For more than 20 years, the French nonprofit organization, Planète Enfants, has worked in Nepal for the protection and rehabilitation of impoverished, homeless and abducted children. Child slavery remains a prevailing issue in rural Nepal. Following the 2015 earthquakes that led to the destruction of a vast amount of the school building stock, Planète Enfants raised funds for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of schools in Nepal’s Nuwakot district. The child-rights organization’s mission is to enable children to return to safe schools as soon as possible, as their research has shown that children become more vulnerable to abuse and abduction in the absence of a safe space to learn.

Miyamoto’s expert team of engineers conducted structural assessments of the earthquake-damaged school buildings that were found to be in poor condition. Most of the structures required retrofitting and few required new construction. Miyamoto developed structural design of these schools and is providing the supervision for the construction to ensure that proper quality is maintained in the field. In order to deliver effective project-management services, Miyamoto is managing the contractor selection, construction preparation, field coordination and quality control for the reconstruction of these schools. This consists of making sure the project remains within the budget, analyzing and optimizing the construction timeline, coordinating with the contractors and supervising the quality of the work performed onsite. Miyamoto’s services will play an important role in guaranteeing the successful completion of the Planète Enfants’ School Reconstruction Program, which will provide children with a safe space to learn.