The ceremony of commencement of the implementation of the improvement of non-structural component models was held at the Ayatollah Tabarsi Hospital in Mazandaran province, I. R. Iran with the presence of the H.E. Deputy Minister of Roads and Urban Development, the H.E. Ambassador of Japan to Iran and the officer in charge of the United Nations Human Settlements Program in I.R. Iran.

During this program, Mr. Ali Nabian, the Honorable Deputy Minister and Director General of the Executive Organization of Government and Public Buildings and Infrastructure (EOGPBI), while welcoming the Honorable Ambassador of Japan and other guests, expressed the support and cooperation of the Government of Japan and the United Nations Human Settlements Program in I.R. Iran for efforts in improving the resilience of hospitals and healthcare facilities in the country. He mentioned that, due to the progress of the evaluation and retrofit studies of the Ayatollah Tabarsi Hospital, the implementation of the construction component of this project will start today. He also announced the readiness of the EOGPBI to implement similar projects and activities in the future.

Mr. Kazutoshi Aikawa, the Honorable Ambassador of Japan, while thanking the holding of this program and expressing his happiness for the start of the implementation phase of the project “Emergency Support for Safer Hospitals and Settlements (BEHTAB Phase II)” expressed his hope that this project will be completed in an acceptable period of time and with the desired quality and that people of Iran will benefit from its outcomes.

Mr. Arman Khorsand, the honorable advisor to the minister and secretary of the National Habitat Committee expressed his happiness on commencement of construction activity of the project and explained the process of development of the project and challenges in implementation of the project during the last two years.

Mr. Afshin Kalantari, the officer in charge of the United Nations Human Settlements Program in Iran, while thanking the Japanese government for supporting projects related to the management of risk reduction caused by natural disasters in Iran, presented the planning and implementation stages of the project. The results and experiences of the Behtab 2 project in the study and implementation of improvement models were informed by holding training workshops and field visits to consulting companies, contractors of hospital projects and other project beneficiaries, and the possibility of its development in other similar activities in the country will be provided.

In the course of this program, the implementation process of improving seismic improvement models of non-structural components in the hospital were visited and expert explanations were provided by the representatives of the United Nations Human Settlements Program and the project partner and consultant.