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Cities and local governments need to get ready, reduce the risks and become resilient to disasters. For the next two years and beyond, the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) will campaign together with its partners for this to happen.

The 2010-2011 World Disaster Reduction Campaign “Making Cities Resilient” addresses issues of local governance and urban risk while drawing upon previous ISDR Campaigns on safer schools and hospitals, as well as on the sustainable urbanizations principles developed in the UN-Habitat World Urban Campaign 2009-2013.

Making cities safe from disaster is everybody’s business: National governments, local government associations, international, regional and civil society organizations, donors, the private sector, academia and professional associations as well as every citizen need to be engaged. All these stakeholders need to be on board, take on their role and contribute to building disaster resilient cities.

Related Global Hand article: An ounce of prevention: The case for Disaster Risk Management.