European Union-Funded Project Supported the City of Nur-Sultan to Conduct a Detailed Disaster Resilience Scorecard Assessment

NUR-SULTAN, 13 April – The city of Nur-Sultan in collaboration with the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), and with the financial support of the European Union, convened a two-day workshop to conduct a Detailed Disaster Resilience Scorecards Assessment to support the development of the city’s resilience strategy. 

As the third step in a series of scorecard assessment workshops, the detailed assessment focused on current policies and practices to further strengthen the city’s resilience to disasters. It follows a preliminary assessment workshop of the city’s resilience to disasters in September 2021, which involved local and national government representatives, risk analysis institutions and partners, and a workshop to assess the public health sector resilience, which was carried out in close cooperation with the World Health Organization in November 2021. 

The next and final step in the process to develop the city’s resilience strategy includes an analysis of the outcomes of the workshop, and the consecutive development of the final disaster resilience report with recommendations on resilience-building for the city.

Mr. Johannes Madsen, Head of Cooperation at the European Union Delegation to Kazakhstan highlighted: “Our programme has worked with the Nur-Sultan City Administration on a disaster resilience strategy and action plan, which will help the Administration address emergency situations more effectively. We are very pleased with the progress made and proud to contribute with EU taxpayers’ support to something that can make a real difference for the citizens of the capital city”.

Mr. Yelnar Bazyken, Head of the Center of Urbanism of Nur-Sultan stressed: “The city is developing and expanding very quickly. When planning, we must consider possible risks to ensure the safety of our citizens. Together with the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, we are doing important work that will contribute to the efforts of local authorities to make Nur-Sultan a comfortable city to live in”. 

Mr. Abdurahim Muhidov, UNDRR Regional Programme Coordinator, said: “The series of resilience assessments incorporate a multi-sector approach to identifying areas for strengthening wellbeing, environmental safety and uninterrupted functioning of all systems within the capital city. The collaboration of various departments and services in this technical group ensures this multi-sectoral approach. We welcome the commitment of Nur-Sultan to becoming one of the leaders in resilience-building in Central Asia”.

Engaging the City of Nur-Sultan, and other local governments in the region, to reduce risks and advance a holistic and systemic approach to urban resilience forms a part of the UNDRR's EU-funded project in Central Asia. It also utilises many of the tools to support cities on their resilience roadmap under the UNDRR's wider Making Cities Resilient 2030 (MCR2030) initiative.

Background information

The EU-funded project “Strengthening disaster resilience and accelerating the implementation of Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction in Central Asia”, implemented by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), supports countries of the region in implementing the Sendai Framework priorities. The project supports strengthening regional coordination, development of regional DRR strategy, national disaster loss accounting systems, and community-level disaster risk reduction. On the local level, the project supports the development of disaster resilience strategies of capital cities. For this project, the EU committed EUR 3,750,000 for the three-year implementation.

The Making Cities Resilient 2030 (MCR2030) initiative is a global partnership of key partners with expertise and networks across urban resilience, DRR, climate change and the Sustainable Development Goals to bring synergized collaboration. The MCR2030 initiative builds on a decade-long of advocacy and capacity-building work that reached more than 4,000 cities across the globe within the network of the Making Cities Resilient Campaign. The initiative seeks to provide guidance and support to enhance understanding of risk reduction and resilience, to improve strategic planning and build resilience, as well as to take actions. It supports, connects, and facilitates resilience-building, offering a range of tools and services including peer-learning and knowledge exchange amongst cities. 

For additional information please contact:
Delegation of the European Union to Kazakhstan, at: [email protected]      
Mr. Abdurahim Muhidov, UNDRR Regional Programme Coordinator, at: [email protected]