Izmir-Long Beach Sister Cities Association

Presents

VOICES UNVEILED: TURKISH WOMEN WHO DARE

Screening at the Art Theatre of Long Beach

Saturday, March 20, 2010, at 11:30am at the Art Theatre of Long Beach, 2025 East 4th Street, Long Beach, CA 90814

  >>>Information Flyer

2010 SOCAL Sister Cities Conference

At
The Huntington
Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens
1151 Oxford Road, San Marino, CA 91108

Click here to learn more.

Submit Your Videos to Win an International Exchange

There's still time for youth in your community ages 14 and older to demonstrate their creativity by submitting a video to the U.S. Department of State’s ExchangesConnect contest. The deadline is January 10, 2010. Click here to learn more.

Mombasa-Long Beach Sister Cities Association

ANNUAL JOURNEY to MOMBASA, KENYA

November 27 – December 12, 2009

Creating and strengthening links between business, cultural, social and educational worlds of two special cities.

  >>>Information Flyer

Welcome Spring with a new & exotic adventure!

Are you are an adventurous traveler who
wants to connect with the past in a unique
and authentic way?
-This tour is for you!

    Explore Jordan and Egypt

        March 14 - 28, 2010

Sponsored by
International Relations Council
Riverside, CA

  Information Flyer
  Registration Form
  Itinerary

2009 Innovation Award

Innovation: Arts & Culture
Population 100,000-500,000

Congratulations to Riverside for receiving the 2009 Innovation Award for Arts and Culture from Sister Cities International. Riverside received this award for a sister cities artist exchange project. Twenty-five Riverside artists exhibited their work in their Mexican sister cities, Cuautla and Ensenada, and twenty-five Cuautla and Ensenada artists exhibited their work in Riverside.

Riverside, California

Riverside’s 2008 arts and culture projects consisted of two sister city art exhibitions—Riverside Cuautla Views and Riverside-Ensenada Views—unified by the single theme of using the sister city platform to generate an exchange of youth and adult artists. The effort not only enriched the art worlds of the cities, but also generated awareness of the sister city program. These programs involved their two Mexico sister cities, Cuautla and Ensenada. Twenty-five adult and child artists who came from Riverside and its Mexico sister cities were featured in each exhibition.

	Kathleen Roche-Tansey (center), Southern California State Coordinator, Sister Cities International, presents the 2009 SCI Innovation Arts and Culture Award to Riverside Mayor Ron Loveridge (left) and Mark Schooley (right), Executive Director, Riverside Community Arts Association. The City and Mark were given the award for Mark’s sister city artist exchange project, “Riverside Views,” involving Riverside and its two Mexico Sister Cities, Cuautla and Ensenada.
	Connie Goertz, President, U.S.-Mexico Sister Cities Association, presents a certificate of appreciation on behalf of the Association to Mark Schooley, Executive Director, Riverside Community Arts Association in the presence of Riverside Mayor Ron Loveridge. Mark was recognized by the Association for his sister city artist exchange project, “Riverside Views,” involving Riverside and its two Mexico Sister Cities, Cuautla and Ensenada.
	Among those attending a reception honoring the City of Riverside and Mark Schooley, Executive Director, Riverside Community Arts Association, for receiving the 2009 SCI Innovation Arts and Culture Award were (from left to right): Daniel Foster, Vice President, International Relations Council; Riverside Mayor Ron Loveridge; Mexico Consul General Carolina Zaragoza Flores; SCI Southern California State Coordinator Kathleen Roche-Tansey; Riverside Human Relations Commission (HRC) Commissioner Rabbi Suzanne Singer; HRC Commissioner Maria Scott; HRC Chair Gladys Walker; US-Mexico Sister Cities Association President Connie Goertz; Mark Schooley; and, Lalit Acharya, Office of Riverside Mayor and SCI Board Member.

Dear Sister Cities International Members:

By now many of you are aware that Sister Cities International was awarded a $7.5 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to launch a major program to support urban communities in Africa. With this funding, approximately twenty-five U.S. cities will work with their sister city counterparts throughout Africa to address development issues over the next three years. This foundation grant represents the largest grant ever received by Sister Cities International.

This past week, we officially announced the seven U.S. cities and their African counterparts who were selected to complete Phase 1 of the Africa Urban Poverty Alleviation Program (AUPAP). Below you will find the official press release regarding the announcement. You can also view the complete program web page here: http://www.sister-cities.org/africa..

In spring of 2010, Sister Cities International will begin the application process for the second round of projects. Up to 20 additional programs will be selected and will begin their projects on a rolling basis.

This is a wonderful recognition of the Sister Cities model and the impact we can have with our work. Thank you for all of your time and energy to advance the Sister Cities International mission.

Best,

Patrick Madden
President & CEO
Sister Cities International
pmadden@sister-cities.org

Sister Cities International Supports Seven U.S. Cities to Lead Sustainability Projects in Africa

WASHINGTON, DC— Projects to address sanitation, health, and water issues in urban areas Sister Cities International announces today that seven U.S. cities and their African counterparts have been chosen to perform projects to address sanitation, health, and water issues in urban areas of Africa. The African Urban Poverty Alleviation Program (AUPAP) is a three-year project funded by a $7.5 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

“This Sister Cities International program represents a major effort to address fundamental needs of citizens of urban areas in Africa," said Patrick Madden, President & CEO, Sister Cities International. "These sister cities represent some of the strongest partnerships between the U.S. and Africa and will become the measure of how cities can help each other and leave an enduring legacy in tangible ways."

The seven grant recipients were selected from a pool of 34 applicants by an independent panel of five experts in the areas of sister city relationships, aid administration, and international development. Each city pairing will have a budget of up to $115,000 to apply to their projects, in addition to travel funds. The recipients include:

Boulder, Colorado, and Kisumu, Kenya
Corvallis, Oregon, and Gondar, Ethiopia
Fort Worth, Texas, and Mbabane, Swaziland
Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Ga East/West Districts, Ghana
Lansing, Michigan, and Akuapem South Municipality, Ghana
Louisville, Kentucky, and Tamale, Ghana
The State of Maryland, and Bong & Maryland Counties, Liberia

AUPAP, administered in cooperation with the Africa Global Sister Cities Foundation, addresses some of the sources of urban poverty through water, health, and sanitation projects developed collaboratively by U.S. and African sister city programs. This includes involvement and support from the private sector, NGOs, and community-based organizations to provide sustained technical assistance and community development strategies.

Beyond improving the state of sanitation, health, and water infrastructures in urban areas of Africa, this project is aimed at accomplishing Sister Cities International’s mission of promoting peace and prosperity through international people-to-people collaboration.

Visit www.sister-cities.org/africa to learn more about the Africa Urban Poverty Alleviation Program.

MEDIA CONTACT: Frances Reimers, 202.347.8630 x8251 or freimers@sister-cities.org

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.

Global Connections