Accra joined by 100 Resilient Cities (100RC) - Pioneered by the Rockefeller Foundation is kicking off the process of developing a comprehensive resilience plan that will enable the city to better survive, adapt, and grow no matter what kinds of chronic stresses and acute shocks it experiences.
The city-led initiative will begin with a “Resilience Agenda Workshop” that will bring stakeholders across city government and from the private sector, non-profits, NGO’s and civic groups into the planning process. It will also start to uncover some of the key threats the city is facing, and some of the resilience building tools and plans it has available to address those threats.
In the months following the workshop, the city, led by a new Chief Resilience Officer, will continue to engage those stakeholders, resilience experts, and 100RC staff in drafting the plan.
The agenda setting workshop was held on April 7, 2015 at Alisa Hotel in Accra.
Developing a comprehensive and resilience plan is particularly important in Accra because Ghana’s capital city is faced with shocks such as fires, floods, etc. and stresses such as chronic water shortages, homelessness, unemployment, etc.
100RC provides this assistance to member cities through: funding for a Chief Resilience Officer who will lead the resilience efforts; resources for drafting a resilience strategy; access to private sector, public sector, and NGO-created resilience tools; and membership in a global network of peer cities to share best practices and challenges.
Accra was selected as one of the first 32 members of what will ultimately be a 100-city global network, and will receive technical support and resources to develop and implement a resilience strategy. An additional cohort of cities will be selected in December. More details about 100 Resilient Cities and the Challenge can be found below and at www.100resilientcities.org.
Commenting on the workshop, Accra Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE), Dr. Alfred Oko Vanderpujie said:
“The success story of AMA being part of the first 35 most resilient cities means that Accra will be helped to build resilience to the social, economic and physical challenges that confront it.”
“City governments are on the front line of dealing with acute shocks and chronic stress. Accra is part of a group of cities leading the way on resilience to better prepare for, withstand, and recover more effectively when disruption hits,” said Rockefeller Foundation President Judith Rodin.”
Through this type of inclusive resilience planning cities can be better prepared for the unexpected. They can also realize the resilience dividend, the economic and competitive advantages that come from taking a resilience mindset. Your commitment to resilience thinking, planning and action will set a global example.”
“Accra is helping fuel global momentum around building urban resilience, and leading by example,” said Michael Berkowitz, President of 100 Resilient Cities. “The agenda workshop will clarify the city’s needs, surface innovative thinking, and give us a blueprint for engaging partners from across sectors to bring Accra the tools and resources needed to become more resilient.”
The workshop was designed to bring together a range of constituencies including city officials, local businesses, civic groups and academia, to begin developing the city’s resilience plan.
The plan will encompass a variety of factors, among them partnerships and alliances, financing mechanisms, and will pay particular attention to meeting the needs of poor and vulnerable populations. The workshop began the process of identifying priorities, actions and metrics as part of a resilience strategy for Accra. The plan will be drafted over the next 6-12 months.
The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Nii Lantey Vanderpuye addressed participants at the workshop. Liz Agbor-Tabi Oton, Head of Africa work at 100 RC was in Ghana to support the workshop.
About 100 Resilient Cities - Pioneered by The Rockefeller Foundation, and the 100 Resilient Cities Challenge
100 Resilient Cities - Pioneered by the Rockefeller Foundation (100RC) is dedicated to helping cities around the world become more resilient to the physical, social and economic challenges that are a growing part of the 21st century.
100RC supports the adoption and incorporation of a view of resilience that includes not just the shocks – earthquakes, fires, floods, etc – but also the stresses that weaken the fabric of a city on a day to day or cyclical basis. Examples of these stresses include high unemployment; an overtaxed or inefficient public transportation system; endemic violence; or chronic food and water shortages.
By addressing both the shocks and the stresses, a city becomes more able to respond to adverse events, and is overall better able to deliver basic functions in both good times and bad, to all populations.
Cities in the 100RC network are provided with the resources necessary to develop a roadmap to resilience along four main pathways: 1) Financial and logistical guidance for establishing an innovative new position in city government, a Chief Resilience Officer, who will lead the city’s resilience efforts; 2) expert support for development of a robust resilience strategy; 3) Connecting member cities to solutions, service providers, and other partners who can help them develop and implement their resilience strategies; and 4) Membership in a global network of member cities who can learn from and help each other. Through these actions, 100RC aims not only help individual cities become more resilient, but will facilitate the building of a global practice of resilience among governments, NGOs, the private sector, and individual citizens.
The 100 Resilient Cities Challenge was launched in 2013 as a $100 million commitment to build urban resilience. Officials or leaders or major institutions from almost 400 cities applied to the Challenge, and the initial 32 cities were announced in December 2013. Results of the second round of the challenge – open from July to September of this year – will be announced in December. Information on the Challenge itself will be available here: www.100resilientcities.org/challenge.
100RC is financially supported by The Rockefeller Foundation and managed as a sponsored project by Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA), an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides governance and operational infrastructure to its sponsored projects.
Learn more about 100RC at www.100resilientcities.org and RPA at www.rockpa.org.
Source: Chris Joe Quaicoe/ email: [email protected]
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