Palestinian cities: Barcelona's new District 11
The city council is resuming the cooperation initiative launched in 1995 to assist in the reconstruction of Sarajevo.
Barcelona to Reactivate District 11 to Strengthen Cooperation with Palestine The city's mayor, Jaume Collboni, has announced that he will revive the administrative initiative launched in 1995 to coordinate the reconstruction of Sarajevo after the Bosnian War, this time to show solidarity with Gaza. Under the name 'District 11 - Gaza and Palestinian Cities,' this instrument aims to strengthen and stabilize technical cooperation with Palestinian localities by assigning municipal workers to coordinate cooperation projects emulating the structure of a city district.
"The city of Barcelona has a new district," Collboni stated from Amman, where he visited a refugee camp run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees as part of his first trip to the Middle East. The mayor emphasized that "a group of City Council technicians" will be responsible for cooperation projects "on a permanent basis" in the areas of urban planning, health, accessibility, and education. In fact, the project will be based on three pillars: multilateral organizations on the ground such as UNRWA, organizations, and the exchange of technicians between cities.
The initial budget for this initiative, which Collboni hopes to launch before the end of the year, will be €1 million. This figure includes the amount that the City Council allocates annually to the agency for aid to Palestinian refugees, which announced on Monday that it was doubling its budget. The council will now begin the process of conceptualizing and specifying the project, which, given the complexity of the conflict—which has claimed the lives of 75 Palestinians in the last 24 hours alone—must adapt to the needs and challenges of today's cities, according to a statement.
A precedent of solidarity
In 1995, Barcelona City Council, with Pasqual Maragall as mayor, launched the District 11 project to coordinate the wave of solidarity among Barcelona's population with Sarajevo. The Bosnian capital had just emerged from what is considered the longest siege in modern history and needed assistance to rebuild and rehabilitate the city's buildings. Under the umbrella of District 11, the rehabilitation of the Mojmilo neighborhood and the reconstruction of the Zetra Olympic facilities were initiated, and the Sarajevo Embassy of Local Democracy was led.
