Covid-19 recovery in Nepal: A case study of the role of women’s leadership

This case study examines Women’s Rights Organisations’ (WROs) leadership and participation in COVID-19 recovery planning in Nepal. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing inequalities and challenges faced by women and other marginalised groups in Nepal. There are examples of WROs’ leadership during the response and there are opportunities to build on these in the recovery from COVID-19. The case study found that:

WROs played a leading role in the COVID-19 response in their communities, despite limited support from other humanitarian actors and donors WROs directly supported the economic recovery of individual women and advocated for gender-sensitive policies to support equitable recovery; Participation of WROs in response and recovery planning was largely in forums that featured an explicit focus on gender, with uneven representation in other forums; Lack of sustainable funding for longterm recovery, and for the role of WROs specifically, is limiting opportunities for WROs to participate and lead.