Joint Programme Modeling Climate Resilience and WASH in Schools

The Joint Programme aims to renovate at least 45 rural schools in Kashkadarya and Surkhandarya regions of Uzbekistan, providing safe water, modern sanitation, reliable heating, and clean energy solutions to reduce energy consumption in the schools by 30 percent and greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent. The project will directly enhance daily learning conditions for 31,500 children, particularly adolescent girls, who will benefit from private, gender-sensitive facilities that reduce absenteeism. In addition, 2,700 teachers and school administrators will be trained in climate resilience, gender-responsive WASH, and community engagement, ensuring sustainability beyond the project’s duration.

The programme financed through “Uzbekistan Vision 2030 Fund” (also known as Ishonch Fund) is jointly implemented with UNICEF and in close cooperation with the Ministry of Preschool and School Education. The Joint Programme also involves a wide range of national partners, including the Ministries of Economy and Finance, Construction and Housing & Communal Services, Health/SES, local khokimiyats and civil society organizations. Its governance is anchored in a multi‑tier mechanism—bringing together the Joint Programme Steering Committee and the National and Regional Technical Working Groups—to ensure strategic leadership, technical rigor, and robust verification on the ground. Together, these bodies form a unified structure that strengthens transparency, harmonizes standards, and ensures implementation fully aligned with national priorities and realities at the school and community levels.

The Ishonch Fund supports restitution from Switzerland to Uzbekistan of money that was once linked to corruption into benefits for ordinary Uzbek people. Read more at: www.ishonch.org

Main objectives:

Enhance access of children and adolescents in the most affected schools to equitable, inclusive, and climate resilient learning environments and enhance the education system to better plan, deliver, and maintain school environments by:

  • modelling climate resilience and WASH in schools to create equitable, inclusive, and climate-resilient learning environments;
  • prioritising access to inclusive, gender-responsive WASH services in at least 45 schools, addressing the needs of children and adolescents, particularly adolescent girls;
  • providing institutional support to the Ministry of Preschool and School Education (MoPSE) and local agencies to govern school infrastructure in gender-sensitive and transparent ways in cooperation with local communities to ensure the sustainability of improvements.
Expected results:
  • 45 Gender-responsive Community Development Plans have initiated and developed.
  • 945 civil servants and practitioners of Ministry of Pre-school and School Education, target schools and local authorities trained on climate resilience WASH planning, budgeting and implementation.
  • 100 civil servants and practitioners from the Ministry of Pre-School Education and Education, target schools and local authorities trained on Performance Based Budgeting (PBB) principles and best practices for budget planning, monitoring and evaluation.
  • At least 45 schools renovated to provide basic WASH service according to the developed technical design with focus on adaptation to climate change, energy efficiency, water saving, gender responsiveness and accessibility for people with disabilities.
  • At least 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from school heating systems by replacing coal-fired boilers with energy-efficient innovative technologies.
  • 11025 women and adolescent girls reached whose menstrual health and hygiene needs are addressed through UN-supported programmes.
  • 31500 children and adolescents reached with essential knowledge on climate-resilience, gender responsive WASH.

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