| Introduction: The twin earthquakes of eastern Azerbaijan induced considerable devastations of many
villages and cities. About 70% of all victims were women and children. The present case report was aimed
at describing the lessons learnt from both capabilities and challenges of girls and women after the twin
earthquakes of eastern Azerbaijan.
Methods: A qualitative approach using in-depth unstructured interviews was used for this study. A total of
13 participants (two men and 11 women), affected by the quakes, were interviewed applying the purposeful
sampling method. A manifest content analysis was performed for analyzing the transcribed interviews
Case presentation: Two categories of women’s capabilities and challenges and four subcategories of
women’s participation in community reconstruction, livelihood efforts, aggravated poverty and violence were
extracted from the data which were gathered in the destroyed fields of eastern Azerbaijan.
Lessons learnt: Women can play an important role in post-disaster recovery. Consequently, ignoring the
challenges and capabilities of women may impede post-disaster development processes, which would
adversely affect the whole community. |