Philippines: 'Sign up today to make your city resilient to disasters' - UN
Cebu – Disaster risk reduction, climate change, global warming and environmental protection seem to be today’s media ‘buzz’ words and ‘sound bytes’. The question is, “Is your city or town, or barangay getting ready?
According to Margarita Wahlstrom, special representative, secretary-general for Disaster Risk Reduction of the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR), “inaction is not the answer.”
The tragic earthquake disaster in Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince in and another earthquake and tsunami in Chile in 2010 was a wake up call, Wahlstrom said.
More than half of the world’s population now lives in cities or in urban centers, Wahlstrom added and urban settlements are the lifelines of society and serve as the nation’s economic engines.
They are centers of technology, innovations and development as well as living evidence of a nation’s cultural heritage but they also are generators of risks, UNISDR reported.
These risks include failed infrastructure and services, environmental urban degradation, increasing informal settlers and almost a billion slum dwellers around the world. This makes many urban citizens more vulnerable to natural hazards, the UNISDR report read.
United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon in 2009 urged local authorities to accelerate all efforts to make cities safer to prevent the loss of lives and assets.
“It is not only the President or Prime Minister or Government ministers who can address climate change, sustainable economic development, poverty and disease. We need support and participation of local leaders such as mayors, governor and country chiefs,” the UN secretary general said.
That is why in 2010, the UNISDR launched the “My City Is Getting Ready!” campaign to raise awareness and commitment for sustainable development practices that will reduce disaster risk and increase the wellbeing and safety of citizens.
UNISDR said the campaign seeks to convince city leaders and LGUs to commit to a checklist of 10 Essentials for Making Cities Resilient and to work alongside local environmental activists, grassroots networks and national authorities like the NDRRM and its regional centers.
UNISDR developed the ‘10 Essentials’ checklist as the take off point for all those that want to join the campaign.
These essentials will empower local governments and national agencies to implement the Hyogo Frame work for Action 2005-2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters that 168 governments adopted in 2005, this was learned.
According to UNISDR the success of the campaign will be measured by how many mayors and local governments join and commit as champions, Resilient City Role Models and Participants.
How many lasting partnerships and local alliances have been developed among citizen groups and grassroots organizations, academia and the private sectors?
Lastly, how many cities introduce new plans or changes to reduce risk?
To aid the LGUs and partners in the campaign, the UNISDR prepared an information kit that outlines the characteristics of a disaster resilient city, town or barangay.
It also provides important facts and data about disaster risk and describes the Making Cities Resilient campaign.
It informs mayors, local governments and other local actors about what they can do NOW to make their cities safer from disasters and how to get involved in the campaign.
(PIA-7/mbcn)