The African Union Commission (AUC), in collaboration with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), has launched a new digital knowledge platform aimed at strengthening risk-informed urban development across Africa.
The platform, known as Resilience Insight Africa, was officially unveiled on 5 March 2026 and is designed to enhance the technical and operational capacity of both state and non-state actors working on urban resilience.
According to the AUC, the platform will serve as a centralised knowledge hub to support Risk-Informed Urban Development (RIUD), helping cities integrate climate adaptation and disaster risk management into their development strategies at a time when many African urban centres face growing environmental and climate-related pressures.
The initiative forms part of the AUC’s Africa Urban Resilience Programme (AURP), a continental framework developed to strengthen urban risk management policies, planning systems and institutional capacities across AU member states.
The programme was developed with support from the Government of Sweden and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) through the Sahel Resilience Project. Additional implementation support is provided by the Government of Germany through the Resilience Initiative Africa (RIA) project, managed by GIZ. The European Union also contributed catalytic funding for the programme under the 11th European Development Fund Intra-ACP Natural Disaster Risk Programme.
The AURP framework was endorsed by African Union member states and the Executive Council in February 2024.
The newly launched digital hub responds to long-standing requests from regional and national partners for a single platform where urban resilience resources can be accessed. The platform consolidates previously fragmented information and offers English and French content, including research reports, policy frameworks, technical fact sheets, and planning tools for city officials and urban planners.
It also features case studies, expert insights, updates on collaboration opportunities, and digital tools designed to help users navigate complex knowledge resources related to urban resilience.
Officials say the platform is intended to help governments, urban planners, researchers and civil society organisations move from policy commitments to practical solutions by combining scientific research with community-level experience in addressing urban risks.
The AUC and its partners say the platform will continue to evolve with additional tools and resources aimed at strengthening cross-border cooperation and supporting sustainable urban development strategies across the continent.
