Resilient Schools & Youth
Every year, natural disasters disrupt children’s education in poor countries. The direct damage injures students and destroys poorly-constructed school buildings. In the aftermath, teaching and learning suffer. Children who lose their school may not be able to finish their studies.
The promise of an education is vital for every child. That’s why we work with youth, educators, and builders to make schools safer from disasters.
Videos
"When an earthquake destroys schools, it takes away the children’s future —and with it, the future of the country itself. In the 1988 Nepal earthquake, the destruction of 14,000 classrooms was significant, but more so was the fact that 300,000 children couldn’t go to school for years afterwards."
Madhab Mathema
Former Senior Human Settlements Advisor, United Nations Center for Human Settlements (HABITAT)
Projects
School Seismic Vulnerability Assessments
2020 - Present
Amargadhi, Nepal
Findings indicate the extent of risk to schoolchildren in the typical school building types found in a fast-growing municipality in far west Nepal.
Rapid Diagnostic of School Infrastructure
2020
Haiti
Findings about schools' vulnerability to natural hazards, climate change, and infrastructure deficiencies will inform plans to make schools safer and more resilient.
Timoun an Aksyon (Kids in Action)
2019 - Present
Cap-Haitien, Haiti
In their own voice and style, youth share new knowledge about extreme earthquake and coastal risks and how to take action for disaster resilience.
Family Preparedness for Earthquakes
2016 - 2023
Haiti, Dominican Republic
This promoted preparedness steps specific to where people live, and in plain language explained the science behind local risk. Outreach in Kreyol, French, Spanish, and English.
Disaster Scenarios for Risk-Informed Planning
2016 - 2019
West Nepal
Scenarios of a plausible earthquake quantify impacts, including more than 50% of schools damaged, and guide communities to reduce extreme risk before a disaster.
"I am the guardian of 1,000 children in a fifty-year old, two-story brick school that has not, unfortunately, been adequately maintained. Ten years ago, a distant, moderate earthquake produced a crack in my classroom’s wall so large that my students and I could see the garden outside. Since then, I have known what would happen to my school—and my children—in a large earthquake, unless we prepare."
Sanu Kumari Nepal
Director, Kanya Mandir Secondary School, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Blog
"I’ve stood in Armenia on a spot where a school had stood just a week before—and 600 children’s lives were lost. This experience drove home the need to blend the human dimension with the traditional economic view. In working with GHI, I have the opportunity to save tens of thousands of lives."
L. Thomas Tobin
Former Executive Director, California Seismic Safety Commission
Publications
School Earthquake and Tsunami Safety in Asia-Pacific Economies:
Reducing Risk and Improving Preparedness
2011
A policy framework and ways to keep students out of harm’s way who live in earthquake, tsunami, and volcano zones in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) countries.
School Earthquake Safety and Preparedness – Course Materials developed for India
2008
A program to reduce school earthquake risks and to educate students, faculty, and parents about earthquake preparedness. Developed for India schools and applicable elsewhere.
Resources:
Teacher Sensitization: Instructor Guide
Non-structural Risk Reduction Handbook for Schools
2007
This guide explains how to prepare schools before an earthquake, to avoid significant injuries or blocked exits that result when unsecured objects fall during shaking.
Identifying Earthquake-Vulnerable Schools and Setting Priorities to Make Them Safe
2005
A case study in Gujarat, India.
Investing in Quito’s Future
1995
A description of the Quito, Ecuador school earthquake safety project, which prioritized high risk school buildings and presented solutions to strengthen them.
Link:
Keeping Schools Safe in Earthquakes
A process for nations to develop an effective school earthquake safety program, prepared for Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
