Barcelona, Spain, 12 November 2018 – Members of the Making Cities Resilient Campaign agreed to step up their efforts during the Committee Meeting hosted by the chair, UN-Habitat, at the start of Barcelona Resilience Week 2018. More than 4,000 cities have signed up to the Campaign, launched in 2010, which encourages cities to pledge to build resilience under the theme “My City is getting ready!”.

This was the 6th meeting of the Steering Committee, which guides the Campaign, and it brought together local government associations, international organizations, humanitarian organizations and academic institutions.

Ms. Mami Mizutori, the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), opened the meeting by acknowledging the invaluable contribution of members to increasing the visibility of DRR and resilience globally. The Director of UN-Habitat’s External Relations Division Ms. Christine Musisi, reiterated the Agency’s commitment to the Campaign’s partnerships and to supporting cities to address resilience through the City Resilience Profiling Tool. Ms. Emilia Saiz, Secretary General of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), highlighted the need to align local and national policies towards action leading to the achievement of Agenda 2030.

During a workshop, participants (including C40, ICLEI, and the European Commission) put forward proposals to expand the objectives beyond the end of the Campaign in 2020. The participants agreed that the importance of building resilience had increased since the Campaign was established.

Participants agreed on the need to build on the commitment from Campaign signatories and partners to effectively contribute to the achievement of Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the Sustainable Development Goals, the New Urban Agenda and the Paris Agreement.

More about the Making Cities Resilient Campaign is available on  http://urbanresiliencehub.org/making-cities-resilient-campaign/