Istanbul (IINA) : President of the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group Dr. Bandar Hajjar has said the IDB will continue to support investments and activities toward comprehensive human development including earthquake resilience in its member states.

He made the remarks during his visit to Okmeydani Research and Training Hospital and Refet Angın Primary School projects being financed by the IDB through İstanbul Seismic Risk Mitigation and Emergency Preparedness Project (ISMEP) in the Turkish city of Istanbul on Wednesday.

Dr. Hajjar stated that the IDB Group attaches utmost importance to supporting Turkey in its aspirations toward improving the seismic resilience of the regions prone to earthquakes, chiefly in Istanbul and similar regions, as part of the comprehensive human development objectives.

“The support to develop earthquake resilient schools and hospitals under the ISMEP Program is an important initiative to help Turkey to improve its preparedness level and conceive upfront mitigation measures while improving education and health conditions for the people,” he added.

Under ISMEP, the IDB Group supports the Turkish government through the reconstruction of 22 schools and one hospital (Okmeydani Hospital) located in Istanbul. So far, 18 schools have been reconstructed as sustainable school buildings where more than 31,000 students are currently receiving education, said an IDB statement.

It added that the ongoing work for the construction of four schools will also enable an additional 5,000 students to benefit from new training facilities. Okmeydani Hospital, when completed, will serve 50,000 inpatients and 1.5 million outpatients annually with 1,099 beds in a high-quality health facility.

In a recently announced 5-year program of IDB, utmost importance is attached to comprehensive human development while expanding and deepening the partnerships among the member countries in an attempt to develop an integrated and inclusive approach to development issues. In this context, Dr. Hajjar has praised the performance and success of the ISMEP Program so far and highlighted the importance of replicating the experience in all Turkey’s earthquake-prone regions and even in other member countries, especially in Pakistan.

“We are extremely pleased to support Turkey in improving its earthquake resilience along with improving the welfare of its citizens. We are also sure that ISMEP Program will be taken as a role model by the local administrations in Turkey,” said the IDB president.

“There is also a significant cooperation potential between Turkey and several IDB member countries who are in need of such support,” he added.

As part of its South-South cooperation activities to promote collaboration and integration among its member states, the IDB Group is already facilitating a knowledge transfer and capacity development project between Turkey’s TUBITAK Marmara Research Center and Pakistan’s Meteorological Department on earthquake and seismological research (started in October 2016).

Hajjar also affirmed that the IDB Group is establishing a new “Resilience and Enhancement Department” in order to provide more efficient operations for the said cooperation.

Owing to the greater need to improve earthquake resilience in various sectors of the member states, the IDB Group will continue, in line with its mission and priorities, to provide support to its members for the application of similar mitigation measures and promote stronger cooperation among IDB countries.