Bucharest, Cairo, Córdoba, Dublin, Greater Manchester and Warsaw join Bloomberg’s philanthropy partnership for healthy cities

Bloomberg Philanthropies announced today a renewed commitment to its flagship initiative to create a safer and healthier urban environment with a $ 31 million investment and shared that six new cities will join the Partnership for Healthy Cities network – Bucharest, Romania; Cairo, Egypt; Córdoba, Argentina; Dublin, Ireland; Greater Manchester, United Kingdom; and Warsaw, Poland.

Launched in 2017 as Michael R. Bloomberg as the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Global Ambassador for Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs) and Injuries, Bloomberg Philanthropies ’Partnership for Healthy Cities is a collaboration with WHO and Vital Strategies, a global health organization. This network, which now consists of 70 cities, supports mayors in implementing proven high-impact policies or programs to reduce NCDs and injuries in their communities. NCDs such as heart disease, diabetes and respiratory diseases, and injuries, including traffic accidents, cause about 80% of deaths worldwide each year. In 2020, the Partnership also included support for city responses to COVID-19. With today’s announcement, the total funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies for the Healthy Cities Partnership is $ 52 million.

“Through the Partnership for Healthy Cities, local leaders around the world are improving public health and saving lives – and today we are pleased to welcome six new members,” said Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg Philanthropies and WHO Global Ambassador for Noncommunicable diseases and injuries. “These cities and their mayors are committed to implementing programs and policies that protect the health and safety of millions of people. We look forward to supporting their work and repeating the most effective efforts around the world. ”

“The health and well-being of billions of people largely depends on the urban environments in which they live and work,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization. “WHO welcomes the leadership of Bloomberg Philanthropies and its continued support for the Healthy Cities Partnership, as well as the commitment of all cities in the partnership. We are ready to support this important work for the next four years in order to create cities that nurture health, not harm it. ”

As part of the partnership, the Cairo Governorate will work to make healthier food available to people who eat at city restaurants. Dublin City Council will expand the audit of pedestrian access and safety with the aim of turning streets and sidewalks into friendly people, not cars. The City of Córdoba will initially focus on reaching the COVID-19 vaccine for the elderly who have difficulty reading and writing or are hesitant to vaccinate. Bucharest, Greater Manchester and Warsaw will soon announce their health or safety projects.

“It is a great honor for me today that Cairo has joined the Partnership for Healthy Cities network,” said Khaled Abdel-Aal, Governor of Cairo. “We look forward to benefiting from the expertise of Bloomberg Philanthropies, as well as the experiences of other cities, to ensure that best international practice is reflected in our efforts.”

“On behalf of our residents, Córdoba is proud to be able to participate in the Partnership for Healthy Cities,” said Martín Llaryora, intendant from Córdoba, Argentina. “We remain focused on the health of the people of Córdoba. We believe that joining the Partnership will push our city into a healthier future, helping us to make a quality leap in preventing the spread of COVID-19 and getting it back to normal in the healthiest way possible. ”

“I am thrilled that Dublin is now part of the Bloomberg Philanthropies Partnership for Healthy Cities network,” said Alison Gilliland, Lord Mayor of Dublin. “We live in an increasingly connected global world, and networks like this are very important because they help us learn from each other. Here in Dublin, we have worked hard to promote active mobility by increasing content for cyclists and introducing school zones and cycling buses, as well as walking some of our downtown streets. I look forward to seeing how Dublin can continue to develop further initiatives like these under the Partnership for Healthy Cities. ”

“As in other parts of the world, the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed existing health and social inequalities, and parts of northern England have experienced a dramatic drop in life expectancy,” said Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester. “It is an honor for Manchester to be chosen as one of the newest global cities to join the Partnership for Healthy Cities, where we can build on our existing commitments to create healthier and happier communities. Joining such a global network means that we can exchange ideas and solutions with each other to reduce the gap in health and wealth between communities. ”

In the Partnership for Healthy Cities, local authorities select one of 14 interventions that address tobacco control, road safety, safe and active mobility, healthy food, data monitoring, or overdose prevention. City staff are provided with technical assistance, communication support, grants of up to $ 100,000, workshops and access to personal and virtual exchanges among colleagues who support collaboration and exchange lessons learned in the areas of health and safety in the city.

Important steps by partner cities towards their health and safety goals include the Municipality of Lima, Peru, the enactment of a local ordinance promoting the healthy food environment in schools and restaurants through measures such as restricting the sale and marketing of unhealthy food. Both Melbourne, Australia, and Bandung, Indonesia, have passed new smoking ban laws that will protect the health of countless urban residents by banning smoking in most public spaces.

“Cities have long served as drivers of public health, a difference that is even more important as urban areas absorb up to 68% of the world’s population by 2050,” said José Luis Castro, President and CEO of Vital Strategies. “While a large number of NCDs and injuries remain a challenge, we celebrate the remarkable progress that cities have made in partnership. Our global network is leading the way to major, systematic changes to improve the health and safety of urban residents around the world. ”

During the current pandemic, the Partnership sought to provide resources to network cities for their responses to COVID-19. This included a series of webinars, led by the Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative, which brought together mayors around the world and gave them access to the latest information on COVID-19 and the perspectives of leading experts, and network response center with more than 400 resources and tools. Fifty-two cities in the network have benefited from additional grant funding to address their COVID-19 response needs and vaccinations — including information on how best to educate high-risk populations about the importance of vaccines.

The pandemic has accelerated action on existing partner programs in some cities. For example, several member cities in Latin America have focused on expansion of cycling infrastructure because the COVID-19 pandemic created the need for safer transportation alternatives.

The 64 cities that continue to join the Partnership for Healthy Cities are Abidjan, Accra, Addis Ababa, Ahmedabad, Amman, Athens, Bandung, Bangkok, Barcelona, ​​Bengaluru, Birmingham, Bogotá, Boston, Buenos Aires, Cali, Cape Town, Casablanca, Chicago, Colombo, Dakar, Dhaka, Fortaleza, Freetown, Guadalajara, Hanoi, Harare, Helsinki, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Istanbul, Jakarta, Kampala, Kathmandu, Kigali, Kuala Lumpur, Kumasi, Kiev, Leon, Lima, London , Lusaka, Medellín, Melbourne, Mexico City, Montevideo, Mumbai, Muscat, Ouagadougou, Paris, Philadelphia, Phnom Penh, Quezon City, Quito, Rio de Janeiro, San Francisco, Santiago, Santo Domingo, São Paulo, Seoul, Tokyo, Toronto , Tunisia, Vancouver and Yangon.

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About Bloomberg’s philanthropy

Bloomberg Philanthropies invests in 810 cities and 170 countries to ensure better and longer lives for as many people as possible. The organization focuses on five key areas for creating lasting change: the arts, education, the environment, government innovation, and public health. Bloomberg Philanthropies encompasses all of Michael R. Bloomberg’s gifts, including his foundation, corporate and personal philanthropy, as well as Bloomberg Associates, a pro bono consulting firm operating in cities around the world. Bloomberg Philanthropies shared $ 1.6 billion in 2020. For more information, visit bloomberg.org or follow us Facebook,, Instagram,, YouTube, i Twitter.

About the Healthy Cities Partnership

The Healthy Cities Partnership is a prestigious global network of cities dedicated to saving lives by preventing non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and injuries. With the Bloomberg Philanthropies initiative in partnership with the WHO, as well as vital strategies, this initiative enables cities around the world to adopt high-impact policies or program interventions to reduce NCDs and injuries in their communities. For more information visit: https://partnershipforhealthycities.bloomberg.org/