Education infrastructure

In Somalia 15 years of civil war have shattered infrastructure, creating crippling over-demand at many urban schools, some of which try to teach in classrooms holding up to 100 children. UNOPS is helping by implementing the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) “Back to School” project, which aims to build 294 schools there. UNOPS realizes significant cost savings during implementation by procuring materials in bulk and using performance-based labour contracts.

In Indonesia, the tsunami of December 2004 affected a large numbers of schools, with 1,147 destroyed or severely damaged in Aceh province alone, threatening the education of tens of thousands of children. Against this backdrop of devastation UNICEF committed to build new permanent primary schools in the Aceh and Nias regions on behalf of the Government of Indonesia. The schools as constructed set new standards in earthquake resistance and all are adapted to the specific needs of each community and the requirements of each construction site. The project aims to restore educational facilities to a much higher standard than existed prior to the tsunami.

Innovative school design

Besides its considerable expertise in design, UNOPS has extensive experience collaborating with local residents to ensure that school designs meet their needs. In Indonesia UNOPS designed schools that set new standards in earth-quake resistance. And in Sri Lanka the Ministry of Education, UNICEF and UNOPS worked together to create a “Child Friendly Design Concept” to provide learning environments that develop the intellectual and social capacities of children of all ages and backgrounds.