Ajegunle-Ikorodu Community Resilience Action Plan

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is the world's fastest urbanizing region. The region's urban population is projected to double over the next 25 years. Much of this growth will occur in small and intermediate-sized cities. Urban growth in Sub-Saharan Africa has developed outside of planning regulations and is expressed in informal settlements that sprawl in enclaves deprived of basic amenities and services. In many cases, large numbers of residents live in these communities which are also often vulnerable to natural and human-made disasters. At the same time, climate change and more recently public health challenges have exacerbated the risks that cities face.

In 2020, the coronavirus pandemic intensified some of these risks undermining development gains in Sub- Saharan Africa. Lagos, being the region's largest city, is no exception. Residents of hundreds of informal communities in Lagos, including Ajegunle-Ikorodu, cope with myriads of socio-economic challenges such as youth unemployment, physical infrastructure deficiencies such as lack of drainages and environmental problems such as perennial flooding.

According to UN-Habitat, the realization of “SDG Goal 11: sustainable cities and communities” will be enhanced when resilience is embedded into city systems and processes. Given the fact that over 60% of residents in Lagos communities reside and/or earn their livelihoods in informal systems, it is particularly important that community resilience planning is adopted as a strategy to strengthen both city systems and residents' capacities to protect human, economic and natural assets from various types of shocks and stresses they might experience.