Sister Cities International President, Mary Kane will be in Kenya to launch the Eastern Africa Sister Cities (EASC) on 29 February 2012. The launch will take place at the Sarova Panafric Hotel at 6.00-8.00pm.

The President will visit Mombasa to assess the ongoing humanitarian and global development programs  that Sister Cities International currently sponsors as a part of its African Urban Poverty Alleviation Program (AUPAP).  She will later travel to Ghana to launch the technology center of Africa Global Sister Cities Foundation (AGSCF) another SCI Partner in West Africa. 

Ms. Kane is keen on seeing Sister City partnerships in Africa grow economic opportunities.

“We intend to use our current projects in Africa to educate our members on the best practices needed in more complex humanitarian and development endeavors.  Our current ventures have shown us the complexities of this type of work, from incorporating local voices in the planning process to negotiating legal and bureaucratic hurdles to ensuring that these projects are sustainable,” she says.

Through this visit¸ Sister Cities International hopes to lay the foundation for a greater number of Sister City partnerships.  

 “This trip is an opportunity for us to support regional partners like Eastern Africa Sister Cities and Africa Global Sister Cities Foundation who are spreading the Sister Cities concept and helping local Sister Cities programs with their expertise and connections. Our hope for the future is not only to see more Sister City relationships between the U.S. and Africa, but to see more Sister Cities develop between African countries so there is more regional cooperation,” Adam Kaplan, the Program Manager responsible for Sister Cities International’s African programs observes.

The Eastern Africa Sister Cities (EASC) was established following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Sister Cities International and the Inter Region Economic Network (IREN) in August 2011. EASC’s main goals are to develop, coordinate, incubate, help sustain existing city, town and municipality links worldwide with emphasis to promote a south to south city twinning and strengthen Sister Cities in Eastern Africa region.

Through city twinning relationships, individuals, communities and organized groups establish close relationships with other local or international counterparts. These partnerships allow the twinning communities to creatively learn, work, and solve problems through cultural, educational, municipal, business, professional, technical and project exchanges.

By August 2011, there were 23 Sister City relationships between Eastern Africa and United States of America cities. These cities are in Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Rwanda. EASC looks forward to create new partnerships and maintain existing inter-City relationships in all the 12 Eastern African Countries.

IREN Kenya is a leading independent African think tank that promotes ideas and strategies geared towards causing prosperity in Africa through free enterprise and sound public policy. IREN’s key focus areas include targeted events, trainings, research, consultancy, communication and its flagship online magazine, The African Executive www.africanexecutive.com published in English every Wednesday. http://www.irenkenya.com/.

Sister Cities International is a nonprofit citizen diplomacy network that creates and strengthens partnerships between U.S. and international communities which promote peace, mutual respect, understanding, and cooperation through international exchanges and programs on youth and education, arts and culture, sustainable and economic development, and humanitarian assistance.

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 600 U.S. cities with nearly 2,000 Sister City relationships in 136 countries on six continents. More information about Sister Cities International can be found at http://www.sister-cities.org./

For more information, contact:

Raymond Kiptum
Project manager
Eastern Africa Sister Cities
Nyaku House, Mez. Flr
Argwings Kodhek Road, Hurlingham
P.O Box 135-00100 GPO
NAIROBI - KENYA
TEL: 254-20-2731497
FAX: 254-20-2723258
Email:easc@irenkenya.com