This dissertation explores the obstacles to women’s participation in the planning and implementation of the relief and reconstruction efforts in the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Furthermore, following Molyneux (1985)’s distinction between practical gender interests and strategic gender interests, it examines the disaster management system’s ability to meet women’s practical and strategic needs. The answers to these research questions are sought drawing both on primary sources—collected through key informant interviews—and on a wide range of secondary sources.