GCA and United Cities and Local Governments of Africa Enhance Partnership to Benefit Vulnerable Groups in Informal Settlements
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harm El-Sheikh, Egypt, 11th November 2022 – The United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLGA) and the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) today signed an agreement to work jointly on strengthening locally led adaptation (LLA) in informal settlements in several African cities.
UCLGA is a pan-African organization representing cities and local governments, comprising 44 national associations in more than 2000 cities.
As part of Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP), GCA will provide a grant of $278,000 to UCLGA to build the capacity of city governments and residents of urban informal settlements to work together on tackling climate impacts on the most vulnerable citizens.
The subgrant agreement was signed by UCLGA Secretary-General Mr. Jean Pierre Elong Mbassi and GCA CEO, Prof. Dr. Patrick Verkooijen at the GCA Pavilion at COP27.
Through this agreement, the organizations will work together to build the institutional capacity of local governments and low-income groups residing in informal settlements in 12 African cities. The cities will be selected in part based on the interest and commitment voiced by their local governments.
UCLGA will implement the project between now and May 2024. The project will involve the creation of a scientific evidence base to identify and prioritize adaptation investments and action through Rapid Climate Risk Assessments (RCRAs) and risk profiling conducted by vulnerable citizens to identify and prioritize impacts and the day-to-day issues they face.
UCLGA and GCA signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) one year ago at COP26 to accelerate adaptation and resilience building measures in African cities. This project builds on the MoU and reinforces GCA’s demand-led vision to respond to the needs identified and expressed by local governments and citizens.
The project aligns with the goals of GCA’s City Adaptation Accelerator of the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP) and GCA’s Global Hub on Locally Led Adaptation.
The AAAP, launched by the African Development Bank and GCA to mobilize $25 billion by 2025 for climate adaptation, focuses on food security, resilient infrastructure, adaptation jobs and climate finance. In its first 18 months of operations, the AAAP’s Upstream Financing Facility has influenced more than $3.5 billion in upstream investments with Multilateral Development Banks in 19 countries in Africa.
The Global Hub on LLA is hosted by GCA’s regional office in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and aims to advance the knowledge and solutions agenda for LLA through knowledge acceleration, capacity building, agenda setting and advocacy efforts, and support to increase quantity and quality of climate finance available at the local level
About the United Cities and Local Governments of Africa
Founded in 2005 in Tshwane, South Africa, the United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLGA) is an international pan African organization that aims to spearhead the decentralization of local governance in Africa. Founded through a constitution adopted by mayors of African cities, its primary goal is to actualize the establishment of local governments with distinct legal and political personalities and financial autonomy. UCLG Africa was formed through the unification of three continental groups serving the interests of local governments and represents almost 350 million African citizens. UCLG Africa acts to strengthen the capacity of local governments to provide better services to their population, to support and train Local Government Associations, and represent local authorities at the pan-African and international level.
About the Global Center on Adaptation
The Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) is an international organization which works as a solutions broker to accelerate action and support for adaptation solutions, from the international to the local, in partnership with the public and private sector. Founded in 2018, GCA operates from its headquarters in the largest floating office in the world, located in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. GCA has a worldwide network of regional offices in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire; Dhaka, Bangladesh and Beijing, China.
Contacts
Alex Gee
Head of Communications
Global Center on Adaptation
alex.gee@gca.org
Chinedu Moghalu
Senior Communication Advisor to the CEO
Global Center on Adaptation
chinedu.moghalu@gca.org
