Newsletter «Zurich (Inter)national»

As part of the International Development Cooperation IZA, the City of Zurich is currently establishing a city cooperation with Freetown in Sierra Leone. The West African state is one of the poorest countries in the world. This makes the commitment of Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, mayor of Freetown, all the more significant. With her development strategy «Transform Freetown 2019–2022», she has defined clear goals for the four areas of resilience, human development, healthy city and urban mobility. Part of this strategy is the regeneration of the «Central Business District», which is of outstanding importance for the entire population of Freetown.

As part of the city cooperation, Zurich wants to contribute to the upgrading of this central city district by exchanging knowledge and jointly implementing concrete projects. Helvetas is currently conducting a feasibility study on behalf of the two cities, which will point out the opportunities and risks of such a cooperation. The intensive exchange with Freetown so far makes us confident that the cooperation can start before the end of the current year.

In June 2021, the Eurocities working group «Substance Abuse Prevention» paid a digital visit to the City of Zurich. Over the course of two half-days, the City of Zurich's Office for Substance Abuse Prevention (SUP) and the Protection and Prevention Division (S+P) presented the local services and facilities to around 15 participants. A highlight was a digital city tour produced by the SUP, which led to locations of Zurich's drug scene. Furthermore, the City of Zurich presented its contact and drop-in centers, such as «sip züri», «Saferparty Streetwork» or «Ein Bus», but also innovative programs such as the peer-to-peer offer «Femmes Tische» or addiction prevention via cell phone.

The event was very successful. A further implementation is scheduled for fall 2021 in Brno, Czech Republic.