Nepal government distribution of earthquake reconstruction cash grants for private houses

The earthquakes of April and May 2015 caused massive housing destruction with over half a million houses collapsed or badly damaged. Over 18 months on from the earthquakes, the pace of reconstruction has been slow. Most people whose homes were damaged remained in self-constructed temporary shelters or had moved back into their dangerously damaged houses. In order to get people back into safer, permanent housing, the Government of Nepal and major donors developed the Nepal Rural Housing Reconstruction Program (RHRP). Through this program, reconstruction cash grants, disbursed in three tranches, are provided to eligible beneficiaries to aid them in building earthquake-resistant houses.

As reconstruction cash grants for private houses currently form the core of the government's support for earthquake victims, there is a need to examine the effectiveness of the program and its impact on recovery. The Nepal Government Distribution of Earthquake Reconstruction Cash Grants for Private Houses report, produced by Democracy Resource Center Nepal (DRCN) and The Asia Foundation, examines the implementation process as well as local awareness and reception of the program and provides recommendations on how it can be improved. It also outlines the policy background of the cash grant program. The report details findings from the qualitative field research conducted in Gorkha and Dolakha - the first two districts where the disbursement started - during July 2016 along with data from three rounds of qualitative and quantitative fieldwork, of which the latest was undertaken in September 2016. It forms part of a larger longitudinal and mixed methods study, the Independent Impacts and Recovery Monitoring project. A series of reports produced by this project seek to provide insights into the effectiveness of aid delivery and its impact on recovery in the aftermath of Nepal's 2015.