San Antonio, United States, and Windhoek have entered a partnership focused on water management and conservation as both are grappling with severe droughts.
On Friday, representatives from San Antonio, the largest city in south-central Texas, and Windhoek signed an agreement to enhance collaboration in addressing the water crisis.
The agreement establishes a framework for the two cities to exchange expertise, share best practices and develop joint strategies to tackle their water management challenges.
In an interview with The Namibian on Friday, San Antonio mayor Ron Nirenberg said the two cities share the same challenges.
“San Antonio and Windhoek have many of the same challenges and opportunities. Our climate is very similar. We are both growing and we are both experiencing extreme weather, including drought,” he said.
According to Nirenberg, 2,1 million residents of San Antonio are affected by drought.
“When drought affects the region, everyone is affected,” he said.
“The San Antonio water system has planned for drought and manages it in a way that it does not negatively impact residents, but we are implementing policies to enforce conservation, so if there are residents who ignore our conservation guidelines, they are negatively affected,” he said.
Windhoek is the first African city to enter into such an agreement with San Antonio.
According to Nirenberg, part of the discussion during his stay was to further explore affordable housing.
“On Thursday, we had a briefing and presentation on multiple sectors of the City of Windhoek services including affordable housing, which is a big priority for San Antonio, as well as education and training, particularly in youth development,” he said.
The collaboration aims to foster a mutual exchange of knowledge, particularly in areas such as education, economic collaboration and trade, renewable energy exchange and cooperation, training and staff development, as well as tourism and cultural exchange.
“We also have extensive collaboration within the higher education institutions, hence why we had lectures at the Namibia University of Science and Technology on Friday. Our partnership within the education community is essential for these kinds of sister cities relations and we will continue to explore all these programes,” he said.
Honorary consulate of Namibia Robert Braubach said San Antonio and windhoek share a strong bond.
“Both places are similar in many things including the beef industry, honey conservation and energy,” he said.
Braubach said the agreement is a road map to strengthen existing relations between Windhoek and San Antonio.
“We have a lot of programmes and we want Namibians to come for our programme exchanges,” he said.
City of Windhoek communication officer Cillie Kapolo says the visit marks a significant milestone in the relationship between the two cities.
The relationship between the two cities dates back to 2011 and was formalised by the signing of a Sister Cities Agreement in October 2016.
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