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Mayor Dörner receives UN Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction

Mayor Katja Dörner received the new Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, Kamal Kishore, in her office in the Old Town Hall on Friday, September 13, 2024. Kishore was informed on site about the progress of the Resilience Hub Bonn and the diverse landscape of actors from local to global. He also signed the city's guest book.

Mayor Katja Dörner received Kamal Kishore, UN Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, in the Old Town Hall on the market square.

Kamal Kishore has headed the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), which maintains an office in Bonn in addition to its headquarters in Geneva, since March 2024. His predecessor Mami Mizutori visited Bonn several times, most recently in June 2023 on the occasion of a round table of Resilience Hubs hosted by Mayor Dörner. 

Since 2010, UNDRR has been working with cities and their networks under the umbrella of “Making Cities Resilient” to make cities more resilient to the climate crisis and its consequences. Bonn was one of the first cities to join this alliance in 2010. In 2020, UNDRR launched the next phase of cooperation with cities, the “Making Cities Resilient 2030 Initiative” (MCR2030). Bonn has also been an official member since October 2022 and a so-called Resilience Hub since June 2023. This award is given to cities that commit to strategically promoting resilience for a period of three years and supporting other cities on their path to greater resilience. 

Mayor Katja Dörner: “The climate crisis and its consequences pose major challenges for cities all over the world, including Bonn. Resilient cities are sustainable cities. Resilience will only succeed if everyone works together closely and in an integrated manner to learn from each other. This requires exchange within the city administration as well as between different areas of society, cities and nations. We want to promote this in Bonn with our integrated climate adaptation concept and as a Resilience Hub.”

Mayor Dörner presents UN Secretary-General Kishore with a book about Bonn.

During their visit, Kishore and Dörner discussed Bonn's next steps as a Resilience Hub of the MCR2030 initiative. In partnership with the ICLEI city network Local Governments for Sustainability, the Bonn Network for International Civil Protection and Disaster Risk Reduction and many other stakeholders, the City of Bonn is initiating numerous activities on resilience and disaster risk reduction over a three-year period. These include workshops and exchange sessions at international conferences such as GWOPA/UN Habitat or Daring Cities as well as a joint webinar series with ICLEI and the further networking of stakeholders and networks. In the webinar series for cities, various stakeholders and networks are involved in the topic of land resilience using the example of the UNCCD, the Convention to Combat Desertification. There will also be events on the topic of resilience for citizens and employees of the City of Bonn within established event series.

Bonn is not only home to a UNDRR office, but also to many other organizations and institutions involved in disaster risk reduction and risk management. In 2017, the Bonn Network for International Civil Protection and Disaster Risk Reduction was founded on the initiative of the City of Bonn to bring these actors together. 

26 United Nations organizations with around 1,000 employees work in Bonn. In line with the motto “Shaping a sustainable future”, they have given themselves a thematic umbrella. They all help governments and people to find answers and ways for a sustainable future. Further information on the UN in Bonn can be found on  the city's website. (opens in a new tab)