Press Releases

WASHINGTON, DC — Sister Cities International announced the launch of a major program to support urban communities in Africa. With funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, totaling $7.5 million, cities across the United States will work with their sister city counterparts throughout Africa to address development issues over the next three years. The foundation grant represents the largest grant ever received by Sister Cities International.

"For 53 years, Sister Cities International built a reputation with its cross-cultural understanding work while quietly delivering results on humanitarian and international development projects." said Patrick Madden, President and CEO of Sister Cities International. "This Gates Foundation grant allows us to scale up the impact of the Sister Cities model on critical development issues in Africa."

Sister Cities International’s new Africa program will leverage U.S. technical and professional expertise to address sanitation, health and water issues in urban areas of Africa. The program supports shared learning and implementation of best practices to help local African governments and community organizations acquire the tools and capabilities for successful urban planning and management. This includes involvement and support from the private sector, NGOs and community-based organizations to provide sustained technical assistance and community development strategies.

To accomplish this, delegations from U.S. cities, consisting of city experts, business professionals, educators, and community leaders, will visit and work closely with their African sister city to develop long-term plans and strategies to implement sustainable solutions. African delegations will also attend follow up planning meetings in the U.S. with city experts and receive training for post-implementation activities.

Sister Cities International will work closely with the Africa Global Sister Cities Foundation, a peer institution based in Accra, Ghana, to implement the program and build the African sister city network across the continent and globally.

The program will have both short-term and long-term results by building local capacity and urban management skills. It will also help to improve delivery of sanitation, health and water services to urban residents.

"Through inter-city collaboration, lessons learned in one city can be used elsewhere to improve the quality, success and cost-effectiveness of everyone’s efforts," said Melanie Walker, senior program officer for Special Initiatives for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. "Knowledge sharing provides long-term support for developing world cities, creates sustainable solutions that empower urban poor to improve their lives, and has the potential to expand between cities and nations around the world."

Sister Cities International is the only U.S.-based organization dedicated to creating long-term city-to-city relationships between U.S. and communities abroad. Created by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956 at a White House summit, the organization is a leader in people-to-people exchanges with a network that boasts over 650 U.S. cities with more than 1,900 sister city relationships in 135 countries on six continents. Currently, the organization has 124 partnerships in 32 countries in Africa.

Sister Cities International promotes peace through mutual respect, understanding and cooperation by focusing exchanges and public programs on sustainable and economic development, youth and education, arts and culture, and humanitarian assistance. More information about Sister Cities International can be found at www.sister-cities.org.