Accra listed among 35 Most Resilient Cities

Accra has been listed among thirty-five (35) Most Resilient Cities in the world.

And with that feat, it means that the capital city of Ghana would benefit from the Rockefeller Foundation’s $1,000,000 fund which assists cities around the world to develop.

Speaking at the 2014 Global Urban Resilience Summit in Singapore, President of the Rockefeller Foundation, Dr. Judith Rodin, applauded efforts of the Mayor of Accra, Dr. Alfred Okoe Vanderpuije, for his “leadership role and tireless efforts” in ensuring that his city becomes a resilient one through innovations such as the Millennium City School project.

According to him, three hundred and thirty applications, representing ninety countries and six continents were received.

Cities selected included Amman—Jordan, Arusha—Tanzania, Athen—Greece, Barcelona—Spain, Belgrade, Bengaluru, and Boston.

The rest were California—USA, Colombia, Chennai—India, Chicago—USA, Dallas—USA, Deyang—China, Enugu—Nigeria, Huangshi—China, Juarez—Mexico, Kigali—Rwanda, Lisbon—Portugal, London—United Kingdom, Milan—Italy, Montreal—Canada, Paris—France, Phnom Penh—Cambodia, Pittsburgh—USA, San Juan—USA, Santa Fe—Argentina, Santiago de los Caballeros—Dominican Republic, Santiago—Chile, Singapore, St. Louis—USA, and Sydney—Australia.

Dr. Judith Rodin acknowledged the “toughness” in choosing the thirty-five out of three hundred and thirty cities due to the uniqueness of each city’s application and things enumerated to build a resilient city.

Rockefeller Foundation initiative was launched 2008 with the focus on a pilot group of 10 cities in India, Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia to support the Asian cities climate change, resilience network with stakeholders to develop, test and demonstrate practical strategies to responding to the impacts of climate change.

Rockefeller Foundation per these nominations would support the AMA financially in the areas where the resilience of stress and shocks were identified during times when the city was exposed to these hazards.

For his part, Mayor of Accra, Dr. Alfred Okoe Vanderpuije, noted that it was “refreshing” that mayors from 100 cities would have the privilege to come together to share ideas for the good of their people.

He expressed gratitude to the president of the Foundation for the honour done Accra to be mentioned among 35 cities in the summit as having being selected among the top 100 resilient cities in the world.