Cities Alliance is a global partnership fighting urban poverty and supporting cities to deliver sustainable development. To manage its activities, the Cities Alliance operates a multi-donor fund with UNOPS as host and Trustee. Currently, Cities Alliance is formed by over 20 diverse members that provide strategic direction, contribute to the financing of the partnership, and engage in advocacy and operational activities to realize sustainable development.
The main goal of Cities Alliance is the improvement of the well-being of urban populations by delivering innovative, multi-sectoral solutions to urban poverty. To work towards the completion of this goal Cities Alliance use two main types of interventions:
- The delivery of technical assistance and infrastructure through grants to members and partners, or through direct execution, catalyzing state, and non-state investments, supported by a coordinating presence on the ground.
- The provision of an international platform to convene countries and diverse organisations seeking to engage, learn and share their specialised knowledge, expertise and resources in support of a common vision and advocacy.
Cities Alliance currently has four thematic global programmes on climate change and resilience, gender equality, migration, and informality. The organization also has an innovation programme and three country programmes in Liberia, Uganda and Tunisia.
Through our initiative “Stronger Partnerships: Local Innovations for New Climate Realities in Cities”, we are supporting community-based adaptation projects across the Horn of Africa and the Bay of Benghal. With funding from Sida and BMZ, Cities Alliance provides financial support to locally led efforts that are enhancing resilience to climate change and improving the livelihoods of informal communities in Kenya, Somalia, Uganda, Bangladesh, and Myanmar.
In Liberia, we channel parts of our long-standing support through the Community Upgrading Fund (CUF) which is a participatory mechanism to design, finance and implement small infrastructure projects to enhance urban resilience and livelihoods. Currently, through the CUF, we are supporting two fishmonger communities in deploying renewable energy solutions to sustain their income and help to reduce their vulnerability due to a climate-induced decrease of fish catches.
You can visit our website www.citiesalliance.org and follow us on social media to learn more about our programmes and initiatives. There you will also find multiple publications and media resources showcasing our knowledge and work. You can also subscribe to our newsletter to receive updates on our activities. Cities Alliance is always open to new collaborations and partnerships to effectively advance sustainable and resilient urban development for all.
Through our work with local governments, we are aware that sufficient finance at the city-level is paramount to achieve sustainable action on the ground. On the global level, our Secretariat is continuously engaged in partnerships and collaborations to further inform our actions as well as advance and exchange our knowledge at the international, national and local levels.
We hope to gain further expertise and trigger new synergies and opportunities with Alliance members to increase the resources allocated to local and sub-national governments to climate adaptation. The climate finance and urban poverty reduction agendas are very much interrelated. We hope to find new win-win opportunities and solutions by joining the Alliance and acting as a mediator between these two development areas.
Cities Alliance has a strong track record in tackling urban poverty and promoting sustainable urban development in the contexts of informality at global level. We bring 20 years of hands-on experience working on the ground and our solid international, national and local networks to the urban climate finance field.
There is a strong connection between slum upgrading and climate-resilient, sustainable development. We advocate for these crucial yet still neglected issues to raise awareness among policy and decision makers, donors, and the general public to increase multi-level support. The topics of climate -adaptation, mitigation, and financing will remain one of the most important topics for any urban development.