Introduction
The BCRUP initiative, established under a 2019 United Nations mandate, is a key global climate action programme aimed at supporting global efforts to limit temperature rise in alignment with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C goal with the Cities- Climate Change Nexus. It focuses on improving the living conditions and climate resilience of the urban poor, particularly across the Global South.
The Building Climate Resilience with the Urban Poor (BCRUP) Programme is a climate ambition initiative designed to strengthen resilience and adaptive capacities among vulnerable populations living in rapidly growing urban areas and cities. The programme recognizes that urban poor communities are disproportionately affected by climate-induced shocks such as flooding, heat stress, informal settlement vulnerabilities, and weak infrastructure; and therefore, require targeted, scalable, and sustainable interventions to enhance their resilience. More fundamentally, is the perspective of how to empower the urban poor population/communities by improving their socio-economic situation through
accelerated green urban economy, innovative-green jobs and livelihood strategies.
Kenya as the lead implementing Country, invited 20 African Countries to join and be part of the Regional Readiness Project implementation as part of the pilot execution in Africa. Currently, the BCRUP Regional Programme covers 20 African countries (Botswana, Cameroon, Cote d’Voire, Egypt, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique, Rwanda, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Burkina Faso, Guinea Conakry, Congo Brazzaville, Union of Comoros, Nigeria and Burundi), forming a vital front line in addressing climate vulnerability in urban settings. Significant progress has been achieved in shaping the programme’s implementation. To reinforce these advancements, a consultancy was procured to develop a Governance and Operational Framework to guide BCRUP's rollout.
This framework was designed to be scalable at global, regional, national, and sub-national levels, providing tailored guidance for the 20 pilot countries in Africa. A central feature of the framework is the clear definition of roles and responsibilities for all key stakeholders, strengthening accountability, coordination, and effectiveness across the implementation process.
Purpose of the Workshop
To provide a platform for the 20 participating African countries finalize the regional readiness project, interact with some key partners, explore expanded financing opportunities and draw an implementation roadmap.
The meeting will:
- Facilitate consensus-building on the readiness project and ownership.
- Provide space to strategize on additional financing avenues within and beyond the GCF where the readiness financing acts as a catalyzing fund.
- Strengthen country-led alignment on implementation priorities and Confirmation of the status of No Objection Letters and Readiness Allocation to Support the process at the Country Level.
- Sensitize countries and partners on the Governance Structure, Operational Framework and Resource Mobilization Strategy, and
- Foster a platform for knowledge exchange, peer learning, and collective problem solving
This regional convening is critical to the programme’s success and will position BCRUP for scale-up across the African continent and beyond as it is viewed to be one of the largest readiness allocation to be granted by the Secretariat.
Participants
The workshop participants are;
- 20 GCF National Designated Authorities (NDAs) from Pilot Countries
- 20 BCRUP Focal Points from the Technical Departments of Urban Development
- GCF Secretariat Members
- Taskforce Members / Joint Partners Secretariat (UN Habitat, UCLG Africa, State Department for Housing and Urban Development, AfDAN, ARIN and Habitat for Humanity).
- UNECA and AU Representatives
Documents