Twin towns

Being twin towns means that two cities have a special partnership arising from the exchange between communities, organizations, institutions and especially between citizens. This partnership is a bond of friendship. The city of Nijmegen has three twin towns: Masaya in Nicaragua since 1986, Pskov in Russia since 1988 en Gaziantep in Turkey since 2006.

The Twin Town-foundations dedicate themselves to:

• The coordination of contacts and visits between Nijmegen and the cities;
• The development and support of new initiatives;
• The development and support of projects;
• Providing the citizens of Nijmegen with information.

The city of Masaya is currently in a process of taking over more and more tasks that used to be executed by the national government. To be able to handle these tasks properly, the yet not so very powerful local government in Masaya needs help in strenghtening itself. The city of Nijmegen contributes to this process with all sorts of support and sharing knowledge and experience. In the recent past, Nijmegen helped Masaya in setting up a cadastral survey. At the moment an environmental management project is being conducted.

Within the last 20 years, the bond of friendship with Pskov has adapted itself to the changing times. The original purpose of the bond with Pskov was to break off the 'enemy- image'. Because of the revolutions in Russia the emphasis has somewhat been shifted to the support of projects and empowerment of the socialemidfield in the city. What remained was the exchange of contacts in the field of education, religion and culture. In the past years numerous of personal friendships have arisen between the citizens of Nijmegen and Pskov.

Nijmegen and the Turkish city of Gaziantep have been twin towns since 2006. A year before, Nijmegen decided to start looking for a bond of friendship with a city in an Islamic country. Because Nijmegen shelters a large Turkish community, the choice was made for a Turkish twin town. With this bond of friendship, Nijmegen wishes to enhance integration and acceptance between autochtonous and allochtonous inhabitants.