Tools for the assessment of school and hospital safety for multi-hazards in South Asia

This toolkit comprises four sets of assessment tools for both existing and new schools as well as hospitals in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. It is intended to offer user-friendly tools for the multi-hazard context of the countries in South Asia, targeting the policy makers, experts, and end-users that are responsible for local level planning and implementation.

The toolkit explains the complex process of retrofitting of existing facilities as well as ensuring safe construction of new infrastructure, in a practical manner. It facilitates informed decision-making and actions to achieve school and hospital safety and importantly, the tools have been reviewed by a group of experts including policymakers, professionals and users, and have undergone field testing in several locations in the region.

It is aimed at providing concrete indices in support of the recommendations of the 2011 Chair’s summary of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, the global advocacy campaigns: One Million Safe Schools and Hospitals, Making Cities Resilient - My City is Getting Ready and, the World Urban Campaign. It complements the recent work of the SAARC Disaster Management Centre and its publication ‘Rapid Structural and Non-Structural Assessment of School and Hospital Buildings in SAARC Countries’.