Praia 9 September 2022 --  The city of Praia, capital of Cape Verde, and Sao Paulo, Brazil, recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding aiming at the exchange of knowledge, experience and good practices on the sustainable management of solid waste.

The MoU was part of an initiative of UN-Habitat that seeks to support cities and local governments in achieving waste management targets related to Sustainable Development Goal #11, particularly target 11.6, whose objective is to "reduce the negative per capita environmental impact of cities, including by paying special attention to air quality, municipal waste management and others", as well as in the implementation of the New Urban Agenda.

The Waste Wise Cities Challenge, coordinated by UN-Habitat, aiming to support cities globally to improve their municipal solid waste management, focuses on 4 action areas that include: (i) data and waste monitoring; (ii) knowledge sharing and good practices; (iii) advocacy and education; (iv) projects and resource mobilization for transformative projects aimed at valorizing and harnessing waste. The challenge brings together cities that are looking to improve the management of their municipal solid waste management (Changemaker Cities) with mentor cities (Supporter Cities) committed to share their good practices and expertise.

With support of the International Climate Initiative funded Urban Pathways project, the two cities have organised technical exchange visits to learn and be inspired from each other’s realities and practices. In June 2022, a technical team of 5 officials from the City of São Paulo (Supporter City) visited the city of Praia to learn about the city’s approach to solid waste management, and also had an opportunity to better understand the challenges and vulnerabilities faced by the city.

In July 2022, it was the turn of the team from Praia (Changemaker City) to visit São Paulo to learn from the solid waste management system there and identify impactful solutions that might be relevant for the own context as well. The visit facilitated exchange with public, private and civil society institutions that make up the waste management structure of the city.

Following the exchange, priority areas of intervention were identified incl. the management of hospital waste; monitoring management to curb and guide the correct disposal of waste especially in the context of large generators (such as restaurants, shops, businesses and local industries); improvement of operational logistics in the City of Praia; and the development of an umbrella programme that links all waste management actions in Praia.

The cities have shown full commitment and strong motivation to continue with this cooperation in the future, and a long-lasting friendship between the cities has commenced.