On the occasion of UN World Cities Day, Urban 20 (U20) Engagement Group of the G20, announces the creation of a Global Urban Resilience Fund in response to COVID-19
The Urban 20 (U20), a G20 Engagement Group, today stated that it is going to create a Global Urban Resilience Fund, the first fund of its type produced by cities, for cities.
Speaking about the announcement U20 Chair, H.E. Fahd Al-Rasheed, President of the Royal Commission for Riyadh City, noted; We have the chance right now to learn from the consequence of COVID-19, to study how to develop cities which are more flexible and active.
The cities of the U20 have taken the lead to form a fund for city action to combat the pandemic and decrease future urban shocks. The fund aims to accelerate the transportation of new knowledge and ideas for a more stable future for all urban residents.
The Fund comes as a reply to the findings of the U20 Special Working Group (SWG) on COVID-19, which was set up by the U20 Chair city, Riyadh, together with co-chair cities Rome and Buenos Aires.
Mayor of Rome Virginia Raggi commented, The trial of our times is the fight against the pandemic. A conflict that is not only a provocation to restore the best fitness conditions; but, more, it is changing the economic importance of the pandemic.
Cities cannot tackle this alone: continued support from states is needed, but, at the same time, it is necessary to pool resources and create new tools. The Global Urban Resilient Fund represents an exceptional way to meet these needs, and the responsibility of the next Italian U20 Presidency will be to carry this forward and make it real.
The Special Working Group brought together a further ten member cities; Amsterdam, Helsinki, Houston, Izmir, Los Angeles, Madrid, Mexico City, Rio De Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Tshwane, along with seven Knowledge Partners; the University of Pennsylvania, Coalition for Urban Transition, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, OECD, International Finance Corporation (World Bank Group), Agence Franaise de Dveloppement and Universit Gustave Eiffel.
The U20 will is currently going to define the features and modalities of the Fund which will be published by the end of the year.
