Kampala Capital City Authority and Incheon Metropolitan City Officials Discuss Real Time Response Mechanisms

By Nisa Gilit

26 November 2019, Incheon – Ten officials from Kampala Capital City Authority’s (KCCA) various departments recently visited Incheon Metropolitan City to learn more from the city’s experience on disaster risk reduction and climate change policies and good practices.

Consolate Nakyagaba said, “Kampala joined the Making Cities Resilient Campaign in 2011 knowing very little about disaster risk reduction. We have made a lot of progress and this year we expect to have the integrated strategy on disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation adopted for implementation.

“We have a multi-sectoral team here so we could learn together and understand that in disaster risk reduction we don’t need to fight for our own space in the projects, instead, we need integration and coordination in order to contribute to the bigger picture,” said Ms. Nakyagaba.

During the city-to-city exchange, KCCA officials met with high level officials of Incheon and visited various institutions within the city to learn about flood mitigation, water resource management, environmental sensitive solid waste and wastewater management, emergency coordination centre and response services, as well as smart city platforms.

Participants also had the opportunity to observe a class in one of the elementary schools in Incheon where the teacher who was trained under the School Safety Program by Incheon Metropolitan City, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) and the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) was teaching students about the fundamentals of disaster risk reduction through games and interactive discussions.

Planting the seeds of knowledge and awareness in school is impactful. “When we talk about disaster in Kampala, it is exclusively with adults,” said KCCA Deputy Lord Mayor, Sarah Kanyike. “However, children are the most vulnerable in disasters and teaching them about prevention and protection will help ensure their safety. We will surely take this program back to Kampala and start piloting in our schools.”