The Government of Japan has agreed to provide new grant assistance worth 794 million Japanese Yen (equivalent to around 5.3 million USD/ around 1,530 million PKR) for reconstructing educational facilities in flood-affected areas in Sindh. On October 18, 2023, a signing ceremony for the assistance was held at the Ministry of Economic Affairs in Islamabad. H.E. Mr. WADA Mitsuhiro, Ambassador of Japan, Mr. KINOSHITA Yasumitsu, Chief Representative of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Dr. Kazim Niaz, Secretary, Ministry of Economic Affairs, and other officials from both countries attended this ceremony.

Since June 2022, heavy monsoon rains have intermittently caused flooding that has submerged one-third of the country, resulting in more than 1,700 deaths and 33 million people affected.  Damage in Sindh province has been severe, accounting for 66% of the total damage in the education sector. As medium- and long-term measures, the rapid reconstruction of damaged educational facilities are important to ensure that children have safe learning opportunities. This is the fourth grant aid through which the Government of Japan supports the improvement of educational facilities in Sindh province. 

It has been reported that the school buildings assisted by Japan in the past projects suffered less damage and destruction from the rainfall and flooding in 2022 because they were designed and constructed based on analysis of the 2010 floods.  The new project will also incorporate the concept of “Build Back Better” to reduce vulnerability of the target schools to future disasters and build resilience of communities where the schools are located.

This project aims to establish safe and disaster-resilient learning environment through reconstruction of elementary schools which were heavily affected by the flood and heavy rain in 2022. The assistance contributes to improving the school enrollment rate and gender equality in the target areas, contributing to the SDGs Goal 4 (Quality education) and 5 (Gender equality).

In the signing ceremony, H.E. Mr. WADA Mitsuhiro stated, " I hope that the project this time will further contribute to creating an environment where children can continue to receive education even after the floods in the future". Mr. KINOSHITA, while speaking at the event said "we believe that the new grant aid project will build not only school buildings, but also it will build brighter and more resilient future for the next generation of Pakistan".

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)