Local governments are at the forefront of humanitarian crises

Participants to the first ever World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) in Istanbul on 23-24 May took several initiatives under the idea of “sharing humanity”, especially by setting the Global Alliance for Urban Crises, supported by PLATFORMA. Its aim is to strengthen prevention, preparedness and response in increasingly precarious urban settings, particularly with local municipal actors.
PLATFORMA took part to the UN Summit through Andreas Wolter, Vice-Mayor of the City of Cologne (Germany), and its members Cités Unies France, the Dutch Association of Netherlands Municipalities (VNG International), and United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG).
They organised several events on the role of local actors in cities in crisis and on future scenarios for Za’atari Refugee Camp in Jordan”. As part of these efforts, PLATFORMA together with its members participated earlier in May in the UCLG Task Force on Disaster Response meeting in Geneva.
The UN-led Summit convened 9,000 participants from 173 Member States, including 55 Heads of State and government, hundreds of private sector representatives, and thousands of people from civil society and non-governmental organizations.