Dear Colleagues:

Greetings from Sister Cities International! I hope you are doing well.

It is with great pleasure that I invite you to participate in the U.S. – Russian Forum to be held at the Sister Cities International Annual Conference on Wednesday, July 14, 2004. The Forum will introduce and report on various U.S. – Russian conferences, symposiums, and meetings that have occurred over the past two years. Many of our members were not able to attend these amazing events, therefore, this Forum will capture the main ideas and information that took place either in the United States or in Russia. The Forum will also provide the opportunity for U.S. – Russian sister city partnerships, partnering organizations, and international delegates to discuss how best to sustain U.S. – Russian exchanges in light of decreasing federal support of programs and projects that have involved the U.S. and Russian communities. In 2003, Sister Cities International launched the Sister Cities Network for Sustainable Development, which looks upon strengthening and developing the sister city partnerships between the United States and other countries. The Network seeks to assist sister city members and their partners to build their capacity to work on programs that affect the local communities in areas such as health, social and economic development, protection of the environment, sustainable energy systems, and good governance. Sister Cities International is committed to assisting members of the Network in finding additional resources to support existing programs.

Attached is the schedule for the U.S.- Russian Forum. We hope that the U.S. – Russian Forum is not one year event, but a continuous dialogue, which will allow the sister city affiliations to network with each other and learn from each other’s programs, grants, and fundraising experiences. If your sister city is having difficulties with your partner or at the local level you are having trouble in finding which programs to do or you are a new partnership and you don’ t know what programs you would like to be involved in with your sister city in Russia, the U.S. – Russian Forum will be great event for you to attend to see other models, which sister cities are using and maybe help you to reorganize your sister city program. Hopefully, this exchange of ideas and experiences will strengthen the U.S. – Russian Sister City Network even more.

Please confirm your attendance by replaying to this message or calling me at 202-347-4874.

I hope to see you in Forth Worth, TX!

Kind regards,

Arisha Dmitriyeva
Open World Program Manager,
Friendship Tour Organizer & Regional Fellow for Eurasia

*Please pass this information to any party who would be interested in attending.

Arisha Dmitriyeva
Open World Program Manager &
Friendship Tour Organizer
Regional Fellow for Eurasia
Sister Cities International
1301 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
Suite 850
Washington, DC 20004
tel: 202-347-4874
fax: 202-393-6524
www.sister-cities.org