Monrovia – The Paynesville City Mayor, Madam Pam Belcher-Taylor, has appointed Mrs. Bindu Brewer as Chief Resilience Officer (CRO). The appointment is in partnership with 100 Resilient Cities – Pioneered by The Rockefeller Foundation (100RC).
Report by Mae Azango [email protected]
According to Mayor Belcher-Taylor, the new position has been created to lead city-wide resilience building efforts to help Paynesville prepare for ‘shocks’ and catastrophic events like floods, disease outbreak, and infrastructure failure and ‘stresses. The program will also control slow-moving disasters like water management, gaps in public health, and lack of affordable housing, which are increasingly part of 21st century life.
As Chief Resilience Officer, Mrs. Brewer will report directly to Mayor Belcher-Taylor and oversee the development and implementation of a comprehensive ‘Resilience Strategy’ for the city.
“I am pleased to have Mrs. Brewer serve as Chief Resilience Officer for Paynesville, and am proud to say that she is the only female CRO to be appointed in West Africa,” said Mayor Belcher-Taylor.
“She
has been in the position for three months and, working in close coordination
with my staff. We have already begun to realize short-term projects such
as a study into the causes and solutions for community flooding during
the rains,” she said.
She added that the position will be fully funded by 100RC for
at least two years. Paynesville’s engagement with 100 Resilient Cities
kicked off in November 2016 with a ‘Resilience Agenda-Setting Workshop.’
Under Mrs. Brewer’s leadership, the city is poised to take the next step
in its resilience planning.
Mayor Belcher-Taylor further said appointing a CRO is an
essential element of Paynesville’s resilience building partnership with
100 Resilient Cities, is part of a US$164M commitment by The Rockefeller
Foundation to build urban resilience in 100 cities around the world.
“As the first CRO for the City of Paynesville, I look forward
to working with Mayor Belcher-Taylor and the people of the city,” said
Bindu Brewer. “The development and implementation
of our ‘Resilience Strategy’, with inputs from stakeholders, will
strengthen our city so that we can withstand and emerge even stronger
from sudden shocks like the 2014 Ebola outbreak and on-going ailments
such as unemployment,” she said.
Michael Berkowitz, president of 100 Resilient Cities, said
the CRO is an innovative feature of 100RC’s resilience building program
and is specifically designed to break down existing barriers at the local
level.
According
to Berkowitz, it will account for pre-existing resilience plans and create
partnerships, alliances and financing mechanisms that will address the
resilience vulnerabilities of all city residents.
He added that in addition to providing financial and logistical
guidance for establishing the CRO position, 100RC offers each city in the
network technical support for developing a robust Resilience Strategy. According
to him, the office will access to a wide range of partner services to
help develop and implement their resilience strategies, and membership
in a global network of cities who can learn from and help each other.
“Bindu Brewer joins a network of peers from cities across the
globe, whose collaboration has surfaced scalable best practices and
innovative thinking. Bindu will become a global leader in resilience, and
will be an asset for Paynesville and other cities around the world,”
said Berkowitz.
He also stated that CRO Brewer will receive personnel and
technical support provided by 100RC and will utilize resilience building
tools from private, public, academic, and NGO sector organizations that
have partnered with 100RC.
According
to him, Paynesville’s Resilience Strategy will be a holistic, action-oriented
blueprint to build partnerships and alliances, financing mechanisms, and
will pay particular attention to meeting the needs of poor and vulnerable
populations.
Paynesville’s current wave of urbanization, ushered in by the
end of Liberia’s 15-year civil war, has brought with it a simultaneous
wave of unprecedented opportunities, as well as challenges. Home to the
most expansive commercial area in the country, as well as its largest sports
complex and historic resorts, the municipality consistently ranks as a
key contributor to Liberia’s GDP and an accelerator of growth in
surrounding cities. The city’s resilience initiative will build upon Paynesville’s strengths as it addresses
complex urban issues such as waste management.
CRO Bindu Brewer will be charged with fostering a citywide
dialogue that ultimately cultivates a holistic view of resilience.