Mayor LaToya Cantrell of New Orleans and Deputy Mayor of Cap-Haïtien, Yvrerose Pierre, signed this week a historic twinning agreement between their two cities. In the presence of, among others, Jay H. Banks, District B Municipal Council Member; Camellia Moses Okpodu, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Science at Xavier University; Lisa Alexis, director of the City's Cultural Economy Office ; Alexis Neives, commercial and industrial attaché at the United States Embassy in Haiti and Vladimir Laborde of Haiti Inc.,

In her intervention, Mayor Cantrell stated :

"The origins of this relationship and shared history are born from the independence of Haiti and the doubling of the New Orleans population comprised of an exodus of free people of color, French colonists and slaves from Saint Domingue/Haiti upon defeat of the French rule, resulting in the Louisiana Purchase," Mayor Cantrell said, in reading the agreement. "New Orleans is Haiti’s first Diaspora. New Orleans and Cap-Haitien (formerly Cap Francais) are twin sisters separated by birth. Today, many residents of New Orleans and the whole of Louisiana trace their ancestry to Cap-Haitien and other parts of Haiti. In recent years, many visits have been made and friendships built [...] By this agreement we celebrate a common heritage and seek to reinforce strong ties and secure a relationship that will persist into our futures."

Some of the features of the agreement include :

• Academic cooperation between the respective cities’ universities and other educational institutions

• Cooperation and exchange between local development agencies, chambers of commerce, and tourism departments

• Opportunities for exchanges of art and cultural products between the cities’ respective museums and galleries, and other cultural institutions

• Opportunities for municipal exchanges, including economic development in the areas of tourism, agriculture, infrastructure, city management and waste and water management – as well as emergency preparedness, disaster management and climate change.

HL/ S/ HaitiLibre