Mongolia’s capital city Ulaanbaatar and all its 21 Provinces have joined the world’s leading global collaboration to strengthen urban resilience. Making Cities Resilient 2030 welcomed its newest members at an official ceremony at Mongolia’s Parliament House. The event re-emphasized the ongoing need for scaled up disaster resilience action in an era of escalating climate risk.

Mongolia’s Head of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Major General G.Ariunbuyan said it was important to strengthen the capacity of local governments and maintain a strong coordinated national-local approach to address such a challenging riskscape. ‘The frequency of disasters in Mongolia is increasing, especially due to climate change, putting urban areas at greater risk,’

Mr. B.Baatarhuu, Head of the Administration Department of Ulaanbaatar Capital City said it was important for Ulaanbaatar to provide a lead for other provinces. ‘The city of Ulaanbaatar commits to work hard to strengthen resilience, and to learn from international partners participating in the MCR2030,’ he said.

The UN Resident Coordinator for Mongolia, Mr. Tapan Mishra, echoed how MCR2030 provides a big opportunity for Mongolian provinces to further strengthen their resilience and expand partnerships. ‘The UN will continue to support local governments in Mongolia in their resilience efforts’

Mr Sanjaya Bhatia, praised Mongolia’s continued commitment to and leadership on disaster resilience. ‘Mongolia was a champion of the original MCR Campaign where it offered a model of coordinated national-local approach to risk reduction. This inspired many other countries and deserves recognition,’ Mr Bhatia said.

MCR2030 is a United Nations-led global network that has mobilized 1,442 local governments, representing almost 449 million people, committed to strengthening their disaster and climate resilience. The partnership has also convened national governments, municipality associations, service providers, as well as 12 core partners that are a ‘who’s who’ of international organizations active on urban resilience. (undrr)