Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure for Children

Location

The project which aims to having a global impact has been first tested in Malaysia.

Aim

The project has the following objectives:

To engage in a multi-stakeholder process, in order to receive the inputs and guidance from experts in the field of children’s needs, and to incorporate their inputs into a revised version of the Standard;
To test the revised Standard in a pilot infrastructure project, willing to undergo the whole SuRe® Certification process including the extra features related to children’s need.
At the same time, to design a participatory process for children potentially impacted by an infrastructure project, and to test it at the location of the pilot project;
Finally, to develop a concept of a financial mechanism to attract investments towards SuRe® certified child-friendly infrastructure.

Challenge

Today’s greatest challenges disproportionately affect children. A significant number of large infrastructure projects are implemented without the level of stakeholder ownership which would be necessary to ensure that they meet the needs of local and underrepresented communities, such as children and are truly sustainable.

Often, infrastructure construction entails a large influx of temporary workers, which places more stress in the communities who depend on them. Migrant workers are often accompanied by their families poor safety and security. Additionally, large projects can be a magnet for traffickers and sexual exploitation.

In this context it is imperative

to enhance the awareness of project developers and local governments about women’s and children’s needs related to infrastructure development;
to promote the planning and construction of infrastructure which meets the needs of vulnerable populations, while being sustainable and future-proof for children in generations to come;
and simultaneously to increase the attractiveness of good infrastructure for financial investment.

Solution

GIB was engaged by the Fondation Botnar to address the issue of children and infrastructure.

As a first step GIB committed to strengthen the criteria of GIB Certification Scheme – SuRe® – the Standard for Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure, through adding child relevant aspects thanks to the contributions from several experts in the field of children’s needs.

The new tentative version of the SuRe Standard has been tested on an Infrastructure Project in Malaysia in 2020.

GIB also designed a participation process methodology to empower children in the decision making process of infrastructure development. This takes the form of a two-day workshop where children can do a virtual visit, using virtual reality technology (VR) of the project site to suggest child and youth inclusive improvements to the project design. It is backed-up with a specific protected youth portal gathering all the explanations and the videos related to the workshop. (The Password is available upon request, please contact us at ). This two-day event is conducted in a public school in the vicinity of the infrastructure project. It was tested for the first time in Malaysia in 2020.

Additionally GIB is committed to explore and develop innovative finance mechanisms (such as social impact bonds) to attract financiers investing in sustainable and child-friendly projects based on the SuRe® Standard.