Kahramanmaraş Metropolitan Municipality and JICA Hosted a Seminar to Share “Build Back Better plan” for the Municipalities in Türkiye

On October 3, 2024, more than 400 representatives from various municipalities across Türkiye gathered in Kahramanmaraş to learn the “Build Back Better plan (BBB plan)”.

In response to the devastating Türkiye–Syria earthquakes in February 2023, JICA has broadened its existing technical cooperation project for comprehensive disaster resilience and sustainable waste management. With the cooperation of Union of Municipalities of Türkiye, JICA aims to support the planning of recovery and reconstruction process, significantly contributing to mitigating potential risks associated with future disasters. Kahramanmaraş Metropolitan Municipality (KMM) was selected as a model city for this broadened scope. The main theme of the recovery and reconstruction planning is the “BBB plan”, which is a comprehensive strategy to develop and improve the area beyond the original situation and in alignment with the concept of Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 in Japan.

With JICA’s assistance, KMM carried out a series of workshops, technical working groups, and surveys involving related organizations and departments. By March 2024, KMM formulated “BBB plan” with a vision, “Resilient, culturally rich, and sustainable city for all”and key activities for 6 different pillars. It is intended to be integrated into current and future plans of Municipality, such as the Environmental Order Plan, Master Development Plan, and Transportation Master Plan, and will be implemented over the next ten years.

In the seminar, KMM explained the concept of the the Plan and the process of its formulation. Additionally, a representative from Union of Municipalities of Türkiye, who participated JICA’s training in Japan, shared detailed insights into Japanese principles and experiences of disaster risk reduction. The participants listened to the presentations with great interest and raised several questions to gain a deeper understanding of the Plan.

We hope this seminar provided an opportunity for many municipalities to become familiar with the “BBB plan” and widely adopt the Kahramanmaraş model. JICA will continue to support Türkiye in developing comprehensive disaster resilience and sustainable waste management.