Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Management in Afghanistan’s Education Sector

  • Country name

    Afghanistan

  • Project Dates

    04/01/2017 - 06/01/2019

  • Status

    Closed

  • Funding source

    GFDRR, Gov. of Japan, World Bank

Overview

Type of Engagement
Advisory Services and Analytics (ASA)
Benefited schools (Potential)
1,946
Benefited students (Potential)
8,910,000
Committed Amount
$ 400,000
Government Counterpart
Ministry of Education

Description

Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Management in Afghanistan’s Education Sector supported the government of Afghanistan in integrating risk reduction criteria into school infrastructure investments by developing quality assurance guidance on school construction in the country. The purpose was to gain an understanding of the challenges implementing agencies face in assuring quality throughout the project cycle—planning, design, construction, and maintenance—for new school infrastructure. 

The findings of the review were presented to the government in support of its National Education Strategic Plan (NESP III) for 2017–21, which sought to meet the demand for new schools by improving the quality of construction. Recommendations were linked to Education Quality Reform in Afghanistan (EQRA), a World Bank-financed project in the early stages of implementation. EQRA’s development objective was to “increase equitable access to primary and secondary education, particularly for girls, in selected lagging provinces, and to improve learning conditions in Afghanistan” through the construction of 1,946 new schools in two years.

In addition, the economic and technical feasibility of retrofitting vulnerable schools was assessed, based on a representative sample of 42 schools.

 

Activities supported by the World Bank

  • The formulation of an action plan, supported by EQRA, with short- and medium-term recommendations for improving the construction of new schools, taking into consideration seismic risk 

  • The development of strategies by the respective ministries for school prioritization and potential retrofitting interventions at scale

  • The training of government staff and local partners on how to generate and understand information about risk and use it in decision making

 

Main outputs

  • A diagnostic report on the construction environment and management of school infrastructure, with recommendations

  • A seismic risk assessment of a small sample of the school portfolio, including a cost-benefit analysis