The announcement was made by the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, Margareta Wahlström, on the sidelines of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20), at the Rio+20 Resilient Cities event.
Wahlström credited San Francisco as a role model city, citing its efforts to advance resilience through the “whole community approach.”
20 June 2012: The UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) has announced that the US city of San Francisco has joined UNISDR’s Making Cities Resilient Campaign. San Francisco is the first major US city to join the Campaign.
The announcement was made by the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, Margareta Wahlström, on the sidelines of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20), at the Rio+20 Resilient Cities event. Wahlström credited San Francisco as a role model city, citing its efforts to advance resilience through the “whole community approach.”
The campaign, launched in 2010, demonstrates local leadership and raises awareness of how efforts to reduce disaster risk are making cities safer and more resilient. The Ten Essentials for Making Cities Resilient include: organization and coordination of risk management; budget assignation; preparation of risk assessments; investment and maintenance of infrastructure that reduces risk; safe schools and health facilities; risk compliant building regulations and land use planning; education and training in disaster reduction; protection of ecosystems and natural buffers; early warning systems and emergency management; and the needs of survivors. The Campaign now has over 1,040 members in over 80 countries. [UNISDR Press Release]