New strategy attempts to bring resilience to Addis

By Tesfaye Getnet
To prepare Addis for possible future disasters, major challenges to the economy and social problems the Addis Ababa Resilience Project Office (AARPO) is developing a new strategy.
The preliminary part of the strategy involves a study which examines what effects shocking events would have on society. For example if all of the traffic lights stopped working in the city. It will look at what action plans government and non-government stakeholders have and how people perceive resilient works.
The entire strategy is expected to be completed by the end of June.
Proclamation No. 89/2017 legally established the independent Addis Ababa Resilience Project Office (AARPO) for the period of five years.
A three day network exchange on urban informality and city resilience was held in Addis last Monday and Radison Blu Hotel to share experiences from other countries and comment on the new strategy.
Participating cities include Accra, Ghana; Cape Town, South Africa; Chennai, India; Lagos, Nigeria; Montevideo, Uruguay; Paynesville, Liberia; and Salvador, Brazil.
“To be a strong city, we must learn to understand one another, we will build a resilient Addis – prepared to confront the many challenges of the 21st century – upon a foundation that protects equal opportunity for everyone,” Deputy Mayor Dr. Solomon Kidane, said.
“Informality has emerged as an increasingly visible sign of urbanization across our global network,” said Liz Agbor-Tabi, Associate Director for City Resilience Delivery at 100 Resilient Cities. “We see the most success coming from cities that embrace informal sectors and begin to integrate informality into urban planning and in the delivery of core services. This Network Exchange is an exciting opportunity to loop these complexities into critical resilience efforts being undertaken by each participating city.”
Fitsumbrhan Tsegaye, Chief Resilience Officer for the City of Addis Ababa added: “to do this successfully requires the support and insight of our peers in cities that have gone through similar experiences, as well as from local and international partners who are critical for the implementation of multi-benefit solutions.”
100 Resilient Cities – Pioneered by The Rockefeller Foundation (100RC) helps cities around the world become more resilient to social, economic, and physical challenges that are a growing part of the 21st century.