Spokesman Report

Islamabad: UN-Habitat Pakistan convened an Expert Group Meeting (EGM) with representatives from the Government of Pakistan, the Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC), the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), UN agencies, NGOs, civil society, and the engineering community to develop practical guidelines for the seismic retrofitting of schools in earthquake-prone areas of the country. These guidelines aim to help practitioners identify vulnerable school buildings, apply effective retrofitting strategies, and address operational challenges during implementation.

Mr. Hamid Mumtaz Khan, Deputy Programme Manager at UN-Habitat Pakistan, shared experiences from the Disaster-Resilient School Infrastructure (DRSI) project, under which 150 schools and 300 WASH facilities were retrofitted in eight districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with financial support from JICA. He noted that these retrofitted schools performed well during recent moderate earthquakes and flash floods, demonstrating the effectiveness of safe design and construction practices.

Mr. Jitendra Kumar Bothara, the lead technical consultant, outlined the purpose and scope of the guidelines, which focus on three key areas: identifying and prioritizing vulnerable schools, designing effective retrofitting strategies, and improving implementation efficiency.

Participants emphasized that the absence of a standardized methodology for identifying and prioritizing vulnerable schools has long been a challenge. The forthcoming guidelines will address this gap by introducing simple screening methods, practical retrofitting options, and good practices learned from field implementation, thereby contributing to safer schools across Pakistan.