Urban Resilience and Children’s Rights

City, Child, and Resilience interact with each other but not always to move towards sustainable development. This issue explores some of the key issues around this. As the second most populous country in the world, India's has a greater share of young people in its population than other countries. Almost 65% of India's population is under 35 years of age, of which 39% is18 years or below. Experts call this a demographic dividend. However, the optimism of this dividend is tempered by the dismal fact that more than 8 million children under the age of 6 years live in slums. This exposes a large number of children to a variety of risks. These risks are greatly amplified in the event of disasters, emergencies and climate extremes.

This issue's contents includes: (i) Smart Cities Must be Safe Cities; (ii) Urban Resilience and Children's Rights in Bangkok; (iii) Relocation, Resettlement, Rehabilitation: Key Challenges and Opportunities for Cities; (iv) Urban Resilience and Children's Rights in Sri Lanka; (v) Protecting Small Businesses in Urban Areas: From Disaster Response to Risk Reduction; (vi) The Impact of Heat Waves on Vulnerable Communities of Ahmedabad; (vii) Community Resilience: Why Cities are Different; (viii) The Vulnerability of Informal Settlements in Urban Centres of the Developing World; (ix) The Humanitarian Leadership Academy; (x) Looking Forward with Hindsight; (xi) A New Reality: Drought Situation in Brazil and Resilience and Sustainability for Smart Cities.

This issue of Southasiadisasters.net focuses on the theme of 'Urban Resilience and Children's Rights'. As Indian cities are constantly embattled against disasters and emergencies, its children often find themselves to be the victims of abuse, harassment and exploitation. This issue highlights the need for making children's rights to protection against the aforementioned risks indispensable in building 'Smart Cities' that are sustainable and resilient.