COVID-19: cities stand in solidarity against the crisis

As COVID-19 spreads around the world, cities act in solidarity at the local and international level.

Cities are on the frontline regarding this unprecedented crisis. As the COVID-19 crisis affects thousands of cities around the world, it also highlights social and economic inequalities, both within cities as well as between countries. New issues related to social cohesion and inclusion are already emerging. 

This crisis also provides an opportunity for solidarity, cooperation and unity. In our cities and around the world, actions and measures of social solidarity are emerging. 

biosphere à Montréal

At the local level, cities implement actions in order to help the most vulnerable populations. A number of measures have been implemented by the cities of the Observatory, for example:

- Dakar provided food assistance for the population (watch video - in French).

- Düsseldorf opened an emergency service point for immigrants.

- Lausanne created a hotline in order to assist elderly people.

- Montréal opened new shelter spaces in order to ensure the health and safety of homeless people.

- Namur opened a temporary center for victims of domestic violence.

- Ouagadougou provided support to vulnerable shop owners.

Mesures spéciales

At the international level, a series of other initiatives and platforms have been created in order to exchange information about practices and news. Some examples:

- The Portal "Cities for Global Health", developped by Red AL-LAS and Metropolis, compile practices about health crisis in cities.

- The note "Cities Policy Responses", prepared by OECD, collects a series of responses by cities around the world.

- COVID-19 Portal by C40 also publishes articles and resources about COVID and cities.

- AIMF collects practices and resources from Francophone cities.

- The Local Action Tracker by the National League of Cities (NLC) identifies measures in American cities.

- The Programme Intercultural Cities (Council of Europe) created a special page to identify practices under an intercultural perspective.

- A page with stories and experiences from cities was published by the International Coalition of Incusive and Sustainable Cities (ICCAR).

At a time when all the local and international actions can help us to face collectively this unprecedented situation, the Observatory compiles here some tools and resources available regarding city responses to COVID.

To know more about local measures against Coronavirus in the Observatory cities, click below (non-exhaustive selection): 

Abidjan | Brussels | Buenos Aires |

Chicago | Dakar | Douala | Drummondville | Düsseldorf |

Gatineau | Geneva | Glasgow | Halifax | Jerusalem | Johannesburg |

Lausanne | Libreville | Lyon | Madrid | Miami | Monterrey | Montréal | Mulhouse |

Namur | Nice | Ouagadougou | Paris | Porto-Novo | Québec | Répentigny | 

Sceaux | Seoul | St. Petersburg | Strasburg |

Tel-Aviv | Thiès | Toronto | Toulouse | Washington D.C. |