Milwaukee goes international in poverty relief

City selected for $115,000 grant to help its South African sister city, uMhlathuze, S. Africa

Milwaukee Ald. Joe Davis, Sr. (pictured at podium at right) sounds the call to end poverty in Africa during a news conference at City Hall recently to announce Milwaukee’s selection for a $115,000 grant to help with urban problems in Milwaukee’s South African sister city, uMhlathuze. Milwaukee is one of 17 U.S. cities and their African counterparts to be selected to develop urban projects in African nations. The project was developed by Sister Cities International’s Africa Urban Poverty Alleviation program (AUPAP). The purpose of the AUPAP is to reduce poverty by addressing issues which hamper economic and sustainable development by performing collaborative projects related to sanitation, health and water issues in urban areas of Africa. Ald. Davis, who chairs the city’s Sister Cities Committee, said Milwaukee’s sister city relationship with uMhlathuze, South Africa was key to helping it win the two-year grant.

“The 17 recently announced grants–made possible through Sister Cities International–will help build capacity on the ground in poor areas, with the goal of making clean water more readily available, while also improving overall sanitation and health,” Ald. Davis said. Pictured at right with Ald. Davis is (left to right) Quarles & Brady Chairman John W. Daniels Jr., Ambassador Pearl Nomvume Magaqa, Consul General of South Africa to the Midwest Mayor Tom Barrett, and Patrick Madden, president and CEO of Sister Cities International. (Photo by Harry Kemp)