Building Urban Resilience to Disasters in the Kyrgyz Republic

The Kyrgyz Republic State Agency for Architecture, Construction and Communal Services (Gosstroi), in partnership with the World Bank, is aiming at building the capacity of government staff to incorporate disaster resilience in urban planning and housing construction.

ICF International, an international consultancy which specializes in carrying out urban sector and governance projects, in association with EPICentre, was commissioned in July 2015 by the World Bank to undertake the assignment.

In particular, Tiziana, Carmine and Enrica Verrucci are leading the review of the existing framework for incorporating disaster resilience in housing design and construction and provide recommendations for improving the building seismic code in the country.

The three-day workshop included students and staff from different local universities, local professional engineers and members of the Ministry of Emergency Situations (MoES) and Bishkek Municipality. The workshop had a special focus on the institutional and regulatory framework for housing design, construction and maintenance. The main aim is to identify gaps and propose an action plan towards improving the current situation and lessening risks in the country.

The workshop on March 15-17 has been very successful and the World Bank is now aiming at a longer training programme on seismic design and seismic risk assessment to be delivered over summer, in collaboration with local universities.

More pictures are available on Epicentre facebook page.