Aswan hosts a workshop to enhance urban resilience and build more resilient communities to disasters
Aswan Governorate hosted a workshop under the framework of the “Making Cities Resilient 2030” programme from 28 to 31 July 2024. It was co-organized by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction and the National Committee for Crisis and Disaster Management subordinate to the Council of Ministers. The workshop aimed to support local governments in building their resilience to disasters and climate emergencies, with the participation of 30 representatives from relevant ministries and civil society, including the National Committee for Crisis and Disaster Management, the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Local Development, the Ministry of Tourism, and the Ministry of Culture.
The workshop sought to achieve several main objectives, including developing an action plan to improve resilience at the local level based on the detailed disaster resilience scorecard and providing the necessary tools and methodologies to support strategic planning to reduce disaster risks and enhance the participation of local stakeholders.
Local governments are on the “front lines of opportunities” for disaster mitigation – preventing people from falling into poverty; protecting hard-won local development gains; and enabling municipalities to become more inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.
“Urban resilience can no longer be treated as a stand-alone issue. We must recognize the interdependence of sectors, the interconnectedness of social and economic factors, and the complexity of risks. It is crucial that cities take a long-term approach to risk reduction and make resilience principles an integral part of urban development,” said Nora Achkar, Chief of UNDRR Regional Office for Arab States, in her opening remarks.
The workshop included group exercises, presentations, and discussion sessions on the challenges facing Aswan city, especially concerning climate change, disasters, data availability in different sectors, key concepts related to disaster risk reduction, the Sendai Framework, and the Making Cities Resilient 2030 programme. Participants discussed the approaches and tools required to support resilience building and enhance multi-stakeholder engagement at the local level using the Ten Essentials for Making Cities Resilient and strategic planning tools. The workshop also addressed assessing gaps and needs in resilience using the Disaster Resilience Scorecard for Cities.
A global partnership to enhance urban resilience
This workshop comes as part of the Making Cities Resilient 2030 initiative, a global partnership that aims to provide a clear roadmap for enhancing resilience in 3 stages, guiding cities and municipalities towards a long-term and continuous approach of investments in resilience, from raising awareness to enhanced strategic planning and from adopting a whole-of-society approach to implementation. It also aims to provide local governments with access to the many services and expertise available from urban resilience partners worldwide and to serve as a means of localizing the national disaster risk reduction and resilience agenda.