Building Urban Resilience, One City at a Time: Lilongwe Leads the Way
As disaster risks intensify worldwide, Lilongwe is stepping forward with a clear vision: build smarter, plan better and leave no one behind. Through collaboration, practical tools and inclusive dialogue, the city is laying the foundation for resilience that will shape its next 50 years.
Disaster risk is rising around the world, driven by poverty, rapid urbanization, environmental degradation and climate change. Over the past two decades, disasters have affected more than 4.4 billion people, caused losses exceeding USD 2 trillion and claimed over 1.3 million lives. Developing countries have borne the greatest share of these impacts. Cities are especially exposed, as fast and often unplanned growth increases vulnerability to hazards.
Malawi faces growing risks from floods, droughts, storms, heatwaves and earthquakes. Cities such as Lilongwe are increasingly under pressure due to rapid urban growth and infrastructure demands. According to the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) Global Assessment Report 2025, these hazards are driving record losses worldwide. Strengthening the integration of disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation into development planning is therefore critical, yet gaps in awareness and policy implementation remain.
Recognising these challenges, Lilongwe City Council, in collaboration with the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and with support from Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) through the Resilience Initiative Africa (RIA), as well as UNDRR, organised a capacity-strengthening workshop in Lilongwe from 9 to 13 February 2026.
The workshop was strongly supported by the city’s leadership, helping to ensure that the outcomes will translate into concrete action. In his opening remarks, Mayor Alex Peter Banda underscored the importance and timeliness of the initiative, reaffirming Lilongwe’s commitment to strengthening resilience and promoting proactive risk governance.
During the workshop, city officials applied the Words into Action (WiA) guidelines to support the development of a local disaster risk strategy. These guidelines translate the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction into practical steps, enabling the city to better understand its risk profile and identify realistic, people-centred measures to build resilience.
Participants included representatives from key local and national government departments, city planners, finance officers, academia and civil society. Together, they worked to strengthen the capacity of Lilongwe City Council and its partners to plan, develop and operationalise a comprehensive Local Disaster Risk Reduction Strategy that supports safer, risk-informed urban development.
This review is not just a paper exercise; it is a blueprint for the future of Lilongwe City. By aligning to the Sendai Framework and Making Cities Resilient standards, we are ensuring that every new road, bridge and housing project is built with the next 50 years of climate data in mind.”
Gender and Disability Inclusion as Key Enablers of Resilience
A dedicated session focused on gender and disability inclusion as essential components of effective disaster risk reduction. Through participatory approaches, including a “Power Walk” vulnerability analysis exercise, participants explored how different groups experience and respond to disasters in different ways.
The discussions highlighted how factors such as gender, disability and other social dimensions shape people’s exposure to risk and their ability to recover from crises, including natural hazards, climate impacts and urban challenges. Strengthening inclusion within local disaster risk reduction strategies ensures that resilience-building efforts leave no one behind. This collaborative effort marks the beginning of a longer-term journey toward proactive and inclusive disaster risk governance in Lilongwe.
The regional project Resilience Initiative Africa is part of the section Green Transformation in Africa (1720). The green transformation in Africa addresses the continent-wide change of economy and society towards an environmentally friendly, resource-conserving, and sustainable development. Economic growth, environmental protection, and social progress are to be achieved together through the work of the regional projects.