Svensk partner: Åmåls kommun

Åmål and Bergrivier, South Africa

Culture as a path to development

The municipalities of Åmål, Sweden, and Bergrivier, South Africa, have several common challenges. Our mutual focus is the high unemployment rate in our municipalities. Together we will focus our Inception phase and project planning around the target group “unemployed young women and mothers with unfinished high-school education”. There are many young children within our municipalities that are not exposed to books, arts and crafts etc. until they start preschool/school. We want to study the potential correlation between these children and the young mothers. One way of reaching part of this group can be through their children through cooperation with family centres and children’s departments of libraries. For many years, the public library in Åmål, has worked closely with activities that have promoted reading and extra-curricular development together with accumulating knowledge and experience that serve them professionally. Bergrivier municipality has great strength with its 14 libraries and many experienced officials. They have extensive experience in dealing with tough challenges such as poverty, hunger and exclusion. In order to ensure that human rights are integrated into the project, we will use the 2030 Agenda, the Global Goals and the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights as the basis for our planning.

Projektområde

Inclusive leadership and governance

Tema

Human Rights

Svensk partner

Åmåls kommun

Internationell partner

Bergrivier Local Municipality

Euphoria-improvement of the well-being of the elderly

The work with digital concepts for an increased safety, service and participation for elderly, have been an envisaged area of cooperation for a long time between the Municipality of Åmål and the City of Dunhuang.

The cities face similar challenges where the proportion of elderly increases at the same time as the aging population grows. Further, both cities are affected by an increased urbanisation and changed family structures where the families no longer can take care of the elderly as before.

All challenges have put an increased pressure on the elderly homes both in Åmål and Dunhuang. The quick growing digitalisation challenge all existing structures and affects us all, which means that we need to find new, useful solutions that create added value and security for our citizens, users, employees and organisations and attract more youths to work within elderly care. We need in order to create a sustainable healthcare system with the help of new technology, joint actions and exchanging experiences.

A method for ethical assessment before using new technique will be developed within the project, which will create a sense of participation and safety for the users and relatives. By using the method in each case to assess whether there is a need to establish new technology or not will make the management and staff more secure in their decisions.

Projektområde

Health

Svensk partner

Åmåls kommun

Internationell partner

Dunhuang City

Solid Waste Management

The local governments of Åmål and Manafwa municipalities have identified environmental management as one of the priority areas for municipal partnership.

The key area of the cooperation is capacity building in the field of environmental planning, including elaborating on appropriate methods and tools for administration and management of environmental strategies and actions and this is because, Manafwa municipal faces an immediate challenge in the field of solid waste treatment.

This is a one-year project that will be beneficial to both Åmal and Manafwa municipals in capacity building by exchange of experience through mutual study visits and training sessions for municipal staff and NGO/CBO representatives. A school-to-school collaboration with focus on environmental issues will be developed.

The capacity building embraces planning, management, information and supervision techniques and tools in the field of solid waste, including waste disposal, separation and re-cycling, popular mobilisation and awareness, particularly among young people. Inputs from Kenya where activities in these fields are more advanced than in Uganda will be part of the project.

Expected results from the project are:

Proposal for solid waste management in Manafwa elaborated
Appropriate methods and material available for local community mobilisation in Manafwa.
Seven representatives from Manafwa trained in appropriate methods for project design, primarily in the field of environmental planning.

In the long term:

Recycling carried out as income generating activity.
Awareness of waste management stimulated in local communities through continuous information and mobilisation.

Projektområde

Environment/Climate change

Svensk partner

Åmåls kommun

Internationell partner

Manafwa District Council

Solid Waste Recycling

Waste management is a significant environmental issue in both Åmål and Manafwa, the dissemination of knowledge and understanding are major challenges.

This area is a priority and the dissemination has been planned to occur in all ages and groups, but has been started with students in primary schools. The aim is to spread knowledge to the home and to interested groups in the area. At the same time, the projects have been carried out through collaboration of a school in Åmål and Manafwa where working practices have differed somewhat. In Åmål questionnaires have been supplemented by instruction, while in Manafwa the education is to be supplemented by contact with the families and the organizations.

The guiding principle of the project is to create an understanding that waste is a resource, not a problem. The project also had the ambition to create an understanding and knowledge of the governing politicians and officials. Knowledge exchange also took place between other municipalities in Sweden, Uganda and Kenya. Åmåls and Manafwa municipalities agree that there is a basis for further development of cooperation in the environmental field.

Projektområde

Environment/Climate change

Svensk partner

Åmåls kommun

Internationell partner

Manafwa District Council