Iran is highly vulnerable to natural disasters, particularly earthquakes, and is one of the arid regions of the world, which suffers from frequent droughts, floods, and landslides. Within the nation’s high-risk context, Tehran, the capital and political and economic centre of Iran, is one of the most earthquake-prone cities in the world due to its position in the Alpine-Himalayan mountain system; the Alpine-Himalayan seismic belt is one of the most active tectonic regions of the world. Iran’s vulnerability to earthquakes is a living fact, throughout history, which has caused the destruction of many human habitats in this country. In the last few decades, the country has experienced many destructive earthquakes, resulting in the deaths of thousands of people and the destruction of many cities and villages, also causing extensive economic damage more than ever in recent years.

The Project for Improving the Resilience of Hospitals (BEHTAB) is funded by the Government of Japan and implemented by UN-Habitat Tehran Office. It includes extensive surveys and analyses of structural and non-structural elements of hospitals, as well as capacity development activities and elaboration of diverse guidelines for inclusion within the Iranian building regulatory system. It is envisaged that the project findings will also serve as the basis for sustained investments in retrofitting and rehabilitation of essential assets. The project’s specific objective is to establish the foundations for disaster preparedness and enhancement of response capacity, post-disaster recovery, and disaster risk reduction associated with natural hazards in healthcare facilities.

Different outputs of the BEHTAB Project and the related short reports are listed below: