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society. This has been observed in past earthquakes in
Bam, Iran (2003), Gujarat, India (2001), Mozafarabad,
Pakistan (2005), andWenchuan (Sichuan), China (2008)
with the loss of 6,898 classrooms and 9,000 students. Thus
child safety, which should have the highest priority in any
risk reduction programme, has been well addressed in all
of the Iran risk reduction programmes, especially through
safe school buildings. In other words, safe school building
is key to successful the earthquake education programme
in schools, which began in 1992 during IERMP in Iran.
After the Manjil earthquake, Organization of School
Renovation, Development and Mobilization of Ministry
of Education implemented a more rigorous inspection
process in order to make sure schools were built accord-
ing to the codes. However, this programme was not fully
implemented, especially in rural areas and small towns.
The destruction of old schools, damage to some of the
newly built schools, and the loss of the many school
children (in their homes and not in school), strength-
ened the campaign for safe schools.
Image: Organization of School Renovation, Development and Mobilization of Iran Ministry of Education
• Reduce the risk of future construction and developments of
urban and rural areas and increase safety levels through
adequate urban and rural planning and management; make sure
that all structures are build safer by full implementation of
building codes with ‘zero tolerance’ for any type of violation
• Substantial risk reduction of existing structures to save human
lives, especially in schools, hospitals, public buildings, lifelines
and infrastructures within the next ten years; provide special
loans and incentives for the strengthening private buildings
• Improve the quality of city planning and management, and of
the legal framework so that severe building violation is treated
as a criminal act and not simply a civil violation
• Improve the understanding of climate change and its environ-
mental effects; develop an effective programme for reducing the
effects of floods and drought-related disaster.
It should be noted that the above-mentioned strategy needs to be
formulated into a doable and executable programme by the respec-
tive organizations in Iran. The scientific communities should take a
multidisciplinary approach in striving to translate current technical
know-how into doable format and simplified solutions that are
socioeconomically and culturally accepted by the general public.
Moreover, straightforward do-it-yourself construction techniques for
simple dwellings should be promoted in rural areas.
School Building Safety Act
In terms of human losses, the loss and injury of children, as a binding
factor of each family, can create long-term psychosocial disorder in
Child safety has been well addressed in all of the Iran risk reduction programmes,
especially through safe school buildings