Turkey: Istanbul Seismic Risk Mitigation and Emergency Preparedness - 2

approved

Building on the highly successful program initiated and implemented by the World Bank after the devastated Marmara earthquake in 1999, the program has since received support from many International Finance Institutions (IFIs) including AIIB which has financed two projects, Istanbul Seismic Risk Mitigation and Emergency Preparedness (ISMEP) and ISMEP-Additional Financing (ISMEP-AF) with the total amount of USD465 million since 2020. The proposed Project will finance structural retrofitting and reconstruction of recently identified high priority public buildings, found to be vulnerable to seismic risks. Rationales for Repeat Financing: The Istanbul Education Directorate in collaboration with Istanbul Project Coordination Unit (IPCU) has further identified 40 public schools that were found to be unsafe and not in compliance with the seismic resilient building code. These buildings were either demolished or closed for safety reasons after the 2023 earthquake. This has resulted in reallocating students and teachers from these schools to continue their studies at nearby schools resulting in two-shifts due to limited space. Therefore, returning these affected students to safe and normal learning environment as soon as possible is one of the highest priorities of the government. As the preliminary assessment recently conducted shows that only 16 out of the 40 schools are suitable for retrofitting while the other 24 schools require reconstruction which requires substantially higher level of investm�ent. As most of the resources provided by the ISMEP and ISMEP-AF projects have already been committed, the government needs additional funding to complete the reconstruction and retrofitting of these 40 public schools as soon as possible. The government has first turned to AIIB for continued support of the program due mainly to the fact that AIIB has been able to provide timely support with value addition including implementation support and advice on nature-based solutions and climate resilience. Since the financing gaps to support other priority public buildings are substantial, the government has also been in discussion with other multilateral development banks including European Investment Bank (EIB), Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB), and Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), to secure potential support to bridge any financing gap. Feasibility study reports for these additional buildings are being carried out and funded by the ISMEP-AF project. Components of the Project: Component A: Enhancing Emergency Preparedness. This component aims to enhance the emergency preparedness of the City of Istanbul by strengthening the capacity of Istanbul's Provincial Directorate of Disaster and Emergency and other first responders. Specifically, the component will support: (i) the provision of emergency equipment such as IT and emergency communications equipment, medical rescue and search and rescue equipment, and specialized emergency vehicles, etc.; (ii) public awareness and training; and (iii) any technical assistance to enhance emergency preparedness and responses. Component B: Seismic Risk Mitigation for Public Facilities. This component aims to reduce the risk of future earthquake damages to critical public facilities in order to save lives and ensure their continued functioning operation in the event of an earthquake. The component will mainly consist of retrofitting and reconstruction of the existing priority public facilities. IPCU has already identified 40 public schools to be included in the Project based on the ISMEP program's established rules. The component will also support feasibility studies, detailed designs, and construction supervision. Component C: Project Management Support. This component will support IPCU to implement the Project in an efficient and transparent manner and continue to build the institutional capacity to sustain the implementation of the Seismic Risk Mitigation and Preparedness program beyond the life of the Project. Specifically, the component will comprise IPCU's operational costs and project management support, including support to monitoring and evaluation, environmental and social safeguards, procurement and financial management aspects.