SANTO DOMINGO. – In order to increase the resilience of educational and water infrastructure to disasters in the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Haiti, a first training session was held for more than a dozen technical people from Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
The training is funded by the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructures (CDRI), under the Infrastructure for Resilient Island States (IRIS) framework through the Coalition's trust fund, IRAF.
In the regional course-workshop, facilitated by the National School of Risk Management of the National Emergency Commission, the Directorate of Environmental Management and Risk of the Ministry of Education and the National Office of Seismic Evaluation and Infrastructure Vulnerability (ONESVIE) of the Dominican Republic, the Safe Schools School Safety Index (ISCERD) tool was socialized.
This rigorous tool is adapted to the Caribbean reality and allows for the evaluation of the safety of educational institutions, encompassing infrastructure, risk management, and emergency preparedness, according to a press release.
This South-South cooperation meeting is part of the efforts of the initiative “Strengthening the capacities, security and resilience of critical infrastructures in the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Haiti” , implemented in the country by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in coordination with the National Emergency Commission, Civil Defense and in partnership with the National Council for Climate Change and Clean Development Mechanism, and also implemented in Cuba and Haiti by the counterpart institutions.
During the training session, the organizations emphasized that the vulnerability of schools can cost lives, but also learning and development opportunities. Educational centers are not only places where teaching takes place, but also where care is provided, inspiration is fostered, and the future is shaped.
They indicated that when a school is affected by a disaster , not only is the school calendar disrupted, but safety is compromised, inequalities are exacerbated, and the right of children and adolescents to a continuous, safe, and dignified education is violated. Therefore, it is urgent to strengthen school infrastructure and its capacity to respond to increasingly intense and frequent natural hazards.
The integration of gender perspective and inclusive infrastructure into the assessment tools of educational centers was a crucial aspect of the workshop, which had the valuable participation of CONADIS and the Ministry of Women.
Due to climate change , phenomena such as storms, floods, and hurricanes will become more frequent, more intense, and less predictable. In this context, investing in resilient school infrastructure is not a luxury, it is a priority. It is a direct investment in prevention, equal opportunities, and sustainable development.
Among the participating entities were: Civil Defense Dominican Republic, Civil Defense Haiti, Ministry of Education Haiti, National School of Risk Management, National Emergency Commission, ONESVIE, CONADIS, Ministry of Women, Ministry of Education Dominican Republic, UNDP Dominican Republic and UNDP Haiti.
Photo: External source.
