Back in the city, Ms. Mizutori, accompanied by her Africa head of office, Amjad Abbashar, visited the city dump which extended over ten acres before work got underway last year to move it to a managed site on a disused quarry where town engineers have prepared well to ensure it does not affect the water table.
For the last thirty years it has been an eyesore and a source of disease. Ms. Ombara said the successful effort to move the dump and transform it into a green public space required “courage and daring” - from the environmental impact study to negotiating with those who depended on it for a living through scavenging. The work will be completed by next month.
There is an impressive plan in place to engage citizens in the collection and recycling of their household waste which was announced two months. Other items on the busy city manager's agenda include dredging tributaries of Lake Victoria before the rainy and raising funds to replace the asbestos sewerage pipes.
Ms. Mizutori commented on the remarkable level of civic participation and engagement on risk reduction evident in all her encounters with local people throughout the day. “Inclusion and all of society engagement is essential to reducing disaster risk in a meaningful way at the local level.”
Welcoming Ms. Ombara’s offer to become a training ground for other cities, Ms. Mizutori said: “We really need to work with cities to build resilience and we need to keep doing the Campaign in a more effective way. The 5,000 cities that we have in the Campaign is probably just a drop in the ocean.
“The great thing that came out of the Campaign is that it works. We would now like to ask for your knowledge and wisdom to help shape the second phase from 2020 and make it more effective and to have your neighbouring countries and cities to join the Campaign.”
Date:
13 Mar 2019
Sources:
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction - Regional Office for Africa (UNISDR AF)
Themes:
Community-based DRR, Advocacy & Media
Hazards:
Drought, Epidemic & Pandemic, Flood