SPECIAL SECTION: GALA 2006

Abidjan-San Francisco Sister City Relationship

 

ABIDJAN-SAN FRANCISCO MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT
JULY 2006

The visit of Samuel Mobio, Vice Governor of Abidjan and Chair of the Abidjan-San Francisco Sister City Committee and Koita Lamine, Legal Counsel and Committee member, to San Francisco from May to July of 2006, represents the latest exchange under the Sister City Agreement entered into between the cities of Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire and San Francisco, USA in 1986. 

In the spirit of cooperation between the Sister Cities of Abidjan and San Francisco, Vice Governor Mobio and Koita Lamine met with the Chairperson of the San Francisco Sister City Committee, Ms. Frankie Gillette and the members of the Committee in City Hall, San Francisco on May 8th to identify potential projects of mutual benefit and exchange,  some based on the original Memorandum or subsequent Memorandum of 1993.  Both cities agree to pursue a program of cooperation that will include the following projects:

 

1.      PUBLIC WORKS, TECHNOLOGY AND URBAN CONSTRUCTION

A.     San Francisco agrees to provide consultation to Abidjan in the design and construction of roads, bridges, housing units, health centers, office buildings, shopping centers and traffic control systems.

B.     San Francisco offers to provide technical assistance in areas such as water pollution control, communications, waste management and sanitation.

C.     San Francisco and Abidjan agree to discuss programs that will enhance the use of computers and the Internet between the two cities.

 

2.      EDUCATION, CULTURE AND THE ARTS

A.     The cities agree to cultural exchanges between San Francisco’s cultural institutions and their counterparts in Abidjan to develop multi-year programs of exchange in education, music and the arts.

B.     San Francisco and Abidjan agree to promote establishment of exhibition exchanges in the visual arts and natural history of each region.  The exact details will be determined by respective institutions, such as, in San Francisco, the Museum of the African Diaspora, Fine Arts Museums and California Academy of Science.

C.     Both cities agree to the development of a system for the exchange of library materials that focus on African and American authors, artists, entertainers, poets and composers, curriculum developers, historians and other fields of mutual interest.  The Public Library in San Francisco with the African American Center for Arts and Culture and the Museum of the African Diaspora will provide leadership. The materials will form the basis of a “Friendship Library.”

 

3.      MEDICINE AND PUBLIC HEALTH

A.     San Francisco and Abidjan agree to pursue a project which will focus on the efficient distribution and disbursement of medicines and immunizations in Abidjan in conjunction with Bay Area Health professionals.

B.     San Francisco with Abidjan will pursue the feasibility of providing mosquito netting as a preventative for Malaria for specific institutions in Abidjan.

C.     San Francisco and Abidjan will work to find opportunities for medical equipment transferred from San Francisco to appropriate health facilities in Abidjan.

D.     Through medical experts at Bay Area institutions such as UCSF and local hospitals and with the University of Abidjan, exchanges will be pursued in the area of consultation and training in the areas of tropical diseases, environmental health, nutrition, glaucoma and health care of mothers and children.

E.      San Francisco and Abidjan agree to pursue exchanges in community health care, development of electronic health information systems, primary care, public health education.   Health exchanges will be further defined by the respective health authorities in each city.

 

4.      ECONOMIC COOPERATION

A.     Efforts will be made to develop and exchange programs to enhance the trade and investment networks between San Francisco and Abidjan and develop programs to present business opportunities in Abidjan to San Francisco Bay Area based companies.

B.     The San Francisco Museum of the African Diaspora will work with Abidjan to sell crafts and other commercial goods at their museum store.

C.     Efforts will be made to develop and exchange programs to train designers in the markets and tastes of African and American design and apparel, through exchanges of expertise and knowledge.

 

5.      SPORTS

A.     San Francisco and Abidjan agree to explore opportunities for sports exchanges such as friendship soccer, tennis or basketball matches at all levels of competition.

B.     San Francisco will invite Abidjan to participate in the 2008 International Children’s Games which will be held in the summer of 2008.

 

6.      TOURISM

A.     Visits between Cote d’Ivoire and California residents will be encouraged.

B.     The San Francisco Convention and Visitor Bureau will be asked to provide guidance to Abidjan in the promotion of its tourist industry, including seminars, briefings and electronic information.

C.     Both Abidjan and San Francisco agree to establish committees of bi-lingual volunteers who will be willing to host representatives from each Sister City committee. This will be expanded to include visitors from the African continent and the United States.

 

7.      PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

A.     Both cities will pursue a program of city officials exchange, initially agreeing to exchange electronically “best practices” information on governance and in the future working towards personnel and other official exchanges.

B.     Participation in the Sister Cities International and the U.S.-Africa Sister Cities conferences by both sister cities will be encouraged. San Francisco will utilize the Institute of International Education in reaching African visitors.

 

8.      ADDITIONAL PROJECTS

A.     Both Cities agree to entertain additional proposals so long as they are able to be adequately funded and meet the criteria of offering mutual benefit and promoting people-to-people relations.

 

___________________                                    ______________________

Frankie Jacobs Gillette                                     Samuel Mobio

Chairman, San Francisco-                                Vice Governor, District of Abidjan

Abidjan Sister City Committee                          Chairman, Abidjan-San Francisco

                                                                  Sister City Committee

 

___________________                                  ______________________

Gavin Newsom                                             Pierre Djedji Amondji

Mayor, City and County                                 Governor, District of Abidjan

of San Francisco