This project is a joint partnership between UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UN ESCWA), UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN ECLAC), UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP), United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and UN-Habitat City Resilience Global Programme (CRGP).

Overall objective

The project focuses on strengthening the capacities of local governments in 16 cities globally to design, implement and monitor sustainable, resilient and inclusive COVID-19 economic and financial responses, recovery and rebuilding plans.

The immediate impact of the project is the provision of good global practices from other cities which will inform the pilot cities in their activities to develop and implement their immediate response and recovery plans to the COVID-19 pandemic. Ultimately, the project will contribute to making cities more resilient and help local governments to better withstand shocks, such as COVID-19, and urban stresses that are likely to occur in a predominantly urban world. Implementation will consider linkages with other dimensions of urban resilience that are of specific relevance to the different social, spatial and governance contexts of each region.

Expected benefits for participating cities

Regional and global showcasing of the experiences, practices and innovation of the city

Learning and insights from regional and global experiences from other cities and local authorities

Engagement and peer-learning through dialogue with other local authorities in the region and globally

Technical support towards the preparation of an economic and financial recovery and rebuilding strategy/plan for the city

Knowledge and evidence-based informationon economic and financial dimensions of COVID-19 in the city as a basis for policy and decision-making

GLOBAL COMPENDIUM OF PRACTICES

COVID-19 is having significant impacts on cities across the globe.

The pandemic has forced countries and cities to implement various movement control measures and closure of businesses that have resulted in shrinking economic activities in cities and massive revenue loss of local governments.

While the effects of COVID-19 provided some positive environmental outcomes, such as temporary reductions in emissions and improved urban air quality, the opportunity to have a sustainable and green urban recovery is still to be realised.

This Global Compendium of Practices on Local Economy and Financial Recovery includes experiences and lessons from different cities so as to exchange information and propose references for others that are passing through similar situations.