The Urban Resilience Action Plan (URAP) for Debre Birhan, Ethiopia provides a practical framework for addressing climate risks in a fast-growing secondary city where environmental degradation, housing vulnerability, and livelihood pressures increasingly overlap. Informed by the Multilayered Vulnerability Assessment (MVA), the plan identifies priority actions in flood-prone and degraded areas, including neighbourhoods with informal settlement patterns and limited access to services.
The URAP sets out integrated, locally led interventions across key areas such as ecosystem restoration and erosion control, water and drought management, climate risk reduction and early warning systems, and livelihood support. It also includes targeted actions on slum upgrading and informal settlement regularization, recognizing that safer housing conditions, improved tenure security, and access to basic services are central to reducing climate vulnerability and strengthening urban resilience.
Developed through participatory processes involving municipal departments, communities, and local stakeholders, the plan emphasizes institutional coordination and practical implementation. It connects climate data and vulnerability analysis with actionable measures that can be embedded in city planning and investment pipelines.
By translating evidence into concrete priorities, the Debre Birhan URAP provides a foundation for implementable and investment-ready actions that improve living conditions, protect livelihoods, and reduce climate risks for the city’s most vulnerable residents.
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