Under the leadership of the Government, Nepal is taking steps in the right direction to carry out a successful housing recovery process and to build back better. The Nepal's Earthquake Housing Reconstruction Program is moving forward at steady pace and has reached important milestones.
- A Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) and subsequent donor conference were both successfully completed within two months of the earthquake events, with pledges of reconstruction assistance totaling $4.1 billion. Of the amounts pledged at the conference, the Government has signed over 12 agreements with different development partners.
- The National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) was established on December 22, 2015, and the CEO was appointed on December 25th. Since its inception, important progress has been achieved in terms of policies, staffing, legal procedures and direction.
- The NRA -- with support from the WB, UNDP, JICA, USAID, ADB, FCDO and the EU -- led in the preparation of the Post-Disaster Recovery Framework (PDRF) which lays the foundations for development of reconstruction programs and financing plans for all sectors, based on the needs identified in the PDNA.
- A Program Operations Manual, an Earthquake-Safer Housing Design Catalogue, Inspection Guidelines for the Reconstruction of Houses, and other relevant Acts, Policies, Standard Operations Procedure and Guidelines were produced by the NRA to guide the activities related to reconstruction.
- In May 2016, the NRA established a standard agreement with banking associations throughout the country and signed more than 50 agreements with Banking and Financial Institutions and Banker’s Association of Nepal to disburse subsidies to beneficiaries throughout the country.
- The NRA established a multi-tier Grievance Redness Mechanism (GRM) to receive and file grievance cases and promote accountability.
- A new Management Information System (MIS) was designed and launched to increase transparency and accountability.
- The NRA expanded its presence in all local governments of 32 earthquake districts in order to expedite the activities related to post-earthquake reconstruction, augment program monitoring and better address issues on the local level.
- The NRA expanded Socio-technical Assistance in early 2020 by mobilizing 755 mobile masons and 246 social mobilizers in 14 most affected districts in an effort to ensure “Leave No One Behind” in reconstruction and recovery.
- Of 755 mobile masons recruited by the NRA, around 20% are women. This is a key milestone achieved in breaking the gender barrier in masonry occupation, which has otherwise been conventionally made-dominated area.
- The NRA under World Bank Supported EHRP provided “Resilient Reconstruction and Resilient Development” training to 1,810 elected representatives and officials of 282 local levels from 32 earthquake affected districts in an effort to move from reconstruction towards resilience. The objective of the training was to transfer NRA’s knowledge and experience of resilient reconstruction as well as to build capacity of local levels on resilient development.
- Through MDTF Grant, NRA currently is delivering demand-driven trainings to engineers and sub-engineers of all 282 local levels from 32 earthquake affected districts on slope stabilization and risk reduction in design of local infrastructure, thus significantly contributing towards resilience.
- The transfer of knowledge and experience to local governments is an effort that will contribute towards NRA’s exit strategy. Meanwhile, capacity building of local level officials and technicians will contribute towards longer-term disaster resilience.
- Through MDTF Grant, NRA is extending holistic support to the most vulnerable beneficiaries- the persons with disabilities. Through masons training on “Making Homes Accessible to All”, the house of the EHRP beneficiaries with disabilities will be made accessible. Additionally, through National Disabled Fund (NDF), NRA will be providing assistive devices and livelihood enhancement support to EHRP beneficiaries with disabilities.
To learn more about the Program's progress and achievements, please access the following resources
