Providing security during reconstruction in Nepal
Many inhabitants of Nepal are still experiencing the consequences of the 2015 disastrous earthquakes. Most of the houses in the earthquake-affected areas have been damaged or destroyed. In three of those areas land administration experts from Nepal, international experts from the Global Land Tool Network (GLTN) and Kadaster, are working on methods to accelerate reconstruction.
For many Nepalese people in the affected areas, only one thing is important: they want a house again! But it has to be built in the right place and they must have the guarantee that it is their property.
Accelerate processes
Despite the solid plans and financial resources from the government, reconstruction does not go as fast as is needed. Bureaucratic procedures and a big gap between government and citizens are slowing down the process. The government is looking for practical ways to speed up reconstruction.
Joint approach with residents and municipality
Farmers from the first of the three areas cannot return to their own village because of the danger of landslides. The government has assigned a new location for the village. But before the farmers can build a new house, the government must make a settlement plan.
We accelerate this process by helping farmers and the municipality to make this plan together, including providing tenure security with titles. We also use that approach in the second area. Here, the residents want to rebuild their village and at the same time make the structure of plots and public space more efficient.
Unrecorded lease agreements
In the third area, many farmers live on land owned by landlords. The lease agreements are often not recorded. In addition, many farmers have low literacy, so they are insufficiently aware of their rights and options offered by the government. Awareness of their legal status and knowledge of the processes is important to acquire funding for building their new house.
Within the project Kadaster works with the local organisation Huradec. The experience will be used to improve land rights at a bigger scale throughout the whole of Nepal.