SECTION I: INTRODUCTION
Intended audience
This manual is intended for decision makers and program
managers in agencies involved in, or intending to begin,
school construction in hazard-prone areas. The manual is
intended primarily for humanitarian and development actors
– the organisations often building and repairing schools in
hazard-prone locations – as well as government authorities
seeking to introduce or oversee community-based school
construction programs. The manual also provides insight for
community disaster risk reduction and disaster management
practitioners within the education sector.
This manual provides guidance for school construction
projects that have one or more of the following
characteristics:
• Local school committees or community leaders
contributing to the funding, planning, construction or
oversight of school buildings in hazard-prone areas.
NGO and government staff in a planning session preparing to
support the Ministry of Education’s work on Comprehensive School
Safety. Photo: Danielle Wade/Save the Children.
• Construction that may enhance existing or planned
disaster risk reduction education.
• A local construction sector that does not already include
robust hazard-resistant design, construction and oversight
practice.
• Combined post-disaster reconstruction and disaster risk
reduction.
While the focus of the manual is on schools built through
community-based processes, the guidelines may also
enhance more traditional school construction processes,
such as when government agencies directly build schools or
hire contractors to do so. Integrating community awareness
activities and collaborating with communities in the planning
and design stages can strengthen community capacity for
disaster risk reduction. Such community engagement builds
community capacity for maintaining the school and helps
ensure the school constructed takes into account both local
hazards and community aspirations.
Consultations with Laos PDR Ministry of Education and Sport staff
on the implementation of a Comprehensive School Safety program.
Photo: Save the Children.
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