The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is now part of the freshly launched Global Alliance for Urban Crises.

The Alliance was launched during the first ever World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) in Istanbul and will bring together the Red Cross, Red Crescent, municipal government networks, UN agencies, urban professionals and the private sector.

It is hoped that the culmination of all these organisations will form a joint platform for lobbying, action and advocacy in order to acknowledge the increasing importance of urban humanitarian assistance.

The Alliance has also made several other major commitments, including an ‘Action Agenda’ which will deal with the complex nature of urban crisis management and response through innovation.

The agenda will also empower municipal governments’ response capabilities through more predictable surge capacities of local governments and urban expertise, develop ways of effectively dealing with urban displacement and providing recommendations for sustainable financing instruments.

The Alliance has also made a commitment to an Urban Crisis Charter which will see members work with each other to ensure urban societies, particularly the ones most at risk, to get ready for and deal with the effects of humanitarian crises faster.

The RIBA is working in conjunction with the Institution of Structural Engineers and the Royal Town Planning Institute as part of its commitment.

The aim of this will be to give the international humanitarian and development community a more practical conduit to the expertise of its member institutes.

RIBA Vice President, Peter Oborn, said the RIBA is pleased to be part of the crucial new global framework for urban response, recovery and preparedness and that the organisation is looking forward to providing their expert knowledge.

Oborn added that RIBA and its core support of 40,000 members will bring expertise to the alliance, in particular due to the fact that there is an increasing urban dimension to humanitarian crises.