The cities of Georgetown and Belo Horizonte in Brazil have signed a bilateral protocol agreement aimed at increasing global cooperation at the municipal level and at strengthening their partnership.
Georgetown Mayor Hamilton Green and Inter-national Relations Secretary at City Hall Waynewright Orderson were both in that neighbouring country recently, where a seminar for Caribbean and Latin American local government officials was held.
According to press releases from City Hall, Green participated in the Metropolis Meeting of Latin American and Caribbean Mayors and Local Government officials, which was hosted at the City Hall in Belo Horizonte. The meeting focused on “Public Safety: The City in Safety, Urban Mobility: The City Accessible, and Urban Rehabilitation: The City Inclusive.”
Orderson who “visited the city for bilateral talks and the signing of the protocol”, according to one of the press releases, said it was proposed that the two cities enter into and conduct long-term, mutually beneficial programmes.
Green, who was in Brazil at the invitation of Belo Horizonte Mayor Fernando Damata Pimentel, participated in mayoral roundtable discussions on the United Nations Millennium Develop-ment Goals. These talks specifically related to eradicating hunger and poverty in cities, promoting gender equality and empowering women at the local level, reducing child mortality and maternal health by improving the services of municipal maternal and child welfare clinics and ensuring environmental stability. The release said the environmental stability programme promotes structural transformations such as the implementation of roads, drainage networks and land regularization in slums.
It also said Green held extensive discussions Pimentel about the two cities cooperating in areas such as tourism, health care, economic development, science, technology and sports. Pimentel is expected to visit Georgetown in the first quarter of the new year where bilateral discussions are expected to continue.
Similar to twinning arrangements Georgetown shares with other international cities the success of this arrangement depends on increasing global cooperation at the local level by fostering relationships and international understanding among the citizens, businesses and organisation in the twinned cities through education, leadership and exchange programmes.
According to a release, the stimulation of an environment through which the cities can learn and work creatively, and solve problems together through reciprocal cultural, educational, municipal, business, professional and technical exchanges is imperative to the success of the agreement.
Belo Horizonte, a Portuguese name meaning “beautiful horizon” is the capital of Minas Gerais state located in the southeastern region of Brazil. Beaga, as it is more commonly known is the third largest metropolitan area in the country with a population of almost 2.4 million and over 5.3 million in the official metropolitan area.
