Ukrainian cities embark on resilience journey
Four cities and one region in Ukraine have taken initial steps to scale up ambitions and actions to reduce disaster risk and strengthen their urban resilience.
Experts from the Making Cities Resilient 2030 (MCR2030) global partnership worked alongside representatives from the cities of Lviv, Mykolaiv, Ostroh, Vinnytsia, and the Rivne region to identify gaps and capacities and map out initial steps to strengthen urban resilient development.
The MCR2030 Resilience Hub of Wroclaw, Poland – a recognized global leader in disaster risk reduction – hosted the Disaster Resilience Scorecard for Cities Assessment Workshop for the five sub-national authorities. The event was also made possible with the financial support of USAID BHA and the Government of Japan.
Two urban resilience experts hired by UNDRR, Mr. Magnus Qvant and Ms. Silvia Haslinger Olsson, supported their Ukrainian colleagues to use the Resilience Scorecard self-assessment tool, developed by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR).
Mr. Jakub Mazur, First Deputy Mayor of Wroclaw, welcomed representatives by recalling how his city had learnt important lessons following a major disaster in 1997.
"After this devastating flood, which covered 40% of Wroclaw, we recognized the paramount importance of resilience,’ Mr. Mazur said. ‘We pondered how to rebuild with solidarity, realizing the need to transform not only economic and social infrastructure but also mindsets to execute strategies.’
Mr. Mazur reaffirmed Wroclaw’s intention to continue the collaboration with Ukrainian cities in areas such as nature-based solutions and food security. ‘Over the last decades, we've honed our expertise in strategic investment and are eager to share this knowledge with Ukrainian cities, supporting their strategic investment in resilience,’ he said.
The Executive Officer of the Executive Committee of Lviv City Council, Ms. Natalia Alieksieieva, emphasized the importance of integrating resilience issues into the city’s strategic plan. Completing the Scorecard exercise would reinforce this process.
Ms. Tetyana Simchuk, Principal Officer of the Department for International Cooperation and European Integration, representing the Rivne State Regional Administration, said: ‘Now, we have a better understanding of our strengths and areas for improvement through extensive discussions with other cities and participants.
‘As our next step, we aim to delve into details to develop a comprehensive regional resilience strategy based on the preliminary assessment.’
Ms. Alieksieieva plans to share the results of the exercise at an upcoming city council meeting, as a starting point to inform any agreed approach to develop a new urban resilience framework.
Lviv, Mykolaiv, Ostroh, Vinnytsia, and the Rivne Oblast region have now committed to MCR2030, the United Nations-led global partnership that has mobilized 30 national governments, 10 national municipality associations, and more than 1,657 local governments (with a combined population of 533 million), committed to strengthening local disaster and climate resilience.
MCR2030 is a ‘who’s who’ of international partners with unmatched expertise and experience of supporting urban resilience. The partnership has 28 MCR2030 Resilience Hubs globally – including Wroclaw – recognized global leaders in urban resilience that are increasingly active in terms of capacity building support to other local governments.