UN Announces Resilience Hubs in Portugal and Italy
Portugal and Italy have been chosen as the latest resilience hubs by a UN-led coalition to reduce the impact of disasters including earthquakes, floods and landslides on cities around the world. The announcement was made during the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in Indonesia.
Matosinhos in Portugal and the Province of Potenza in Italy have been named as the latest resilience hubs by the UN-led coalition Making Cities Resilient 2030 for pioneering strategies to reduce the impact of disasters including fires and earthquakes.
The announcement was made during the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, convened by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, and hosted by the Government of Indonesia. UNDRR sits at the centre of the UN system for reducing risk, coordinating risk reduction activities towards a more resilient future, and protecting gains made towards the Sustainable Development Goals.
Matosinhos, which hosted the European Forum for Disaster Risk Reduction in November, is the first city in Portugal to become a hub and has introduced a number of initiatives to minimise the severity of disasters, including a 10-year "Zero Fires" strategy to prevent forest fires. The Province of Potenza, which covers 100 municipalities, has established a permanent network for regional coordination around disaster risk reduction, investing in structural infrastructure as well as public awareness and communication campaigns.
Since 2013, the province has included disaster resilience in its regional sustainable socio-economic development strategies, turning it into a real structural territorial action to be implemented by influencing and orienting urban planning. "The Province of Potenza has been guided in its resilience journey by the principles of comprehensiveness, inclusiveness and integration of territorial safety, together with the UN's Sustainable Development Goals," said Rocco Guarino, president of the Province of Potenza.
"As the global community unites to review our progress under the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the efforts of Matosinhos and the Province of Potenza are an inspiration," said Mami Mizutori, special representative of the UN secretary-general for disaster risk reduction and head of UNDRR. "Leaders around the world must rethink the way they prevent and manage disasters and recognise that disaster risk reduction is an investment, not a cost."
Source: Smart Cities World
