Additional Financing to the Tonga Safe and Resilient Schools Project

active

The Parent Project is financed by and IDA Grant (D927-TO) of SDR10.60 million (US$15 million equivalent). It was approved in November 2021 and declared effective on March 8, 2022. The PDO’s are to: (i) to enhance the safety and resilience of selected education facilities; and (ii) to improve the quality of data-driven education management, curricula and assessments in the selected educational programs. The TSRSP has four components: (i) Improving Safety and Resilience of Education Facilities; (ii) Establishment of Education Management Information System (“EMIS”) and improved quality of curricula and assessments; (iii) Contingent Emergency Response; and (iv) Project Management. The Ministry of Education and Training (MET) is responsible for the overall implementation of the project, and is the implementing agency for Components 1, 2 and 4. The Ministry of Finance (MoF) is the implementing agency responsible for Components 1, 2 and 4. The Ministry of Finance (MoF) is the implementing agency responsible for Component 3.The Additional Finance (AF) will scale up of investments under Component 1 to support the Government of Tonga (GoT) in responding to the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai (HT-HH) volcanic eruption and tsunami on January 15, 2022. The AF will enhance development impact of the Parent Project through: (i) the climate and disaster resilient recovery of school facilities impacted by the HT-HH eruption and tsunami; and (ii) resilient investments in the broader education infrastructure portfolio to reduce disaster and climate vulnerabilities from future hazards and more frequent adverse weather events.to build future resilience to climate and disaster hazards of school infrastructure in Tonga. No changes to the Project Development Objectives of the Parent Project are required.The proposed AF is aligned with the World Bank’s framework for supporting green, resilient, and inclusive development (GRID) in IDA and IBRD countries, and supports the three pillars of GRID as follows: (i) Green Development: the proposed Project will support sustainable infrastructure through the investment in education facilities; (ii) Resilient Development: the proposed Project will support risk identification, reduction and residual management of risk, along with supporting vulnerable groups (children); and (iii) Inclusive Development: through the boosting of human capital through investments in gender and accessibility to sensitive water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilitiesThe Additional Financing is consistent with the World Bank’s Pacific Islands Regional Partnership Framework (FY17-FY23) covering nine Pacific Island countries: Kiribati, the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Republic of Nauru, Republic of Palau, Independent State of Samoa, Kingdom of Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. It is in line with Focus Areas 3 of the Regional Partnership Framework: Focus Area 3: Protecting incomes and livelihoods, through its contribution to the achievement of Objective 3.1: Strengthened resilience to natural disasters and climate change. The project also aims to ensure strong liaison with other development partners, thus avoiding duplication of ongoing efforts and collaborating where possible.