of females in total). Nevertheless, there has
been an increase in female international migration (12.4% in 2011) in recent years. Although the
gender gap between males and females in many areas has improved compared to previous censuses,
the change is not significant
Sixty per cent of the employed population reported agriculture as their main occupation. Among the
employed population 27% were employees, 2% were an employer and 66% were own account
workers, while 4% of the employed population reported that they had only worked for less than 3
months.
Impact on gender- waiting for data from employment sector
Observation and focus group discussions from the field and the displaced and homeless camped in
Kathmandu report a serious effect on the employment and livelihoods of the people. Over 300 persons
completely up rooted from Sindhupalchowk, air lifted to Kathmandu, reported complete wiped out of
their sources of livelihood such as farming, livestock, their handicrafts tools and all income from
tourism hotel business, home stays and guiding services. They are homeless, jobless and resourceless.
Among the women from Tudikhel camp, majority reported having to leave their jobs (mostly in
domestic services, employed in offices and street seller) because of the closure of the offices, damage
of homes where they worked, and stoppage of supply of goods.
Discussions of different pathways through which the earthquakes are expected to have affected labor
incomes and home based livelihood sources negatively. Impact draws from reports which provide
qualitative field observations and statistics from typically small, non-representative surveys conducted
by various agencies engaged in relief and recovery activities.
Collective evidences indicate a large, negative effect on domestic labor incomes in the immediate as
well as in the short term. Many other reports also indicate that the negative effect on domestic labor
incomes will be lasting for many families, even with considerable, sustained public intervention and
own-strategies by families to restore labor incomes.
(E/L has some information on the predicted effects/impact of the earthquake on employment and
incomes, which we may use or refer to)
Recovery needs:
In the short run following recovery measures should be taken for women:
 Support to artisans with appropriate tool/materials/skill – arts, crafts, handicrafts
(lump sum amount based on community needs assessment)
 Support to agriculture farmers with agricultural supplies and inputs, free food and seed
kits (cash + inputs as appropriate for the damage incurred)
 Support to livestock restart/regeneration with purchase of animals/birds, feed and
fodder
In the medium and long term:


Support women’s existing income generation and micro business with credit
facilitation at low interest and free collateral
Support market linkages and up scaling their enterprises
Impact on gender- waiting for data from employment sector
Time Poverty
Given the gender disparities in time use and the unequal distribution of unpaid work between women
and men, analysis of disaster impact on time use for women and men is critical to ensure that postdisaster recovery measures lead to transformative social change. Labour contribution of girls and
women tends to be higher in collecting fuelwood, fodder, leaf litter and fetching water compared to
boys and men in the Nepalese subsistence ways of living in rural areas. The average time spent by men
and women from different social groups in collecting fuel and water varies (see table 3). Women spent
an average of 4.19 hours per day collecting water and fuelwood, and men 1.5 hours.
Disasters tend to increase the time allocated to productive and reproductive and community work for
women. A quick time-use survey in Sindhulpachowk and Kavre indicated that women are allocating
an additional 5 hours per day in debris clearance, salvaging of household items buried under the
rubble and salvaging home construction materials for reconstructing new home.
Childcare is also said to have increased due to children being out of school and is done concurrently
with other chores. Many noted that childcare has intensified because they need to constantly check
where their children are to make sure they do not enter the badly damaged houses. Women also
indicated that the constant need to check on children is limiting their mobility beyond their homes.
Due to water sources drying up and disruption in the supply of water, fetching time of water has
increased up to 3 hrs which has considerably increased the work load of women and there also has
been a serious impact on the personal hygiene and menstrual hygiene of women due to lack of water
and proper toiletxviii. The approaching planting season, compounded by the absence of working males,
will also put an additional work burden for women and girls.
Table to come
Governance:
Gender inequality is a governance failure. Poor participation of women in politics and insignificant
number of women in professional and civil service compared to men reflects exclusion of women in
decision-making and control over resources. As of January 2015, Nepal only have 16.8 % women
representation in the civil service in all positions. Poor participation and representation is the lowest
amongst Dalit and indigenous women. The share of women’s representation in Constituent Assembly
is 29.41%. Women account for 11.5 of ministries within the Nepal Cabinet. In the judiciary system;
women account for only 4.5% of the total number of judges, whereas the Supreme Court has only one
women and 17 men justices. Furthermore, government records show low levels of representation in
public life with around 16% of the civil service, 5.8% in the Nepal Police; 3.2% in the Nepalese Army.
Interviews with women in Kavre indicated that women have limited participation in decisions
concerning their communities and they indicated that decision making process deferred to males.
They, however, that some women are represented in the Village Development Committees and
women cooperatives. The current situation has an implication on women’s ability to influence how
and where the reconstruction and rehabilitation are allocated. Furthermore, women’s limited voice
also means that women may not be able to benefit equally to the resources made available for postdisaster recovery. However, most of the affected VDCs also have women cooperatives and mothers
groups operating at different scales. Women cooperatives are important means for income generation
and safety nets for women. Similarly, mother's group are important for social awareness and collective
action especially in the areas of reproductive health and violence against women.
Damage of, and access to courts and function of family protection units have also been compromised
by the earthquake. Some district courts are reported to be damaged and not functioning with some
of the cases being referred to Kathmandu and Pokhara or prioritising habeas corpus, serious crimes,
which means cases of SGBV would not be a priority. All of which could impact on women’s access to
justice, especially if they have to travel away from home. Increased security will also be needed at the
village level especially for female headed households living in exposed shelters.
Another areas of concern is the loss of citizen identity cards, particularly for women and men under
social protection such as people with disabilities.
Recovery Needs:
National plans, policies, institutions and budgets reflect how governments translate commitments to
gender equality into results for women. The post-disaster recovery presents an opportunity to start
redressing inequalities and at the very least not perpetuate unequal access to power and resources
through the allocation of recovery financial and human resources.
a) Women and institutional participation/representation through DDRC in all recovery
programme is essential to ensure they equally benefit from the recovery programmes but also
to ensure that the programme do not further marginalise women and other socially excluded
groups
b) Measure to support and promote attainment of ownership rights and tenure rights is essential
to ensure that post disaster recovery programmes do not re-enforce the inequalities faced by
women and vulnerable social groups.
c) Similarly mechanism to support certification and registration of women, which could facilitate
ownership of land and homes; and children who have lost their spouses and their parents
should be in place
d) Access to information services on the recovery should be provided towomen, PLWD, Dalits,
the elderly for women, who may not be able easily know where to get support due to mobility
and reproductive roles.
Environment and Forestry:
Forest resources are the key sources for people’s livelihoods in Nepal. Forest provides 40% of feed for
livestock, 78% of fuelwood for cooking, timber, medicinal plants and herbs for food, medicine, and
spiritual activities. Forests and conservation areas are a source of income of local communities,
especially of rural women, indigenous peoples, Dalits, poor men and women, and other people living
around forests. Loss of forests due to landslides triggered by the earthquake means loss of livelihoods
for many indigenous peoples in the earthquake affected districts. About 70% of the women are
responsible for taking care of livestock. The loss of forest and consequently fodder could mean that
women in the affected areas will have to go further distances to collect animal feed. Nevertheless,
forests also provide food and income for households in time of stress and they will become an
important resources for coping with food shortages.
Recovery Needs
a) Many women (52.17%) and men (43.83%) in the most affected 14 districts actively participate
in community forestry programs both as users and managers of the forest product. They
participation in forestry management will be critical for sustainable management of these
resources
b) Most of the high hill districts affected are rich on forest/herbal products. Skills development
and training for women in sustainable harvesting of non-timber forest products and marketing
forest products to expand the livelihood base.
Financial Sector:
Women do not have easy access to the formal financial sector due to lack of resources and capital as
well as knowledge and information. Although there are many banks and financial institutions, women
are more attracted to small saving loan groups and cooperatives. The 3rd lifestyle measurement survey
reveals that 54% of the population have access to cooperatives and 34 % have access to banks in the
rural community. Cooperatives occupy 15% of the country’s total financial transactions. Rural women
have been involved with various cooperatives through saving land credit group and there are
examples of successful management of cooperative run by women. This sector has given direct
employment to more than 50000 people. Of the total 29000 cooperatives, 2500 cooperatives are run
by women alone. Of the total 5,000,000 people involved in cooperatives, 45% are women. However,
there are only 18% women at decision making levels. Collateral is required for loans exceeding NRs.
50000 or 100000 even in women run cooperatives.7
Table on impact on women- possible?
Social Protection:
7
Source: Civil Society Report on Beijing + 20 Nepal, p. 18-20).
http://un.org.np/sites/default/files/Beijing%20+20%20Civil%20Society%20Report.pdf
Nepal has a large number of people who have no protection against social risks. Despite some good
practices, the country faces the challenge of extending social security benefits to all workers operating
in the informal economy, which accounts for more than 90% of the total labour force. Majority of the
informal sector workers are female who are more vulnerable than the male. Female workers account
only for about 3.5 per cent of the non-agricultural formal sector, while the agricultural sector is fully
female dominated. The male workforce has moved either to the urban areas or to foreign countries
in search of better job opportunities. Women in the informal sector have low wages, long working
hours, no fringe benefits and no incentive earnings. 8
Because of the difficulty in defining informal sector activities in agriculture sector, Nepal Labor Force
Surveys have taken only the non- agriculture sector activities in informal sector. Accordingly in 2008,
out of 1984 thousand women involved in non-agriculture sector, 77.5 percent were engaged in
informal sector for employment which is more risky, unsafe and insecure for women.9 Many cash
transfer programmes for the older people, women, and children have been introduced, and these
have significantly helped close the poverty gap. Yet, the deprived section of population comprising of
Dalits, marginalized ethnic groups, minorities and people living in remote geographical regions are
deprived of access to social services. Exposure to multiple risks affects the daily lives of the excluded
groups and inhibits their development. 10
Gender dimension needs to be considered from the social security point of view. The participation of
female workers in the informal sector is considerably higher than that of the male counterparts.
Secondly, the deprived section of population comprising of Dalits, marginalized ethnic groups,
minorities and people living in remote geographical regions are deprived of access to social services.
Recovery Needs:
More to come
Disaster Risk Reduction:
Due to widespread gender inequality and discrimination against women, women and girls are typically
more likely to be negatively affected by the impacts of disasters than men and boys. The mortality
rates between females and males experienced in Nepal adhere to findings from empirical studies that
suggest that women and girls are more likely to die or ne injured in a disaster than men and boysxix.
One possible explanation for high death rates among women and girls is that women delayed in their
escape to rescue fellow family members but also valuables.
The same empirical study mentioned above highlights that where gender inequalities are high, women
are more likely than men to experience the negative effects of hazards, whereas the increased impact
on women becomes less prominent in countries that have high levels of gender equality. Women in
Nepal face prevalent high gender inequalities and power differences, which also limits ability to
respond and adapt disasters. It is inequities in the everyday, and not just in times of disaster, that
create greater risk and reduce life chances for women and girls. Women face greater barriers to
8
Source: Social Security/Social Protection in Nepal: Situation Analysis, ILO, 2012
http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---asia/---ro-bangkok/---ilokathmandu/documents/publication/wcms_216490.pdf
9
Source: Civil Society Report on Beijing + 20 Nepal, p. 18-20).
http://un.org.np/sites/default/files/Beijing%20+20%20Civil%20Society%20Report.pdf
10
Social Security/Social Protection in Nepal: Situation Analysis, ILO, 2012
influence, participate in and benefit from disaster risk reduction. Women and girls tend to have less
access to or control over assets, including the resources necessary to cope, respond to hazardous
events than men do. These include access to information, education, health and assets. Their
vulnerability is therefore relatively greater than men’s. For example in Kavre, women indicated that
they did not really know what to do when an earthquake happens.
But women are not just victims, they are also survivors who can help Nepal recover more quickly from
the earthquake. They often have a unique ability to build social cohesion, and they can find ways to
protect communities from the worst effects of future disasters. But in many cases they are excluded
from discussions on these issues, and their particular needs are often left out of both recovery plans.
Recovery Needs:
a) The Women’s Resilience Index (WRI) analysis of seven South Asian countries, shows that
Nepal is faring poorly in considering women in DRR and resilience buildingxx. This disaster
presents a unique opportunity for Nepal to strengthen the mainstreaming of gender equality
into its DRR policies, strategies and activities.
b) Tailored disaster awareness programme (for example what to do in an earthquake) for all
hazards facing Nepal for children, women, men and also different ethnic groups who may have
different modes of communication.
c) Participation and leadership of women in the design, implementation and monitoring of
national and community disaster risk reduction programmes will be critical. Their insight into
the DRR needs of the community is invaluable.
d) In adherence to one of the priorities identified in the Sendai Framework ‘The substantial
reduction of disaster risk and losses in lives, livelihoods and health and in the economic,
physical, social, cultural and environmental assets of persons, businesses, communities and
countries’ Systematic collection and analysis of sex and age disaggregated data will be critical
for analysing mortality and vulnerability trends and for supporting the most vulnerable groups
e) Taking into account that Nepal faces multi-hazards, all which have a negative impact on
women and girls as well vulnerable social groups, vulnerability assessments should be part
and parcel of disaster risk assessments.
Macro-economic impact analysis
There has been a structural transformation
100%
Estimat
of GDP in Nepal since 1981 to 2011.
90% 26.81
es of
Contribution of agricultural sector to the
80%
48.19
52.03
GVA by
59.43
70%
GDP has declined considerably from 61 % in
types
60%
83.17
of
1981 to 31% in 2011, while the service
50%
40%
activiti
73.19
sector increased from 27% to 48 %. Such
30%
es and
51.81
47.97 40.57
structural transformation of GDP has
20%
sex
10%
16.83
important gender implication to the growth
0%
in the country. Gender implication however
Female
is not apparent because of the exclusion of
gender from the macro- economic sector
Male
which omits the “household” sector and
women’s care services from the calculation of GDP as “noneconomic”. It is only the time spent by
women and men in various activities that reveal the crucial contributions of women in the Nepalese
economy as evidenced from the time spent in all the four sectors of the economy from the NFLS time
data of their contributions to the economy which is invisible and not accounted. Hence women’s work
is not accounted in the national accounting system and hence their contribution remains invisible.
However taking time as a measure of women’s work and impute value to the amount of time spent
on all of the activities categorized by industrial division by women and men, their relative
contributions may be measured in the national income. Such valuation of women’s work in national
accounting shows that 48% of the GDP is accounted for by women compared to 51 % by men (see
tables in annex … and the figure) This means that overall estimates of the gross value added to the
GDP by women and men are Rs. 669.4 and Rs. 752.3 million respectively in monetary terms. By sector
wise, the value of her labour devoted to care sector amounted to Rs. 322.4 million (83% compared to
men) and Rs.310.3 million (59% compared to men) in the subsistence sector. This shows the value of
women’s contribution to services sector that is gaining importance for the growth of GDP. Women are
in fact trading their care services in the international market valued for the foreign exchange remitted
back to Nepal.
Further women’s increasing participation in the micro finance (which accounts for over 43% compared
men) is emerging as important sector for the growth of GDP. SMEs are regarded as the backbone of
Nepalese economy and the tradable goods such as natural fiber, tea, handmade paper, woollen
products(pashmina and others} silver jewellery, ginger, medicinal herbs and lentils are identified as
highly demanded exportable products. As it is well known women are the primary producers of these
products. Therefore supporting women in upscaling their micro enterprises to SMEs in the production
of these products offers a real potential for expansion of export and growth of GDP.
Impact
The devastating earthquake is expected to have a direct effect on GDP, prices and wages,
employment, industries and services. Current growth rate of 4.6% is expected to fall further because
of damages in the production activities, especially in the service sector. Prices and wages have gone
up. ADB projected inflation to moderate to 7.7% for FY2015, due to supply side disruption- See more
at: http://blogs.adb.org/blog/adb-s-initial-analysis-economic-impact-nepalearthquake#sthash.EDyDmHU0.dpuf. Impact on employment is already experienced by the people
from the field. Many reported not having work due to closure of industries and businesses. This was
particularly felt by women in the camps whose lively hood depended on wage work
Recovery Needs:
This earthquake devastation should be taken as a unique opportunity to rebuild the nation with
strong community participation with gender and social justice:
Short run: policy action to bring gender as a critical variable in the planning process and in the macro
economic framework in rebuilding the economy to fully realize the potential of the services in the
subsistence and reproductive sector of the economy.
Strengthen communities: in the rebuilding of their own communities and the Nation
Implement right to Information law: Establish effective channels of communication to provide
inform and access to all relief supplies/compensations/cash transfers so that every person is
informed of their entitlement and how to access them
Medium term: Plan together with community on in the structure and design of the houses providing
building codes and building guidelines build strong enforcement for building codes and increase the
sense of awareness and
Financial reform: revision of the financial rules and regulation to provide easy access as well as
financial women, poor and disadvantaged
Establish a strong Monitoring: for effective and efficient delivery
Long term: massive employment generation Plan for reconstruction and rehabilitation –
infrastructure development, public works, irrigation, electricity others
Promotion of gender integrated trade: provide necessary support and facilitation for promoting
integrated trade and business to mainstream gender in trade and business
Human Development
i
National Living Standards Survey III 2010-2011
UNDP 2014: Human Development Report
iii
CARE International 2015: Gender Relations in Nepal Overview
iv
Nepal Demographic profile-Mundi
v
Amnesty International 2014: Nepal: Unnecessary burden: Gender discrimination and uterine prolapse in
Nepal
vi
Gender Equality Bulletin No. 1: Response to the Nepal Earthquake -20 May 215
vii
UNDAC Assessment 2015: Pre-monsoon Overview Nepal Earthquake: 26.05.2015
viii
KELLY F. CORLEY & RAJU KADKA: Sustainable Development in Rural Nepal: The Gender and Poverty
Perspective for NEWAH’s Safe Drinking Water Programme: http://lib.icimod.org/record/9479/files/5200.pdf
ix
NMIP 2014; WASH Status Report 2014
x
CBS, 2014, Population Monograph of Nepal, Volume III,
xi
See FEDO Presentation
xii
ACTED 2015: Rapid Needs Assessment Report District Dhading VDCs Sangkosh and Katunje:
http://foodsecuritycluster.net/sites/default/files/ACTED%20Assessment_Sankos%20and%20Katunja%20Dhadi
ng.pdf
xiii
Nepal Demographic and Health Survey 2011
xiv
UNFPA 2013:Tracking Cases for Gender-Based Violence in Nepal: Individual, institutional, legal and policy
analyses
xv
Chiai Uraguchi 2010: Current Trends of Human Trafficking in Nepal
xvi
Reuter News 2015: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/26/us-quake-nepal-traffickingidUSKBN0OB12Z20150526
xvii
UNICEF 2015: State of World Children:
http://www.unicef.org/publications/files/SOWC_2015_Summary_and_Tables.pdf
xviii
Post Disaster Need Assessment of Water Supply and Sanitation Field Visit Report ‐ Dhading, Gorkha and
Lamjung by Finnish Embassy
xix
Neumayer Eric and Thomas Plumper 2007. ‘The Gendered Nature of Natural Disasters: the impact of
catastrophic events on the gender gap in life expectancy, 1981-2002.’ London School of Economics and
Political Science, http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/3040/1/Gendered_nature_of_natural_disasters_(LSERO).pdf
xx
The Economist Intelligence United, 2014. The South Asia Women’s Resilience Index: examining the role of
women in preparing for and recovering from disasters. ActionAid and The Economist, London, New York, Hong
Kong, Geneva.
ii