UN-Habitat is working directly with the governments of Mozambique, the Union of Comoros, Madagascar, and Malawi towards a joint urban resilient future for the Southern African region. The four countries are collaborating and exchanging experiences in joint programmes through active memberships to the sub-regional Technical Centre for Disaster Risk Management, Sustainability and Urban Resilience (DiMSUR), which is facilitated by UN-Habitat as its Secretariat.
The four countries are implementing the joint project ‘Strengthening urban resilience in south-east Africa’, financed by the UN Development Account. The project supports the development, improvement and dissemination of national strategies, policies, legal instruments and guidelines focused on urban disaster risk management and climate resilience. It also develops capacity in academic and training institutions.
The four countries are also working together via DiMSUR to develop a full project proposal for the Adaptation Fund. The project proposal builds on the long-term knowledge gathered and activities being carried out in the countries in the past 10 years in order to enable actual field implementations for urban resilience and climate change adaptation. A preliminary proposal was already accepted, and funds were received to develop a full-project proposal, which is now being undertaken by a multidisciplinary team through several missions and community consultations.
Both projects were made possible due to the long-term engagement and solid partnership built by UN-Habitat via DiMSUR, which has been working closely with the governments and their main disaster risk management institutions in an effort to increase coordination and collaboration between neighbouring countries to exchange information and build capacities. The establishment of DiMSUR has created a collective knowledge base of the realities and needs of the four countries in terms of urban resilience.
