Summary Report

South Asia Regional Consultation Workshop on School and Hospital Earthquake Safety GeoHazards International (GHI) and the World Banks Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) held the South Asia Regional Consultation Workshop on School and Hospital Earthquake Safety 24-25 May, 2011 at The Claridges New Delhi, India. The workshop is part of a partnership between GHI and GFDRR to improve school and hospital earthquake safety. The primary outcome of this partnership will be the development of consensus-based, country-owned draft national action plans for school and hospital earthquake safety in two South Asia countries. The purpose of the workshop was to consult with key stakeholders in school and hospital earthquake safety in the region as a first step in the development of the draft national action plans. As the host country, India demonstrated strong support for earthquake safety through the participation of high-level officials in the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and the North Eastern Council (NEC). Hon. Vice Chairman of NDMA, Shri. Shashidar Reddy inaugurated the workshop. He provided a summary of NDMAs impressive achievements in disaster management since inception in 2005, including publishing 25 guideline documents and initiating the National Earthquake Risk Mitigation Programme, and encouraged Hon. Vice Chairman NDMA participants to measure the effectiveness of Shasidiar Reddy inaugurates the their work, as NDMA does. He highlighted workshop NDMAs partnership with the Ministry of Human Resource Developments Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (Education for All) initiative to provide safe schools. Shri Reddy discussed the need for hospitals to remain functional after disasters, and the numerous social, health and fiscal benefits that disaster resilient hospitals provide communities. He concluded by promising NDMAs support for the partnership to develop national action plans in India. Hon. Member of the North Eastern Council Shri. P. P. Shrivastav also addressed the inaugural session. He compared Haiti and Chile as an example of how building codes and consistent practices can

Hon. Member NEC P.P. Shrivastav

reduce earthquake risk and save lives, and discussed the geographic, functional and psychological strategic dimensions to earthquake safety. He emphasized that solutions need to include local wisdom and practices, and involve the whole community, especially students, women and civil society. NDMA Members Shri Nanda Kumar and Dr. Muzzafar Ahmad chaired sessions on school safety and hospital safety, respectively, at the workshop. Shri. Kumar spoke on the necessity of mainstreaming disaster management into planning in order to take a proactive approach emphasizing prevention and mitigation, rather than solely a reactive approach. He discussed the need to invest significant human and financial resources to make schools safe from all hazards. Dr. Muzaffar Ahmad discussed the need for functional and safe hospitals. In addition to Members of NDMA and NEC, workshop participants included representatives from the ministries responsible for health and education in Bhutan, India, and Nepal, as well as those of regional and international organizations. A list of participants is attached. Following the inaugural session, GHI staff members Mr. Hari Kumar, Dr. Janise Rodgers and Mr. L. Thomas Tobin presented background information on school and hospital earthquake safety and on how action planning can help. In the afternoon, participants from each country presented the current status of school and hospital earthquake safety efforts in their nation. Mr. Khagaraj Baral of Nepals The country presentations highlighted the Department of Education presents on progress toward school and hospital school earthquake safety earthquake safety to date, the remaining needs, and the opportunities for action planning to make a difference. In India, the government is embarking on extensive investment programs in schools and hospitals, including the 50,000 new schools being built through Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and numerous new medical facilities including six All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). Action planning provides a way to mainstream seismic safety provisions into these initiatives and Wangdi Gyeltshen of Bhutans to include further measures in the disaster Ministry of Health facilitates a discussion on hospital earthquake management chapter of Indias forthcoming Five Year Plans. In Bhutan, the development of a national education policy and preparations for the next Five Year Plan present important opportunities to institutionalize key school and hospital seismic safety actions. The second day of the workshop consisted

Participants discuss hospital seismic

of an analysis of the country presentations and smaller group discussions on pressing school and hospital earthquake safety issues, such as obstacles to improving earthquake safety in the region and ways of overcoming them. Participants agreed that both schools and hospitals in the region faced major seismic safety needs. Key needs identified during the group discussions on schools included better earthquake safety policies, assessment and strengthening of existing buildings, good design and quality control for new buildings, better awareness generation efforts, and greater community involvement. Key needs identified by the hospital discussion groups included better enforcement and accountability measures, vulnerability assessments for existing hospitals, and mechanisms to address private hospitals. The projects action planning efforts will help create a clear path to meeting these needs.