Today, at the inaugural Cities Summit of the Americas in Denver, Colorado, the United States announced that it will provide one million dollars across the Latin America and Caribbean region to help build cities' resilience to the impacts of climate change. This is an initiative, developed by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), working with the United States Congress that will focus on addressing the unique needs of migrant communities so individuals are not pushed to migrate irregularly in the hopes of finding a safe community in which to live.
This funding will support vulnerable migrants in peri-urban and informal settlements, through the development of city-level plans that foster local integration of migrants, reduce disaster risk, and strengthen climate resilience in select cities in the region. These plans will identify recommendations to inform programming and stakeholders in the region on their climate adaptation work in urban settings, including identifying opportunities to integrate climate considerations into other USAID programming, including health, education, and good governance.
Latin America and the Caribbean is one of the most urbanized regions in the world, with nearly 81 percent of the population living in urban areas. It is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, such as floods or droughts, which often causes people to move to nearby cities to look for food, shelter, and security. The trend of increasing migration to cities is projected to increase over time, which means that growing numbers of migrants could be left vulnerable to disaster without our support. USAID will continue to support migrants as they settle into new communities while adapting to the impacts of climate change, which will create stability and opportunity for new residents and cities as a whole.
Learn more about how USAID manages the impacts of urban growth and climate change.
