International Town-twinning Initiatives

Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for International Relations and Welsh Language – in the Senedd at 2:22 pm on 18 March 2020.

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Photo of Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan Labour 2:22, 18 March 2020

Thank you very much. Can I just say how delighted I was to see that link between Abergavenny town and Chinamhora in Zimbabwe? Certainly, the inspirational leadership of Martha and David has been something to behold. I do think that it is something that we'd like to encourage from a Welsh Government point of view, but as I say, this is something very much that should be led at the local government level.

What we have been doing in relation to Wales and Africa is there have been projects that were set up several years ago, when the UN world poverty day delivering the millennium development goals was set out. That's when we first had the flagship programme, Wales for Africa community links, and that was when the initiatives started in places like Pontypridd with Mbale. If you look at how that project has developed over the years, it is really something that the community has taken up themselves. That's the kind of model, I think, that we'd like to see in future.