December 2010

For the next two years and beyond, the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) will campaign with its partners to spread awareness among cities and local governments on the urgency of reducing risks and becoming resilient to disasters.

The 2010-2011 World Disaster Reduction Campaign entitled "Making cities resilient" addresses issues of local governance and urban risk with mayors and their local governments as the key targets and drivers of the campaign. Local government officials are faced with the threat of disasters on a day-to-day basis and need better access to policies and tools to effectively deal with them.

The Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters offers solutions for local governments and local actors to manage and reduce urban risk. Urban risk reduction provides opportunities for capital investments through infrastructure upgrades and improvements, building retrofits for energy efficiency and safety, urban renovation and renewal, cleaner energies, and slum upgrading. Local governments are the institutional level closest to the citizens and to their communities. They play the first role in responding to crises and emergencies and in attending to the needs of their constituencies. They deliver essential services to their citizens, including health, education, transport and water, which need to be made resilient to disasters.