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Conference Title: Build Back Better: Pakistan 2022 Flood Reconstruction Assistance – What We Can Do to Build Safe Schools
Date: Monday, March 13, 2023 – Tuesday, March 14, 2023
Organized by: School Education and Literacy Department, Sindh Province, Pakistan, JICA
Location: Karachi, Pakistan
Main Participants
Government of Sindh, Pakistan
Syed Ali Shah (Minister of Education and Literacy), Parveiz Ahmed Baloch (Special Undersecretary of the Bureau of School Education and Literacy), Abdul Qadir Ansari (Assistant Secretary of the Bureau), about 50 engineers involved in the construction of schools in the Bureau of School Education and Literacy, and the political secretary of the Bureau.
Japan
Masao Hashimoto (Information Gathering and Confirmation Study on Rehabilitation of Flood Damaged Educational Facilities in Sindh, Mazda Consultants), Toshihiro Goto (Chief Advisor for National Disaster Management Plan Revision and Update Project, Kensetsu Giken International), Akiko Hanaya (Education Policy Advisor), Yuko Kuno (Deputy Director General, JICA Pakistan Office), Akiko Hanaya (Education Policy Advisor), Yuko Kono (Deputy Director General, JICA Pakistan Office) Deputy Director, JICA Pakistan Office)
Development Partners
World Bank, UNESCO, USAID
Background and Objectives
In 2022, Pakistan experienced major flooding, a disaster of unprecedented scale. In Sindh, 7,503 public schools (equivalent to about 21% of public schools) were completely destroyed and 12,305 schools (about 31% of public schools) were partially destroyed, depriving students of the opportunity to learn in a safe environment. In restoring these educational facilities, the concept of “Build Back Better (BBB)” is important, which is not to return to the pre-disaster situation, but to scientifically identify the possibility of similar disasters in the future and the risks involved, and to consider measures to minimize the damage.
JICA has constructed 54 secondary school buildings for girls in Sindh Province through its grant aid projects. These schools were designed and constructed based on the damage caused by the 2010 floods, and were used as shelters in the 2022 floods without suffering major damage.
Against this background, this workshop was jointly organized by JICA and the Department of School Education and Literacy at the request of the Government of Sindh Province. In order to strengthen the capacity of engineers who will be involved in the rehabilitation and construction of schools in the future, the purpose of this workshop was to share the knowledge of each development partner, including JICA, and to consider a roadmap for the reconstruction of schools in Sindh based on the BBB concept, while sharing the current situation and challenges faced by the engineers.
Contents
In the “Resilient, Recovery, Rehabilitation, and Reconstruction Framework Pakistan (4RF)” announced at the Pakistan Flood Recovery Support Country Meeting held in January 2023, the rehabilitation of educational facilities based on the BBB concept was also included in the plan. At the beginning of the workshop, the importance of BBB in the reconstruction of schools was emphasized by the Minister of Education and Literacy and other senior officials of the Pakistani government.
From JICA, Mr. Goto, an expert involved in a technical cooperation project for the National Disaster Management Authority of Pakistan, introduced the concept of prevention, including land use, in disaster management. Mr. Hashimoto, who has been involved in supporting school construction in Sindh Province, shared points to keep in mind during the design and construction phases to build schools that are resilient to disasters. Other development partners also introduced concrete attempts to build schools that are more resilient to climate change and disaster risks.
Engineers from the Department of School Education and Literacy also shared the current situation and challenges faced by the government in the field of school construction and enthusiastically discussed the direction that should be taken in the future. The discussions at the workshop were summarized as recommendations by the chief engineer of the Department of School Education and Literacy, which will be widely used by the provincial government and donors in the reconstruction of educational facilities in the future.
© Source JICA
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