A vital regional initiative is making major strides in protecting schools across the Caribbean from the accelerating impacts of climate change. Integrated Health Outreach Inc. (IHO), a Caribbean-based non-governmental organisation, in partnership with Eco Supplier Foundation, is spearheading the project, which has so far completed just over 50% of a series of planned climate-resilient infrastructure vulnerability assessments on schools in Antigua and Barbuda, the Dominican Republic, and Saint Lucia.
The climate resilience project, which was launched in December 2025, is officially titled Socially Inclusive Strengthening of Climate Resilient Infrastructure and Action in Caribbean SIDS. Its objective is to assess the infrastructural readiness and vulnerability of 21 primary and secondary schools across the three countries through a comprehensive kit of assessment tools. The data gathered will inform strategic plans for strengthening these key sites from a climate vulnerability standpoint.
The initiative stands out globally by fully integrating Gender Equality, Disability, and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) principles, ensuring that future infrastructure upgrades cater specifically to the most vulnerable student populations, including young children, girls, and individuals with physical disabilities. Schools in the region also often serve as disaster shelters, so ensuring that they are truly resilient and designed on GEDSI principles is critical for disaster readiness.
Dr Nicola Bird, Executive Director of IHO, states: “In the schools assessed so far, our early assessments have revealed critical vulnerabilities, from structural deterioration to a severe lack of barrier-free emergency evacuation routes,” adding, “By capturing this disaggregated data now, we are building an evidence-based roadmap to ensure no one is left exposed when the next major storm or climate heatwave impacts our region.”
In Antigua and Barbuda, all the 6 targeted schools have been assessed. These detailed engineering and safety assessments were done at Bendals Primary School, Urlings Primary School, T.N. Kirnon Primary School, Pares Secondary School, the Princess Margaret School, and Sir McChesney George Secondary School (Barbuda). Based on the evaluation parameters used for the project, preliminary resilience ratings ranged from 51% to 61% at these schools, highlighting urgent needs for things like hurricane-resistant roof upgrades, localised flood mitigation, and standard fire detection systems.
In the Dominican Republic (DR), fieldwork has been finalised in the 9 participating schools. The assessments so far have flagged critical infrastructure risks in four facilities, including compromised load-bearing columns, corroded roofing, and deficient stormwater drainage. Notably, in the DR, women represented 100% of the participants in local municipal planning meetings around the project thus far, demonstrating that at the community level, women often play a vital role in driving grassroots leadership in climate adaptation.
In Saint Lucia, where 6 schools are to be assessed, physical school safety assessments are scheduled for completion around the end of December 2026. Before launching, the Ministry of Education paused briefly to review the plans, ensuring this work blends perfectly with other ongoing school upgrade projects rather than repeating them. This coordination is a major win: local officials are now using the project’s data to build Saint Lucia’s national climate adaptation plan, which opens the door for the island to secure additional climate funding.
Beyond typical hurricane safeguards, the project has actively adapted its engineering frameworks to handle emerging regional climate threats. The assessments and future strategic designs incorporate specific protocols to combat extreme regional heatwaves and El Niño phenomena, introducing infrastructure considerations for optimised ventilation, cooling, and shading to protect students during periods of extreme temperatures. The project is now moving rapidly into its next stage: executing community-wide validation workshops and finalising costed, universal-design structural blueprints.
The project is funded by the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) through its Infrastructure Resilience Accelerator Fund (IRAF). The project is being implemented in collaboration with the Governments of Antigua and Barbuda, the Dominican Republic, and Saint Lucia, through their respective Ministries of Education and Finance and relevant national authorities, which have formally endorsed the initiative and are supporting project implementation, coordination, and alignment with national education and disaster resilience frameworks. IHO is a non-profit organisation dedicated to fostering community-driven health, social equity, and climate resilience initiatives across the Caribbean small island developing states (SIDS).
The Caribbean is among the most disaster-prone regions globally, with schools frequently exposed to hurricanes, flooding, earthquakes, and other hazards that disrupt learning and disproportionately affect vulnerable populations. This IHO-led initiative responds to these challenges by supporting inclusive school vulnerability assessments, the development of school- and national-level disaster-resilient infrastructure plans, and capacity-building for education, infrastructure, and disaster-management stakeholders.
Integrated Health Outreach extends its gratitude to the Governments of India, Australia, and the United Kingdom (UK), and to the European Union (EU), for their financial support through the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure’s Infrastructure Resilience Accelerator Fund (CDRI IRAF).
This article was originally published by Antigua News Room. Read the original article here: Climate Assessments Find Antigua and Barbuda Schools Need Stronger Protection From Hurricanes and Flooding.