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CITIES IN CRISIS
By 2050 over 70% of the global population will live in urban areas. This accelerating urbanization trend is accompanied by an increasing vulnerability of cities to both natural and man-made disasters. More and more, humanitarian actors are responding to urban crises, but are poorly equipped to understand and effectively engage with cities’ complex socio-economic dynamics and governance structures. In particular, humanitarian planning and coordination platforms have struggled to propose multi-sectoral action and to engage in partnerships with subnational actors, two pre-conditions for effective work in city environments.
Through its Cities in Crisis programme, AGORA supports humanitarian actors to develop more localised, multi-sectoral humanitarian responses in cities, facilitating linkages between relief, recovery and development actions and between local and international actors.
Cities in Crisis is implemented in partnership with UCLG Task Force on Territorial Prevention and Management of Crises and Cités Unies France, thanks to the ongoing support of EU humanitarian aid.
Key outputs:
Perspectives from Cities in Crisis Report
Conducted in early 2016 and launched during the World Humanitarian Summit, this study comprises consultations in 6 crisis-affected cities, aiming to identify challenges and recommendations on how to improve humanitarian responses to crisis in urban contexts and better leverage on local knowledge and response capacities.
City-specific reports: Bangui, Bogo, Gaziantep, Mafraq, Port au Prince, Tacloban
Urban Assessment Pilot: the City of Jérémie, Haiti
The city of Jérémie, capital of the southern department of Grand Anse in Haiti, suffered extensive damage after being hit by Hurricane Matthew in October 2016. To support an efficient and integrated humanitarian response in the city of Jérémie, AGORA conducted an urban assessment in the most severely affected neighbourhoods between 1st November and 15 December 2016.
Assessment findings are being used by operational actors responding in the city of Jérémie, including local and international stakeholders, as a basis for the development of settlement-based and multi-sectorial neighbourhood recovery plans.
Access findings at this link.
Humanitarian Response Plan for the City of Bangui, Central African Republic
Since 2013, a major crisis has shaken the Central African Republic. With progressive increase in stability in Bangui, many IDPs are starting to return to their areas of origin within the city. The Municipality of Bangui has consequently started facing challenges in terms of resources and means to address and fully meet the needs of the population.
To better understand the needs of affected communities and facilitate the return of IDPs to their areas of origin, AGORA facilitated an area-based assessment and coordination in the city of Bangui, as well as round tables with local and international stakeholders to develop neighbourhood-level response plans and a city-level coordination body.
Access findings at this link.