As urban and territorial challenges become increasingly interlinked—spanning economic instability, climate vulnerability, and widening inequalities—local governments are under growing pressure to deliver inclusive and resilient responses. In this context, a coalition of six UN entities has launched the next phase of a global effort to strengthen urban economic resilience through local action in five cities—Amman (Jordan), Coimbatore (India), Santa Fe (Argentina), Podgorica (Montenegro) and Harare (Zimbabwe).
The Urban Economic Resilience for Inclusive Responses and Recovery from Crises project, funded through the United Nations Global Development Account 16th Tranche (DA16) under United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), is jointly implemented by UN-Habitat’s City Resilience Global Programme, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) and United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). The initiative is now being rolled out in the five cities to support the development of actionable strategies and finance-ready bankable projects that can drive inclusive recovery and positive transformation at the local level.
A new phase for building urban economic resilience
In 2020, the five UN Regional Economic Commissions, United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and UN-Habitat’s City Resilience Global Programme came together to respond to the urgent need for economic recovery in cities impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The UN interagency project on Building Urban Economic Resilience during and after COVID-19 directly supported 16 cities globally in developing their economic recovery and resilience-building plans as well as delivered a suite of policy guidance, capacity-building tools and knowledge products to help local governments navigate during this difficult period.
Three years on, the conditions facing cities have become even more complex. The lingering effects of the pandemic, worsening climate impacts, growing economic pressures, and emerging conflicts have created a persistent state of uncertainty that continues to test the capacity of cities to deliver basic services, safeguard livelihoods, and finance inclusive recovery strategies. Many local governments remain under-resourced and overstretched, struggling to access the technical expertise or capital required to respond to both immediate shocks and longer-term structural challenges and stressors.
In this context, the Urban Economic Resilience for Inclusive Responses and Recovery from Crises — the latest phase of this inter-agency collaboration—seeks to close that gap in five project cities—Amman, Coimbatore, Santa Fe, Podgorica, and Harare. It offers targeted support to help local governments translate resilience diagnostics into actionable plans, strengthen institutional capacity, engage with financial institutions, and mobilize sustainable investment for inclusive, long-term recovery of the targeted cities.
As part of this global effort, a freely accessible e-learning course, Introduction to Urban Economic Resilience for Inclusive Responses and Recovery from Crises, has been developed to support local governments and urban practitioners worldwide in designing more inclusive, finance-ready strategies for recovery.
From learning to implementation: five cities, five strategies
The project has now officially kicked off in Amman, Coimbatore, Santa Fe, Podgorica and Harare, marking the beginning of a new phase focused on local implementation, subsequent to a global networking event on “Innovating Urban Resilience: Financing Strategies and Smart Solutions for Cities Worldwide”, jointly organized by interregional commissions and implementing partners, of urban resilience and sustainable finance experts and local leaders at the World Urban Forum. This phase aims to support cities in translating resilience diagnostics into concrete, finance-ready strategies that respond to their most urgent economic, social, and environmental challenges.
The project will support the selected cities through a chain of interventions ranging from capacity-building, identification of financing sources for the cities’ projects and support with those projects’ development. It will also enhance the cities’ capacity to engage with donors and international financial institutions, resulting in concrete projects and programs supporting urban resilience. By the project’s end, the target cities are expected to have the capacity to prepare project pipelines and engage directly with financial institutions.
In close collaboration with their respective UN Regional Economic Commissions, each city is developing tailored approaches to inclusive recovery and sustainable investment. While the contexts differ, the objective is shared: to strengthen institutional capacity, unlock funding opportunities, and put resilience planning into action—laying the groundwork for long-term, locally led recovery and transformation.
In Amman, Jordan, the project was officially launched in February 2025 by ESCWA, in partnership with UN-Habitat and the Greater Amman Municipality. The launch was planned as part of the celebratory events marking “Amman City Day 2025” and featured a high-level event that brought together over 60 national and local stakeholders. The event marked the start of the project’s first phase, which focuses on developing the city’s second Voluntary Local Review (VLR). Building on Amman’s pioneering role as the first Arab city to develop a VLR to localize the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and leveraging its designation as the Arab Digital Capital for 2025, the project aims to strengthen institutional capacities, align urban development priorities with sustainable financing strategies, and position Amman as a model for smart and sustainable urban transformation.
As Dr. Sukaina Al-Nasrawi, Lead of the Sustainable Urban Development Portfolio at ESCWA, stated: “By pioneering the first VLR in the Arab world, Amman set a precedent for localizing the SDGs. Today, with its second VLR, the city reaffirms its commitment to institutionalizing the process as a key mechanism for urban governance.”
In Coimbatore, India, ESCAP launched a climate finance readiness assessment to evaluate enabling conditions for climate investments. A multi-stakeholder inception workshop held in September 2024 introduced project components and gathered perspectives on financing climate action. ESCAP has since finalized a report assessing policy, financial and governance conditions for accessing urban climate finance and identifying capacity-building needs for implementing innovative funding strategies. The Report presents findings and recommendations from the pilot of the ESCAP’S Subnational Assessment Tool, which evaluates the Coimbatore City to effectively mobilize subnational climate finance to achieve the State’s and city’s climate goals and India’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and SDGs at the National level.
Mr. M. Sivaguru Prabhakaran IAS, Commissioner of the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC), highlighted the active involvement of the private sector in the city’s development over time. Emphasising the need to strengthen this engagement for effective climate action, he stated: “Organising private stakeholder workshops can help generate support for climate-friendly investments, address public concerns, and foster long-term resilience.”
In Santa Fe, Argentina, ECLAC officially kicked off the project in February 2025 in official meetings with the mayor and high-level administrative officers from various municipal departments. In Santa Fe the project aims to adapt the climate finance readiness methodology developed by ESCAP, to the Latin American context and pilot it at the municipal level. Data collection and fact finding is currently underway and validation workshops are expected to take place in July and August 2025 facilitated several in-person working meetings with local authorities and stakeholders.
In Podgorica, Montenegro, UNECE conducted a fact-finding mission in August 2024, holding consultations with municipal authorities, civil society organizations, and academia. Priorities identified included disaster preparedness, sustainable housing, and improving access to European funding sources. The next phases of the project were delayed by local elections, but stakeholder engagement remains strong with new workshops planned for 2025 and a new administration engaged in the project.
Finally, in Harare, Zimbabwe, UNECA’s local stakeholder engagement workshop, jointly organized with the Harare City Council and supported by UN RCO Zimbabwe and ECA Subregional Office of Southern Africa, took place on January 2025 with over 40 participants, including representatives from local and national government, academia and civil society organizations, and UN country teams.
The launch event in Harare marked a key moment to advance the city’s resilience agenda. It provided a platform to identify capacity gaps and explore synergies with ongoing and planned capacity building initiatives. The city of Harare group shared the city’s resilience ambition, as well as draft climate and informality policies in the pipeline. Participants showcased their various capacity building activities related to urban resilience in Harare, aiming to enhance collaboration and maximize impact.
Going forward the project aims to integrate wholistic and cross-sectoral urban resilience approaches and to strengthen support for informal economy and settlements with a gender-sensitive and community strengthening approaches for transformative place-based investments. In early August, a local expert group meeting is planned to equip local stakeholders with the tools and knowledge needed to implement innovative and sustainable solutions for adaptive urban planning, governance and development efforts.
A global-local partnership for resilient futures
As part of UNDA’s portfolio, this initiative is not only a technical support programme—it is a model of collaborative governance. Through a network of global, regional, and local actors, the project fosters integrated responses to shared urban challenges.
Essential to advancing this effort, UN-Habitat’s City Resilience Global Programme focuses on developing and delivering capacity-building tools that strengthen local resilience, while ensuring that this knowledge reaches a broader audience of cities and practitioners. As Esteban Leon, Head of the Programme, explains:
“Resilience doesn’t begin or end with recovery—it’s about designing systems that can adapt, evolve and protect communities against the shocks we know and the ones we don’t. This project represents a critical step in building that capacity where it matters most: at the local level.”
