5 July 2023

Uruguay train city officials on climate resilience and disability-inclusion for the elaboration of local risk reduction plans

Source(s): United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction – Regional Office for the Americas and the Caribbean

UNDRR is providing support to the National Emergency System (SINAE) throughout the month of June 2023 to develop capacities for resilience action planning of the 11 cities that are part of the pilot of the MCR2030 initiative in Uruguay.

On 13 June, officials and technicians from the 11 cities were trained through a virtual workshop on the inclusion of persons with disabilities in urban disaster resilience action planning. The authorities were introduced to the Scorecard’s Addendum for the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities, developed by the NGO Inclusiva and UNDRR.

UNDRR then held a face-to-face workshop in Montevideo on 21 June to train the 11 cities on the integration of risk reduction and climate adaptation agendas at the local level. The climate resilience tools recently developed by UNDRR and the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF), with technical support from Global Factor, were presented to the authorities.

The 11 municipalities committed to finalise the completion of each tool by the end of July, so as to finalise their risk and resilience capacity assessments and then start the formulation of their local risk reduction and resilience plan.

Sergio Rico, Director of SINAE, and Adriana Campelo, Regional Coordinator of MCR2030 in the Americas and the Caribbean, opened each workshop by reinforcing the importance of consolidating an inclusive and holistic approach to disaster resilience in Uruguay as in the rest of the continent.

The activities were facilitated by Gimena Pintos, MCR2030 Focal Point within SINAE, and Clément Da Cruz, MCR2030 Junior Officer in the Americas and the Caribbean. They are part of Stage B of the MCR2030 pilot in Uruguay, which is coordinated by the national government. Participating in the pilot are the cities of Tranqueras (Rivera), Minas de Corrales (Rivera), Vichadero (Rivera), Mataojo (Salto), Villa Constitución (Salto), Guichón (Paysandú), Young (Río Negro), Nueva Helvecia (Colonia), Ciudad del Plata (San José), La Paloma (Rocha) and Bella Unión (Artigas).