Iloilo City’s best practices spotlight in global gab

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Iloilo City’s disaster experiences and best practices were highlighted in a book given to delegates of a global conference in South Korea, recently.

Mayor Jed Patrick E. Mabilog stressed, this is a manifestation of the urban center’s growing reputation as a benchmark city where local governments here and abroad can learn and replicate.

He hoped the feature will help promote the metropolis as a resilient city to visitors and investors as well as catch the interest of more institutions from around the world.

The city’s portfolio appeared on the CityVoices Special Edition Spring/Summer 2016 Issue titled Asian Perspectives on Sustainable Urbanization – Views from Practitioners.

“We officially launched this publication in conjunction with the First International Forum on Urban Policy for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Seoul from June 8-10. The ‘bite-sized’ insights offered by you along with other distinguished contributors were very well received, and will feed into the Urban Knowledge platform that we proposed to set up,” CityNet secretary general Vijay Jagannathan wrote Mabilog.

The document was published with the support from United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia (UNESCAP) and Seoul Metropolitan Government.

“Your article ‘Disaster Risk Reduction Management Lessons from Iloilo City’ highlighting innovative solutions to specific, city-level problems is a crucial reference for Asian cities in finding urban solutions in specific sector, inspired by the multi-dimensional urban challenges facing the Asia Pacific region that are different from the models and paradigms of cities across Europe and United States,” said Jagannathan.

Mabilog shared the strengthened City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council implementing preparedness, prevention, mitigation, response and rehabilitation measures, community-based risk assessment, advocacies with partners, and intensified information and education campaign.

“Through this publication, you demonstrate that every challenge can potentially lead to locally customized solutions, which can then serve as useful case studies for other cities. I would like to express my appreciation for your continuous support with the network by sharing your stories. Your contribution is key to fully implement CityNet’s value to share knowledge and find innovative solutions,” he added.

Iloilo City is a member of CityNet, the largest association of urban stakeholders committed to sustainable development in Asia Pacific region. The network has grown to include 131 local governments, NGOs, private companies and research centers after it was established in 1987 with the support of UNESCAP, United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and UN-Habitat.

CityNet connects actors, exchanges knowledge and builds commitment to create sustainable and resilient cities. Through capacity building, city-to-city cooperation and tangible projects, it helps members respond to climate change, disaster, SDGs and rising infrastructure demands. [via PNA]

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