More than 300 mayors, regional and local authorities, and DRM practitioners from 50 countries reaffirmed their commitment to achieving the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) as they adopted the “Declaration on Local Action for Disaster Reduction” during the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) World Council last November 27-30 in Istanbul, Turkey.

As they recognized good governance, local participation and strong collaboration with the State as key elements in reducing disaster risks at the local level, local governments expressed their commitment to:

• Rely on the principles and recommendations of HFA to develop and implement local disaster risk reduction strategies;
• Initiate and strengthen awareness-raising campaigns to educate the populace and attain greater resilience;
• Devote particular attention to reducing the vulnerability of poor populations; and
• Enhance local governments’ participation in national, regional, and international disaster risk reduction platforms, particularly to the UN-ISDR Global Platform for disaster risk reduction

The draft declaration was prepared and presented by the Partnership for Urban Risk Reduction (PURR), an ad-hoc coalition composed of UCLG, Metropolis, Citynet, ICLEI and EMI, at the UCLG Executive Bureau meeting on July 10-11 in Quito, Ecuador.