The Eighth Asia Pacific Urban Forum, where key actors and stakeholders discussed the climate challenges in the Asia-Pacific region, provided an apt platform for the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) Asia to formalise commitments with its local partners.

Mr. Emani Kumar, Executive Director of ICLEI South Asia and the Asia coordinator for CDKN, signed two Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with the Mayor of Dhulikhel Municipality Mr. Ashok Byanju and the President of the Municipal Association of Bangladesh (MAB) Mr. Dewan Kamal Ahmed.

The MoUs, signed under the third phase of the CDKN programme, formalised the collaboration between the partners and strengthened their commitment towards enhancing gender and socially inclusive climate resilience in the targeted countries.

In Nepal, CDKN Asia will support Dhulikhel and other selected municipalities to develop a gender-inclusive Local Adaptation Plan of Action, explore opportunities for peer exchanges, and train and capacitate municipal officials in making and implementing such plans.

Similarly, the MoU with MAB focuses on advancing the development and implementation of capacity building trainings and local climate-induced Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Action Plans, and in organising capacity building trainings for selected cities in Bangladesh. Some of the potential areas of collaboration between MAB and CDKN Asia include developing climate-induced DRR action plans for coastal cities; designing training and capacity building programmes for municipal officials to develop such action plans for replication; and developing knowledge material, among others.

The third phase of CDKN is being funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands and Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC).