World Disasters Report 2010 - International Federation of Red Cross ...

Making cities resilient:
A ten-point checklist for
local governments
Cities and local governments need to get ready, reduce the risks and become resilient
to disasters. For the next two years and beyond, the United Nations International
Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) will campaign together with its partners
for this to happen.
Making cities resilient, the 2010–2011 World Disaster Reduction campaign, addresses
issues of local governance and urban risk while drawing upon previous UNISDR
campaigns for safer schools and hospitals, as well as on the sustainable urbanizations
principles developed in the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-
Habitat) World Urban Campaign 2009–2013.
Overall, the campaign seeks to raise awareness and effect change by urging local
governments to take immediate action and to build multi-stakeholder partnerships to
achieve the implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action at the local level. The
following ten-point checklist of ‘essentials’ for making cities resilient, which builds on
the priorities identified in Hyogo Framework for Action 2005–2015: Building the resilience
of nations and communities to disasters (available online: www.unisdr.org / hfa), will
serve as a guide for commitment during the campaign.
Ten essentials for making cities resilient
1. Put in place organization and coordination to understand and reduce disaster
risk, based on participation of citizen groups and civil society. Build local alliances.
Ensure that all departments understand their role in disaster risk reduction
and preparedness.
2. Assign a budget for disaster risk reduction and provide incentives for homeowners,
low-income families, communities, businesses and the public sector to
invest in reducing the risks they face.
3. Maintain up-to-date data on hazards and vulnerabilities, prepare risk assessments
and use these as the basis for urban development plans and decisions.
Ensure that this information and the plans for your city’s resilience are readily
available to the public and fully discussed with them.
World Disasters Report 2010 – Disaster data
Photo opposite page:
Cities need to be
able to respond to
the needs of both
inhabitants and
visitors. Not an
easy task in cities
attracting large
numbers of visitors,
such as Mecca,
which is visited by
millions of people
during the annual
Hajj pilgrimage,
the world’s largest
gathering.
© Saudi Arabian Red
Crescent Society
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