He drew attention to the fact that print copies of the Campaign’s Handbook for Local Government Leaders was being distributed at the Forum for the first time since it had been revised. The Campaign’s Handbook was updated last year and serves as a guide on how to organize at the city level for disaster resilience and how to apply adequate financial and other resources to the challenges which the exercise of completing the Campaign’s Disaster Resilience Scorecard might reveal.

The Scorecard provides a set of assessments that allow local governments to monitor and review progress and challenges in managing risk and reducing disaster losses. Along with partners including UN-Habitat, ICLEI, UCLG, the Humana Foundation and Resurgence, UNISDR is working with 200 local governments on utilizing the Disaster Resilience Scorecard to develop a base-line understanding of their disaster resilience and to identify actions to be taken for improvement.

The Campaign also promotes greater understanding of current and future risks and exposure through use of the Quick Risk Estimation Tool which encourages multi-stakeholder engagement.

One of the most important developments in the Campaign’s latest phase has been the emphasis on implementation, city-to-city learning and sharing of experiences. Mr. Sanjay Bhatia of UNISDR told another session on international collaboration that this happens on a regular basis through the training courses run for city officials at UNISDR’s Global Education and Training Institute, also known as GETI, in Incheon, Korea.

Last month GETI welcomed officials from 20 major cities including capitals such as Khartoum, Ulaanbaatar, Kathmandu, Dhaka, Guatemala City, Tegucigalpa and Santo Domingo. With the support of the European Commission, these officials representing cities with a combined population of more than 50 million, were able to meet for four days of training to work on their disaster risk reduction plans.

Mr. Bhatia who manages GETI said that this work is a major contribution towards implementing the New Urban Agenda, SDG11 on resilient cities and communities, and Target (e) of the Sendai Framework which has a 2020 deadline for a substantial increase in national and local disaster risk reduction strategies.

Date:

11 Feb 2018

Sources:

United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction - Regional Office for Asia and Pacific (UNISDR AP)

Countries:

Malaysia, Korea, Rep of

Regions:

Asia