Petrópolis incorporates public health and cultural heritage in disaster resilience capacities assessment
The Municipal Council of Protection and Civil Defence - Compdec - of the municipality of Petrópolis, in Brazil, validated on July 26th 2023 the results of their disaster resilience capacities assessment carried out with the technical support of UNDRR via the MCR2030 initiative.
Located in the mountainous region of the Rio de Janeiro State, the city has been suffering from severe disasters for decades. The last event occurred in February 2022, when an unprecedented level of rainfall caused the death of 178 people, its highest death toll in history.
Adriana Campelo, MCR2030 Coordinator for the Americas and the Caribbean, and Clément Da Cruz, MCR2030 Junior Programme Officer, visited Petrópolis on the 3rd of May 2022 to initiate a long process of technical assistance for post-disaster recovery and local resilience planning. The accompaniment provided since then has included the diagnosis of the municipality's risk management and disaster resilience capacities, carried out through the application of the Disaster Resilience Scorecard for Cities and its Public Health and Cultural Heritage Addenda.
After year-long efforts for data compilation, mobilisation and technical training of officials, and the filling in of MCR2030’s indicators, the results of the tools were presented to civil society and municipal authorities. Their validation by the Council initiated the elaboration process for a Local Resilience Plan to be finalized by the end of 2023.
"These results will be of great help in the elaboration of the Local Resilience Plan. We have finished the process of completing the tools and we have also made an addendum for the municipal Cultural Heritage, making Petrópolis the first city in Rio de Janeiro to carry it out. These documents will be sent to UNDRR, which will inform us on the points we need to improve."
Rodrigo D'Almeida, Head of Projects at the Civil Defence of Petrópolis
In addition, the meeting also opened registration to the Community Innovation Project for the Civil Defence Community Nuclei - Nudecs.