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Pakistan was particularly hard hit by the earthquake that devastated the region in 2005. Children and youth made up almost 50 percent of those affected, due to the timing of the disaster and the poor quality of school building construction. The education sector faces major challenges to reconstruct and be prepared for future natural disasters.

A study by UNESCO’s the International Institute for Educational Planning assesses the response of the education sector in northern Pakistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir following the 2005 earthquake, which killed nearly 20,000 schoolchildren. The author documents the experiences of those involved in new coordination efforts known as Education Clusters at the central and district levels.

In the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, a massive emergency relief effort was launched. Once critical supplies had been provided, communities requested assistance with education. The relief community adopted the Cluster Approach to ensure regular communication and coordination. This is a mechanism introduced by the United Nations (UN) to enhance the ability of humanitarian agencies to respond more effectively by building partnerships. The Minimum Standards for Education in Emergencies, Chronic Crises and Early Reconstruction, developed by the Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE), served as a framework for the response of the education sector.

Although funding for the education sector during the relief operations was relatively generous, longer-term funding was not as easily secured. In addition, it was a challenge to ensure reconstruction efforts were in sync with the normal development of the education sector. The study highlights:

• the consequences of a lack of preparedness for emergencies in a region that is naturally prone to disaster
• the importance of government leadership, plus the need for sector coordination involving national education authorities at all levels, with specified roles for agencies and individuals
• the value of the INEE’s Minimum Standards as a common policy framework
• the need for sector-wide vision and planning, and innovative partnerships for implementation between UN agencies, non-governmental organisations and community-based organisations.

The vision of ‘building back better’ will be achieved only with long-term, strategic, sector-wide planning. The agencies involved need to have continuity of funding and should coordinate responses to natural disasters at different stages:

• During the relief phase, the education sector needs to be prepared to collaborate with partners, and education personnel and the Education Cluster need to push for funding for priority activities.
• At all levels, government disaster-response mechanisms should have systematic links with and across line ministries, and other organisations must coordinate within these structures.
• To make sure the education sector attends to all children, cross-Cluster communication and coordination is needed, especially with the Protection Cluster.
• During early recovery and reconstruction, programming needs to evolve to meet changing demands, especially in terms of effective training and building up of skills and resources.
• To ensure transition from relief to recovery, flexible funding channels and consistent donor coordination are needed.
• Holistic approaches are needed to ensure that attention and resources are distributed fairly.

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