Sister Cities in Beijing

Sister Cities International delegation at the World Cities Scientific Development Forum, September 10-11 in Beijing, China.

It's as Basic as Water

When many people think of Sister Cities International, they think cultural exchanges. A choir tour from South Africa or a young person visiting Germany for a few weeks in the summer as their first experience abroad. For 50+ years, we've done a tremendous job reaching our hands out across oceans and borders, navigating language differences to being a dialogue using culture as a means toward common ground. These are very valuable, and often life changing, experiences for the individuals or the delegation on the trip. But more and more local sister city programs are being asked to do more for their sister cities abroad and their communities at home. These activities take the shape of "international development," which is a pretty broad moniker for economic development, sustainable development, work on the MDGs, and so forth. I have to share a terrific example on this front that demonstrates how some sister city programs go well beyond culture to deliver on our mission.

For years local sister city programs have been working on water issues with their sister city partners abroad. Last year, P&G provided Sister Cities International a grant to launch a Safe Drinking Water Initiative in Ethiopia and Nigeria. In short, the program taps six sister cities (3 U.S. with 3 African) to provide temporary clean drinking water and public education programs on the importance and impact of safe drinking water. The immediate clean water is made possible using a product created by P&G, PUR-Purifier of Water. Folks in the U.S. will think of the water purifier instrument you might attach to a faucet, but a related P&G product is a packet when dropped in a turbid water, will clean in 5 minutes. I've seen it, I've taken a drink afterward, and the results are visually stunning and more importantly it instantly creates healthy water.

The image above is not uncommon in Africa. You see citizens coming to the edge of a reservoir to draw water for use at home. This water source is also a community gathering place for children who swim and play in the water and animals. Not only is the water source contaminated, but the jugs and containers which the water is transferred to the home are also contaminated.

The Safe Drinking Water Initiative uses with sister city programs (3 pilot programs in Atlanta, Denver & Kansas City this year) that are already working on a long-term water solutions with their sister city partner. In the case of Denver Sister Cities, in 2002 they developed a comprehensive water plan with their sister city, Axum, Ehtiopia. This was done gratis by Denver Water, the professional organization that manages the Denver water systems and resources. In the interim years the local sister city program has been working on the implementation as funding and people-power were available. A number of professionals and engineers are involved from a range of organizations in the community. When the P&G grant became available, Denver quickly jumped on board as they saw this as a good interim step for Axum to provide clean water immediately and a chance to raise the dialogue in Axum about safe drinking water from a society/cultural stand-point to a health issue.

The sister city programs use many channels to make this successful: the mayor's office, the water/sanitation department, hospitals, health clinics, schools, and community centers. One goal is to find way to instruct children and women on the value of clean water. This strategy will bring about change since children and women are traditionally responsible for collecting and carrying the water to the home.

While we've only reported our first set of progress on the program, it's rewarding to see individuals and communities involved in the issue for years reinvigorated by a program. The best outcome can be seen to the left, as children anxiously await a taste of clean water and what it represents to their future.

Photo Credits: The images accompanying this post are from the Denver Sister Cities program, which is working with its partner, Axum (Ethiopia) to create a long-term water solution for the reservoir. For more details on the Sister Cities International program, visit www.sister-cities.org and click Sustainable Development, under Programs & Services.

Sister Cities at UN Habitat's World Urban Forum

Guest Blogger: Jim Doumas, Executive Vice President, Sister Cities International

I write today at the conclusion of the fourth session of the UN Habitat's World Urban Forum (WUF 4) in Nanjing, China. The theme of the forum was “Harmonious Urbanization” and how to integrate social, economic and environmental sustainable development into urban planning. If WUF 4 did nothing else, it certainly reinforced the fact that the world is at a tipping point particularly as it comes to the environment. Rapid urbanization is exacerbating a carbon gas crisis that threatens our very near future. The climate catastrophes that we have been reading about are no longer in the “future” but rather in our immediate future if we do not find a way to answer key issues associated with rapid urbanization. This coupled with the issues of poverty, homelessness and other negatives associated with rapid urbanization were the fodder assigned to the delegate discussions.

WUF 4 was attended by representatives from every country in the world which demonstrates the issue’s importance as a global crisis. Also, the eco-environment protection theme was accentuated in Nanjing as each day the air pollution of the city suffocated the delegates on our way to and from the forum. China has almost half its population (nearly 590 million people) living in urban communities and estimates suggest that this number will continue to increase by 10 million a year as we proceed deeper into the 21st century. Large population drifts from rural to urban areas are occurring everywhere on the planet and in many instances quality of life is not necessarily improving. In Uganda, Africa, for example, urbanization has not led to the end of poverty. Issues regarding homelessness and the lack of adequate land use are exacerbating the population surge.

Representing Sister Cities International, I had the opportunity to discuss our community in two seminar presentations. The first was a discussion on the importance of and how to engage private citizens in urban sustainable development with Duane Kissick from AECOM International, as well as an overview of the upcoming Global Mayors Forum in China next fall. The second presentation was a panel discussion regarding comprehensive planning on urban development with the International Centre for Sustainable Cities of Canada and the International Mayors Communication Centre of China.

How can Sister Cities International become more a part of the solution? In every session I attended as well as the two sessions that I presented in, there were many solutions discussed ranging from the need to implement broad sweeping social justice changes to existing laws, to technological and sustainable development programs that ensure adequate protection of our earth’s eco-system. Regardless of the idea discussed, in each case, the underlying theme for successful completion of a solution required the unilateral support of entire communities, governments, businesses, local nongovernmental organizations, and grassroots leaders.

Sister Cities International and its grassroots network are uniquely positioned to bring all of these players to the table. Our community has also proven, through the existence of successful sustainable development projects, a proven track record. Our conduit for peace, mutual respect, and understanding is an important piece of the puzzle as a change generator for urban sustainable development.

At a world forum focused on quality of life issues and our planet’s survival over the next decade, it was a pleasure to introduce and highlight our community to attendees as a viable source to facilitate many of the ideas that were brought to the table.