The Gorkha Aftershocks - A Window of Opportunity to Human Development in Okharpauwa, Nepal?

Abstract: The Gorkha earthquake that happened on the 25th of April and its aftershocks on the 26th 2015 was a remarkable event in Nepal’s history. Okharpauwa, a village development committee in Nuwakot District, was considerably affected by the aftershocks and the affected people were in the process of recovering when this master’s thesis was written. A dominant idea within disaster recovery literature is that; the post-disaster recovery phase is often regarded as a “window of opportunity” for improved re-development, in this master’s thesis linked to an approach on human development. This master’s thesis is an examination of whether this idea is possible or not. Such examination has been demonstrated through an analysis of the ongoing recovery process in Okharpauwa and the affected people’s access to five instrumental freedoms. The analysis was based on theoretical concepts from disaster recovery theory and the human development approach. The data was primarily derived through a fieldwork conducted in Okharpauwa. The findings were that the Gorkha aftershocks cannot clearly be seen as a window of opportunity to human development in Okharpauwa however, it had resulted in other potential opportunities such as financial aid, toilet facilities or improved relationships with relatives, that the affected people had not experienced before. The idea of a natural disaster as a window of opportunity to improved re-development has therefore been critically assessed in this master’s thesis and it was concluded that the idea is not applicable to all cases.