US chooses Latin American cities for sustainable development plan

USA has selected 24 cities, half from the United States and the other from Latin America and the Caribbean, which will work together on a project sustainable developmentThe State Department reported Tuesday.

Guatemala City (Guatemala), Cartagena and Cali (Colombia), Fortaleza and Manaus (Brazil), Rosario (Argentina), Mérida and Hermosillo (Mexico), Renca (Chile) and Ambato (Ecuador) have been the selected Latin American cities among 129 candidacies, he said in a statement.

Also included are Montego Bay (Jamaica) and Freeport (Bahamas).

All of them will participate in the Cities on the Move initiative (Cities Forward), launched during the Summit of Cities of the Americas held in April 2023.

The objective is to help cities create a sustainable environment -environmentally, economically and socially- inclusive, benefiting the poorest and underrepresented communities, and resilient.

It will be done by connecting each one of them with their counterpart in the United States to work in connection.

It is one of the promises made by US President Joe Biden during the ninth Summit of the Americas in June 2022 in line with his agenda, which is highly focused on sustainable development and clean energy.

“We look forward to working closely with the selected cities, and we will also participate and support all the municipalities who are passionate about building a more sustainable future”says the State Department.

For this program, Washington has partnered with ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability, Resilient Cities Catalyst, and the Institute of the Americas.

Source: AFP