At the Innovate4Cities 2021 Conference, Mercy Corps was joined by UN-Habitat Jordan, the Greater Amman Municipality, and Civil Defense Authority to discuss how cities can build resilient communities while also addressing urbanization, especially in the context of an influx of refugees which has placed pressure on government capacity, water demand and sanitation infrastructure.

The human impacts of extreme weather events are worsening and the data is clear. At COP26 the Zurich Flood Resilience Alliance and the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre will be providing a platform for people in vulnerable countries who live with this reality. It’s time to put them at the centre of the solution and mobilise more climate finance.

Sunday 31 October is the start of COP26. World leaders are gathering in Glasgow, Scotland to review progress towards the Paris Agreement and ramp up action on climate change. The Zurich Flood Resilience Alliance are here to advocate for increased support for the flood prone communities we work with at the frontlines of the climate crisis.

Accessible and actionable early warning can help people in Bangladesh prepare for and respond to annual monsoon floods. Sumi shares how early warning messages via voice SMS helped her and her community when faced with particularly intense floods in 2020.

Find out about the important role access to sanitation facilities plays in building community flood resilience, and the work Plan International Nicaragua and partners have done to provide communities with flood-proof latrines that will keep them safe and healthy during floods, and in dry times.

13 October is International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction. This year the theme is Only Together. The focus is on enhancing international cooperation to developing countries. This gives us a perfect opportunity to remind you of the value of working together to deliver flood resilience investments.

Many young people in El Salvador lack the knowledge, supplies and safe spaces they need to comfortably manage their menstruation. This becomes particularly challenging during floods where access to privacy and sanitation facilities can be limited. Plan International are working with communities to overcome these barriers and demystify menstruation.

This blog is a reflection on the role of trust in adaptive management and what we call proactive programming. How is the Z Zurich Foundation facilitating a trusting culture within the Zurich Flood Resilience Alliance and what are the positive outcomes of this?

The Albanian Red Cross’ newly opened Emergency Operations Centre and the Next-Generation Incident Command System provide an opportunity for effective disaster risk management and response across multiple stakeholders.