Statement & topic of February 2010: City twinning – blessing or curse?
February 20, 2010 in Statement and topic of the month by Moderator Marlies
A new month, a new discussion topic. In February, we would like to discuss city twinning and other forms of municipal cooperation with you! Share your opinions, experiences and expectations and let your voice be heard.
In recent years, municipal cooperation has increased in popularity. As cities and towns from donor countries seek alliances with municipalities in the developing world, questions arise about the importance, appropriateness and relevance of such relations.
Why would donor municipal governments engage in city-to-city cooperation? Is this merely an act of benevolence or are there other motives that account for the popularity of these initiatives? And what is in it for the partners in developing countries? How do local governors – and the citizens they are responsible for – profit from the partnerships?
In light of the potentials and pitfals, the opportunities and vulnerabilities of municipal twinning initiatives, this month we would like to discuss with you the following statement:
Municipality twinning initiatives promote unequal partnerships and should be abolished.
Download Practical Handbook “Twinning for tomorrow’s world”
This practical handbook was published by the Council of European Municipalities and Cities and is specifically designed for European municipalities seeking partnerships with municipalities in developing countries.
Download Practical Handbook Twinning for tomorrow’s world (pdf)
Also check:
Take your partners, The local authority handbook on international partnerships (pdf)
Your responses, critical feedback and own experiences from twinning projects are eagerly awaited.
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In 2005, the BBC broadcast a documentary about the pros and cons of municipal cooperation. Read some reactions to this documentary on this page: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/africa/4566005.stm
The cooperation between cities for example in Italy and cities in Central America, Belgium and the Lebanon – or the Canton of Geneve with the city of Matagalpa in Nicaragua – helped to foster solidarity between communities in the “north” and in the “south”. I used to work for UNOPS, the management agency of the United Nations and found that partners at the level of cities and municipalities bring with them a wealth of specialized knowledge and interest to build linkages.
Katrin Lichtenberg, Switzerland
We support schools to develop partnerships and see the contribution this makes to young people’s awareness of the wider world, to their motivation and not least to the raising of standards in schools. Well done, BBC.
Judith Hemery, UK
“School partnerships must be based on mutuality, equality, learning and sustainability.”
James Keegan, UK
The British Council is part of a consortium of organisations that manages the programme for schools on behalf of the British Department for International Development (DFID). A core set of values reflects our common belief that if global school partnerships are to be effective in raising awareness of global development issues, school partnerships must be based on mutuality, equality, learning and sustainability.
James Keegan, U.K
It amazes me that so many of the comments focus exclusively on the exchange of material goods, whether taking a positive or negative view of it. To me, that has little or nothing to do with twinning, which should be a social and cultural tie. Learning about other cultures can only broaden your horizons and should be an integral part of everyone’s education. Ignorance of other cultures is probably the main root cause of conflict in the world. If only everybody learnt to try and understand other people’s point of view the world would be a much happier place. Whether you are the richer or poorer twin, you have just as much to offer. If charity happens to be involved, it should never be the basis of the relationship.
Phil Hatchard, Exeter, UK
Haarlem in the Netherlands has a very active twinning relation with Mutare in Zimbabwe.There are projects on housing, health, culture, environment and sport. For sport there are volunteers and professionals working in Mutare. The Sports Leaders Project is an example in sport and development for the rest of the world. The twinning arrangement is really at grass roots level and in these difficult times in Zimbabwe, the twinning proves what really friendship means!
Cees Versteeg, The Netherlands
“Out of this friendship we can benefit from expertise and financial support espicially if the other twin town is from the developed world.”
Lilian Kimeto, Kenya
The twinning idea is good especially for developing countries like Kenya.Out of this friendship we can benefit from expertise and financial support espicially if the other twin town is from the developed world. However, this is bound to create some dependency by the least developed twin town and kills creativity in the minds of residents who rely on its developed friend for all the support.
Lilian Kimeto, Kenya
Dear Shelley from the UK. Its clear to me that you don’t know much about colonialisation. Europe practically destroyed Africa with colonialisation, and its Africans, not Europeans, paying the price. What else are we to do if we want to survive the next generation. Hipocrate is not the right word, Shelley, it is despair.
Jan Labuscagne, South Africa
Twins in Africa have a mystery to them, they’re people who always have each others back so I think twinning would help us develop because you have a twin who has got your back.
Leslie Hills, Ghana
Lusaka benefited when it was hit by cholera epidemic with a lot medical aid from Dushambe City in Tajikistan, simply because Lusaka was twinned with Dushambe.
Aubrey Chindefu, Zambia
Twinning has it good and bad points. Twinning in business and education is good for us in Africa especially in terms of technology transfer but I’m not in favour of twinning towns. This is because we Africans have our way of doing things, our culture will stand a big risk of eradication if we twin our towns and cities with say to a town in Europe. But at a whole Africa loses in any twinning arrangement. Nothing comes from a whiteman for free; they give with the left hand and take with the right.
Victor Okonkwo, Cameroon
I don’t buy this concept of cities twinning. Much as western efforts are being made towards eradicating poverty in Africa by every city being twinned with other western cities, Africa will remain in poverty for quite some time.
Abba Beneth, Tanzania
“Similar things happen in India where twinned councils exist, and most of their clients belong to the high society of the nation”
Shib SenChaudhury, Calcutta, India
I think twinning of organisations is a part of globalisation. However, the twinning scheme as it exists at the moment lines the pockets of the fat cat families from poor nations in Africa. Similar things happen in India where twinned councils exist, and most of their clients belong to the high society of the nation. Therefore, it’s always a pro to higher class and con to the lower class of the country. One of the major reason for widening gap between rich and poors.
Shib SenChaudhury, Calcutta, India
I do not think twinning an African town with another African town makes any sense because most African towns are still developing and do not have enough resources to share with others. The essence is not to identify similarity in cultural identity or being aware of the same kind of problems as Ngum Ngafor in England puts it below. The twinning programme is a laudable initiative that might urge local authorities to aspire to certain expected standards of development that could be copied from the west. A few years ago, the town of Bamenda Cameroon was twinned to a Dutch town in Holland. Before long, six rubbish collection vans though old, landed in Bamenda. This has greatly improved the degree of sanitation in the Bamenda municipality.
Samuel Fungwa, Cameroon/Cyprus
“here are often exchange programmes and opportunities for students to visit Cheltenham but only the people close to the powers that be benefit”
Jackline Onyango, Berlin
For developing countries, like Liberia, I believe twinning is another way of developing our cities and whatever that is twined.
Larry Melling, Liberia
I come from Kisumu and I know that Cheltenham is our sister city. There are often exchange programmes and opportunities for students to visit Cheltenham but only the people close to the powers that be benefit. It’s been like this for a long time and most of us dont know the benefits of having a sister city. For twinning to succeed, the authorities must be honest and include all sectors of the community.
Jackline Onyango, Kenyan in Berlin
Why are we only talking about twinning between African and western towns? What about twinning between african towns? I think that could be very constructive as these towns probably share similar interests, culture and even problems.
Ngum Ngafor, England
Twinning of towns and cities should go beyond just the giving of “emergency relief items” or just making a name for onself to show how much wealthier or resourceful the givers are and how poor and insignificant the receivers are. Twinning of towns is another way of the exploitors expressing their guilt and wanting give back to the exploited.
Roland S. Weah, Liberian in Washington, D.C.
“As I sit here in Indiana, US, I reflect on the many people I know from all continents and it gives me pleasure knowing that if it hadn’t been for the exchange programs, I may not have been prepared for my time here in the US for my studies”
Ruth Nduta Gicheru, Indiana
My high school (SOS Hermann Gmeiner International College (SOS-HGIC), Tema Ghana) has a “partnership” with the Lillestrøm vederegående Skole in Lillestrøm, Norway, The American School of Paris (ASP) in Paris, France and the St. Paul’s High School in New Hampshire, USA. At the beginning much emphasis was placed on “community service” partnerships between these schools. They would send some teachers and students to my high school, to engage in service activities with students of the school in Tema. These schools assisted in some of the already-established activities e.g.building projects and basic school supplies for some of the disadvantaged communities who we worked closely with. People fostered relationships that still exist today. I was fortunate to be among the students selected to visit the Lillestrøm vederegående Skole in Norway. It was an experience that I relive everyday of my life. As I sit here in Indiana, US, it gives me pleasure knowing that if it hadn’t been for the exchange programs, I may not have been prepared for my time here in the US for my studies, I may not have even learnt to associate with people of different cultures and background. Most of these affiliations aid in teaching a student what the classroom does not provide readily. They are really an eye-opener!
Ruth Nduta Gicheru, Indiana, USA (Kenya and Ghana)
I do know of an instant in the 1980’s when Baltimore in the U.S signed a pack with the City of Monrovia which enabled officials from the two sister states visited each other and Monrovia benefitted immesel. Garbages trucks were donated to Monrovia city corporation to help with the collections of garbage and I think J.F.K hospital too benefitted from a donation of drugs to help with the hospital’s acute drugs shortage.
Joe
Both sides of the twinning pair benefits by learning different cultures and discover exotic places they would otherwise miss in their lives. Twinning improves knowledge and diversity.
David Karani, Helsinki, Finland
I think twinning is a great idea! However my main problem with twinning arrangements between developing countries and their rich counterparts is that the benefits always seem to be one-sided! Is there nothing we can contribute instead of always looking for hand-outs? I know about twinning arrangements between towns and cities (eg local authorities) in the Southern African region. These relations are helpful because people from different countries with similar economies can share ideas,organise cultural exchanges and enjoy a somewhat simbiotic relationship on an equal footing.
Mmabatho,
“A new concept in Africa and its benefits are minimal”
Yussuf Dayib Ali, Nairobi/Kenya
well i dont really believe in twinings. because its quite impossible to make it work.
i should totally agree that twinings as experience sharing would be wonderful. i mean, if we twin cities and take local governors, take schoolchildren or whomever to visit respective cities and so create a new expereince would be fantastic, but twining in the real game played is not so good.
a good municipality in the developed country has the potential to invest in a program one million euro so to take twnety more. a municipality in albania has the potential to invest 20 000 euro and so take an investment of half a million. and that is called partnership beyond borders. and the motive why municipalities in the developed world run after twining is this. getting the 80 % of partnership projects.