The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) has proclaimed the City of Makati as the first-ever Resilience Hub in the Philippines and the Southeast Asian Region for its excellent program to address disaster and climate risks.
Makati Mayor Abigail Binay expressed her gratitude to the UNDRR for recognizing the city’s readiness to take on a more prominent role in the Making Cities Resilient 2030 (MCR2030).
The MCR2030 is an initiative aimed to contribute to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 11 (SDG11) and other global frameworks by empowering cities to become inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable by 2030.
“We thank the UNDRR for granting us the honor and privilege of serving as a Resilience Hub of MCR2030 for the next three years,” said Binay.
The UNDRR defines resilience hubs as cities, municipalities, or local authorities that have a political and technical commitment to take action to address disaster and climate risks.
Since 2010 when the city signed up for the Making Cities Resilient Campaign (MCR), the local government has effectively mainstreamed and institutionalized disaster risk reduction in its policies, plans, and programs.
Its best practices have also been shared on several international platforms joined by cities all over the region.
Mayor Binay said the city government is eager to fulfill its critical role in supporting other MCR2030 cities through enhancing city-to-city collaborations and peer-to-peer support.
“Over the past decade, Makati has made great strides in its journey to resilience largely aided by MCR tools made accessible to us. We are eager to pay it forward by optimizing the opportunity to share our knowledge, best practices, and resources with other cities so that together, we can attain the highest level of resilience come 2030,” she said.
The city chief executive said Makati’s commitments in support of other MCR2030 cities in the next three years include the expansion of the city-to-city sharing initiative on international platforms, development of the Makati DRRM Knowledge portal, and the integration of MCR2030 in the Makati DRRM Academy.
To qualify as a resilience hub, a city must have reached a high level of resilience building commitments, showed sustained mechanism for DRR/resilience investments, and with expertise and interest in disseminating best practices to other cities joining the MCR2030, according to the UNDRR website.
The position is renewable every three years.
MCR2030 resilience hubs may also host international events related to it; coordinate study tours to showcase practical examples and share experience; twin up with other cities to provide support in the expertise area;
Provide technical assistance and support training to enhance resilience awareness and in the development and implementation of the DRR/Resilience strategies; publish and disseminate knowledge products, lessons learned, and good practices;
Provide access to partners who can support the journey of twinned cities along the Resilience Roadmap; inject seed financing; and assist with credit ratings and the development of municipal bond markets.
Binay said in 2017, her administration enhanced the city’s resilience roadmap—the Makati Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Plan – using the Disaster Resilience Scorecard, an MCR tool.
In 2020, the city also used the Disaster Resilience Scorecard Public Health Addendum in producing its DRRM-Health Plan that integrates public health emergencies to mitigate their impact on all sectors.