16 March 2015

Risk award to support slum dwellers in Pune

Source(s): United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR)

16 March 2015, SENDAI – All the key drivers of risk are present in the Indian city of Pune where 25,000 people living in ten slums will benefit from a project which today won the 2015 Risk Award and a grant of €100,000 at the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction.

Ms. Shweta Gupta, Senior Project Coordinator of the winning All India Institute of Local Self-Government (AIILSG), said: “We are honored to accept this year’s Risk Award which will help develop a cadre of community volunteers as master trainers in disaster risk management. We will place particular emphasis on mobilizing women and developing child-friendly information, education and communication tools.”

The RISK Award partners are UNISDR, Global Risk Forum (GRF) Davos, and Munich Re Foundation.

The head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), Ms. Margareta Wahlström, said: “The All India Institute of Local Self-Government is a worthy winner of this Award and is tackling one of the most pressing issues of our times, rapid urbanization and its consequences for impoverished people living in informal settlements. I am happy to see such a strong focus on women and children whose needs are often overlooked in disaster risk management.”

Mr. Thomas Loster of the MunichRE Foundation said: "The RISK Award stands for solutions that can be multiplied in all regions of the world and is including the people at risk. This is a prerequisite for successful risk management."

Mr. Walter J. Amman, President of GRF Davos, said: “The Award recognizes people-centered solutions, innovation and sustainability. Activities for risk reduction must integrate the people at risk and make use of their traditional coping techniques and knowledge and that is what stood out in the winning entry from Pune. It is well researched and grounded in the realities of the challenges facing these communities.

145 applications from 60 countries were submitted. They included 19 applications from science and academia, 19 from governmental representatives and public authorities and 99 from non-profit organisations and/or NGOs.