Inca (Spain)-Telpaneca (Nicaragua)
[Update: on 21 March 2018, Inca and Telpaneca received the 3rd prize at the PLATFORMAwards]
PLATFORMA has decided to reward the best city to city and region to region international cooperation projects. Twelve projects have been shortlisted out of 25 applications. This is how Inca (Spain) is presenting its project with Telpaneca (Nicaragua):
The commitment that local entities take, when they agree to allocate some of the economic resources to finance international cooperation activities and projects with the impoverished countries, is an option that is taken for responsibility towards the unequal distribution of richness, it is a commitment to contribute to the development of the countries of the South, in which the public administrations play a fundamental role given their status as representatives of the people.
Citizens are an essential part of the cooperation work, both in the demand for the allocation of public resources for the development of the South, and in the commitment to collaborate with the administrations, so that these resources serve to enable a change in the world economic order in favour of the disadvantaged peoples. The town councils, as entities closest to the people, are the framework that allows an interaction between civil society and the local administration, giving rise to participation in development cooperation actions and projects. Twinning, local support committees, local cooperation councils, twinning committees are tools that allow this interaction, both in the north and in the south. The local dimension is, therefore, the space par excellence that allows the confluence of the relations between the citizens and the city council, to make possible the sustainable development with the involvement of the collectives and entities present in the territories.
It is precisely the twinnings, the instrument that allows the knowledge of two peoples, to be the framework of work between North and South municipalities that will give rise to a multitude of actions and projects that promote a space for the solidarity of a people towards another. The twinnings are long-term commitments, which are usually approved by consensus of all the political groups of the town councils that promote them and allow the participation of the inhabitants of the town, through the various forms of organization of the population, it can be work in schools, with young people, trade union associations, leisure and cultural organizations, and from the city council itself as a public administration, putting their own material and human resources (technicians, municipal companies) at the service of international cooperation.
The same disposition of wills must be given both to the North and to the South. Another important factor to take into account, as regards the twin municipalities, is the respect between each other, the fact that the cooperation that arises is double way cooperation, North and South enriched each other mutually. It is necessary to respect the development model that the municipalities of the South, in a consensual manner, decide to carry out, as well as the possibilities of the municipalities of the North to make this development possible.
Inca in 2001 decides to establish a twinning with Telpaneca with the support of Fons Mallorquí de Solidaritat i Cooperació and UCOM – Unidad de Concertación y Cooperación Municipalista.
Since 2001 different kinds of activities were developed both in Inca and Telpaneca and technical and political delegations where organized during the years. The two secondary schools of Inca start in 2006 a twinning with two schools of Telpaneca. The twinning committee in Inca was in charge of the raising awareness about the twinning. In Telpaneca since 2001 more than 2000 scholarships were granted, 4 water supply systems were built, a casa maternal to reduce maternal and infant death rates and provide pre-natal and post-natal care and education for mothers from rural areas with high-risk pregnancies was established, a programme of reforestation was implemented. Raising awareness sessions about health, sustainable agriculture, resilience to climate change etc were implemented.
For more information:
