17 October 2023, China – During a mission to China, Ms. Dima Al-Khatib, Director of the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC), visited the National Disaster Reduction Center of China (NDRCC).
The UNOSSC Director met with Mr. WEI Zhenkuan, Head of NDRCC, to underscore the commitment to strengthening the strategic collaboration between two institutions in advancing South-South Cooperation (SSC) in disaster risk reduction (DRR) and management.
Ms. Dima Al-Khatib introduced the focus and main achievements of UNOSSC in promoting SSC at the global, regional and national levels. Specifically, under UNOSSC Cities Project framework, from 2020 to 2023, UNOSSC, UNDRR-GETI, PAHO/WHO and WHO jointly organized four certified online training series, focusing on harnessing SSC, DRR and health emergency response in building resilience cities and societies.
In October 2022, the “South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTC) for Sustainable Disaster Risk Governance in Lebanon” pilot was launched and is implemented by UNDP with support from the Cities Project. Through multi-stakeholders’ engagement at both national and local levels, this pilot has connected local authorities from Tripoli and Shenzhen, as well as technical expertise from NDRCC and the National Council for Scientific Research of Lebanon (CNRS).
In September, NDRCC co-hosted a two-day capacity development and knowledge sharing event to foster the exchange of experiences, technologies, and good practices in DRR between China and Lebanon, and support Tripoli local authorities to strengthen their disaster risk governance capacity and enhance preparedness and resilience against various disasters.
Building on the good foundation of a pilot project in Lebanon, the city of Shenzhen and other Chinese cities’ good practices and expertise in DRR will be shared with more developing countries through knowledge sharing, capacity-building training, fellowships, and pragmatic project cooperation.
About South-South Cities Clusters
The UNOSSC Cities Project seeks to promote South-South and Triangular Cooperation at the city and local levels. The South-South Cities Clusters are part of the South-South Galaxy virtual platform that facilitates information sharing, knowledge exchange, networking, and project collaboration among cities, local authorities, UN agencies, and other development partners. Currently, it offers interactive thematic spaces on:
- COVID-19 Response and Public Health
- Disaster Risk Reduction and Mitigation in Resilient Cities
- Sustainable Tourism, Heritage Protection and Creative Economy
- Sustainable Agriculture Value Chain Development
- E-Commerce, Digitization and Smart Cities
- Sustainable Transport and Air Quality
- Waste Management, Green Cities and Renewable Energy