Building Urban Communities’ Resilience to Disaster Risk

1. Special Event on: Building Urban Communities’ Resilience to Disaster Risk: Challenges & experiences towards the implementation of HFA at local level Strengthening capacities at local level to build a culture of safety and resilience at all levels ILO International Training Centre At the UN/ISDR Global Platform 2009

2. Introduction • Local goverments/authorities, key actors at the UN/ISDR 2nd Global Platform: • To create a space for discussion while summing up from previous experieces; • To build community resilience and promote the HFA implementation at the local level; • Urban risk reduction being the focus, political boundaries cannot define our understanding of “local” • Sustainable cities are aware of their dependency on natural resources

3. The ISDR – ILO initiative • A capacity development programme to strengthen local actors and institutions in disaster-prone areas to achieve more sustainable reconstruction and to integrate risk reduction practices fully into their development processes; • Region: Latin/Central America and the Caribbean; • Capacity development: training, but also empowering through active participation, enhancement of local knowledge, networking and cooperation at local/regional levels; • Conceptual framework evaluated through local projects implementation

4. Institutional background • Conceived within the framework of the UN/ISDR in response to increasing concern about the magnitude of disasters and their impact on local communities worldwide; • Being part of the International Recovery Platform (IRP), it also looks at post-disaster reconstruction, and identifies recovery as one of the key opportunities for reducing disaster risk; • The impact of disasters on territories seriously threatens the fulfillment of the ILO’s goal of decent work for all –which is a key ingredient for sustainable development.

5. Holistic approach to disaster risk reduction • The vulnerabilities of a territory are the product of cultural, social, economic, productive and environmental practices. • The negative impact of disasters on local areas is determined by the fragility of the development process. • If we wish to achieve sustainability and harmonious development within an area, DRR must be tackled from the viewpoint of the practices that we implement in building our societies. • It must incorporate actions designed to identify and reduce risks that build up over time and, as far as it is possible, to prevent the generation of new risks in present and future activities.

6. Holistic approach to disaster risk reduction • Actions aiming to reduce the risk of disasters are processes in which strategic planningand local law-making, the appropriate use of local resources, the participation of key actors, prevention and alleviation activities, emergency preparations and management - and post-disaster rehabilitation and reconstruction must be studied as a whole and cannot be analysed as isolated and random factors within development processes.

7. Mitigation Reconstruction Prevention Recovery Preparedness DRR Relief and Rehabilitation Emergency and Response Rescue and Humanitarian Aid Holistic approach to disaster risk reduction In the framework of SUSTAINABLE LOCAL DEVELOPMENT

8. Key achievements of the Capacity Development Program

9. Target audience Policy-makers and key players in local development management and disaster risk reduction. More specifically people, institutions, governmental and non governmental organizations of civil society and cooperation working at the local level and engaged in the promotion of more resilient communities.

10. Geographical and linguistic coverage • The first training pilot edition in 2007 was specifically designed for Central American region and the Caribbean; • As of 2008 the course targets high-risk countries in the Americas, including South, North and Central America and the Caribbean; • An inter-regional training program in English language about to be implemented (2009).

11. Challenges and lessons learned • Endogenous local development is sustainable when it is possible to achieve a balance between the economic, political, social and environmental fields; • The concept of territory can transcend a limited political or geographical space, a given municipality or a specific community; • Cities face more challenges due to their complexity, therefore strategic planning implies the participation of all stakeholders and the definition of long term objectives; • Local risk reduction is a process that must be led by local authorities and taken on board by all actors who play a part in territorial development.

12. Challenges and lessons learned • Reconstruction must form part of the development and disaster risk reduction policies that are implemented in an ongoing manner within the society and must anticipate, plan and reinforce the use of resources and capabilities that are endogenous to the communities; • Effective reconstruction and effective development are based on the same basic principles; • Experience-sharing and decentralized cooperation (technical, not only financial) is essential to consolidate knowledge; • Local administrations should rely on participation and commitment of socio-economic actors.

13. Experiences in Colombia and Nicaragua Locally-generated development and territorial planning: strategies and tools to promote disaster risk reduction, the building of resilient societies and sustainable development

14. Territorial Strategic Planning, Telica Nicaragua Local government, territorial engineers and the various socio-economic actors have adhered to the strategic plan and locally-generated development as well as the tools, processes and strategies to govern, administer and guide sustainable development in their territories • Based on extensive knowledge of the territory • Sustainable to changes in municipal governments • Active and committed involvement of local authorities and other actors (municipalities, engineers, universities and councils) • Based on the use of endogenous resources, backstopped by national, regional and international institutions

15. DRR in NASA indigenous community, Colombia Local strategies to reduce vulnerabilities, through a participatory planning process based on the use of GIS and cartography as well as on the traditional knowledge of risk • Community-based risk management; • Early warning system; • Local strategic planning for DRR; • Education and information at all leveles of the community

16. Special Event on: Building Urban Communities’ Resilience to Disaster Risk: Challenges & experiences towards the implementation of HFA at local level Strengthening capacities at local level to build a culture of safety and resilience at all levels ILO/ITC www.itcilo.org/delnet ILO/CRISIS www.ilo.org/crisis e-mail: a.vozza@itcilo.org