Safe environment for every child
Resilient schools, resilient communities
The challenge
Children in Tajikistan are highly vulnerable to both natural and human-induced hazards, including earthquakes, mudflows, landslides, floods, rockfalls and avalanches. Nearly nine in ten children (88.3 per cent) live in areas exposed to high or very high seismic risk.
Many schools lack resilient infrastructure capable of withstanding these hazards, putting children's safety and wellbeing at risk, disrupting learning, and resulting in significant economic losses to the education system.
Access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services in schools also remains a challenge. Around 26 per cent of urban schools and 50 per cent of rural schools do not have piped drinking water on school grounds. Most schools rely on basic pit latrines, and older students, particularly those above Grade 5, often avoid using school toilets due to poor conditions. The lack of safe water, adequate sanitation facilities, menstrual hygiene management, and privacy disproportionately affects adolescent girls, contributing to absenteeism and school dropout. In UNICEF's 2015 survey of out-of-school children, 18 per cent of girls cited inadequate sanitation facilities as a reason for not attending school.
Resilient schools, resilient communities
Given Tajikistan’s high exposure to natural hazards, including earthquakes and landslides, UNICEF supports the integration of disaster risk reduction and resilience into the national curriculum and teacher training programmes.
Together with development partners, UNICEF is supporting the Ministry of Education and Science in conducting a comprehensive school safety assessment to identify vulnerabilities to natural hazards and inform investments that strengthen the safety and resilience of both existing and new school infrastructure.
UNICEF also works with partners to create a more resilient education system that provides safe learning environments for every child. Through training and awareness-raising, children, teachers, parents and communities are equipped with the knowledge and skills to understand risks, prepare for emergencies, and respond effectively to disasters such as earthquakes, floods and landslides.
To advance sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services, UNICEF supports selected schools and health facilities with access to safe drinking water, improved sanitation facilities and hygiene education that promotes healthy behaviours for life.
Alongside these investments, UNICEF advocates for stronger national policies on WASH in schools while implementing integrated programmes that combine infrastructure improvements with hygiene promotion. Working closely with the Ministry of Energy and Water Resources, the Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of the Population, and other partners, UNICEF helps expand equitable access to safe WASH services for children and communities across Tajikistan.
