EUR2.5 million initiative will fund construction of a state-of-the-art inclusive school in Hatay and school refurbishments in Adıyaman, Kahramanmaraş and Malatya 

Ankara, 16 January 2024 – During today’s official bilateral visit to Türkiye, Croatia’s Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Gordan Grlić-Radman, announced a contribution of EUR2.5 million to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to build and refurbish schools in the four provinces hardest hit by the February 2023 earthquakes. The reconstruction initiative is focused on rebuilding schools that will serve as models of inclusion for children and teachers with disabilities. 

“Türkiye showed great solidarity when Croatia was hit by a devastating earthquake in December 2020,” said Grlić-Radman. “We have not forgotten, and that is why we feel duty-bound to contribute to recovery in Türkiye after the earthquakes here last year caused so many human losses and such massive damage.”

Through the “Croatia Rebuilds Inclusive Schools Project” (CRISP), UNDP will build one fully equipped disability-friendly primary school in Hatay and refurbish and equip three additional schools – one each in Adıyaman, Kahramanmaraş and Malatya. The project will ensure that the four rebuilt schools are fully accessible for children and adults with disabilities and also provide basic assistive devices to students who need them. School personnel will also receive training in inclusive education tools and methodologies.

UNDP has already signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of National Education on the school reconstruction initiatives, and a site has been agreed for the brand-new model inclusive school near Hatay Airport. 

“The earthquakes sadly left thousands disabled and destroyed 967 schools across 11 provinces,” said UNDP Türkiye Resident Representative Louisa Vinton. “With Croatia’s generous support, UNDP will contribute to the effort to ‘build back better’ by rebuilding four schools as models of inclusive education.”

“We welcome this Croatian initiative,” said Deputy Minister of National Education Ömer Faruk Yelkenci. “It is vital to restore unrestricted access to education for children with disabilities in the earthquake-affected area. Together with UNDP we are committed to creating a disability-friendly model in both architecture and approach, so that children with disabilities can learn and play together with their peers.” 

For more information: 

Deniz Şilliler Tapan, Communications Specialist for UNDP in Türkiye, deniz.tapan@undp.org