Making Cities Resilient Report 2012

CHAPTER 4 | What are local governments doing to build resilience
Multiple stakeholder participation
In the course of their disaster risk reduction activities, Campaign cities are engaging with a wide range of
stakeholders through committees and forums on planning and use of participatory tools. For example,
all stakeholders in Cape Town provide input during the drafting of integrated risk‐specific disaster risk
management plans (33) 10 .
Municipalities that are developing project partnerships with outside organisations draw upon a wide range
of skills and resources to implement risk reduction activities. For example, in Overstrand, a partnership
between national, provincial, local governments and conservation NGOs, community-based organisations
and water agencies is addressing drought risk through the ‘Working for Water’ programme, which includes
managing water demand and clearing alien plant species (see Box 4.10) (21). In Albay Province, local
government draws on a range of expertise from research groups and universities to support its work.
A voluntary partnership created in Batticaloa, consisting of the Mayor, local government, local, national
and international organisations, local civil society groups, academia and expert organisations,has enabled
the city government’s disaster committee to draw on the expertise of all these actors to prepare the city’s
development plan (63). Batticaloa’s municipal council and district disaster management office are also
collaborating with local and international NGOs to provide finance, training, livelihood development, water
and sanitation. In Makassar, NGOs are involved in community development and good governance projects
as well as the city’s ‘Makassar Green and Clean’ campaign that is supported by Peduli Negeri Foundation
(a local NGO linked to the grassroots women network GROOTS—see Box 4.3). In Makati, the relocation of
squatters from high-risk areas has been carried out in partnership with Gawad Kalinga (GK).
Box 4.1 : Building resilience through partnerships, in Cape Town, South Africa
Two examples of resilience-building partnerships are Climate Smart Cape Town (a partnership between
private, public and faith-based organisations whose task is to discuss climate change issues and contribute
to city and provincial government adaptation plans) and an alliance between the Department of Arts and
Culture, the NGO Artscape and the Disaster Risk Management Centre (DRMC), which resulted in a schoolrun
youth theatre programme. Activities related to Essentials 5, 7, and 8 have also been combined through
the YES (Youth Environmental School) Programme that promotes hazard preparedness as part of a wider
environmental awareness programme that also covers recycling and sustainable energy use.
Another example is the city’s upgrading programme, which began in 2009 with five pilot projects. Since the
establishment of a democratic government in South Africa in 1994, national and local governments have
sought to address the legacy of apartheid that included a lack of critical risk reduction in infrastructure,
particwularly in previously non‐white areas and informal settlements. In line with national policy, the project
recognises that poorer sectors of society experience disproportionate risk, and thus focuses on improving
living and safety conditions in densely populated informal settlements. The project involves partnering
with communities who create steering committees to identify community assets and challenges. These
committees survey an average of 10 per cent of the community and the results feed into a Community
Action Plan to improve basic infrastructure, expand roadways to allow access for emergency vehicles,
and improve access to water and sanitation. They have also constructed educational day care centres for
children, run in conjunction with the Department of Education.
These examples illustrate the value of cross-sector and cross-scale partnerships in building resilience.
They also highlight the potential of a mainstreamed approach to risk reduction in addressing multiple
challenges simultaneously, and the importance of government leadership in facilitating relationships
between stakeholders.
10. See Box 4.1 on using partnerships to build resilience in Cape Town.
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