The Ithaca - Pokhara Sister Cities Partnership
linking two communities, and through them, the Finger Lakes region of New York State and the Himalayan nation of Nepal
Founded by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1956, Sister Cities International is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation which serves as the national membership organization for individual sister cities. This network unites tens of thousands of citizen diplomats and volunteers in nearly 500 member communities with over 2,000 partnerships in more than 140 countries.
In 2017 the Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) and Mountain Legacy International, a nonprofit organization incorporated in New York State and based in Ithaca, took the lead in initiating a Sister Cities link between the City Ithaca, about 200 miles west of New York City, and Pokhara, Nepal's second largest city and the nation's designated tourism capital".
The Sister Cities partnership has been ratified by the mayors of both municipalities, and Mayor Dhanraj Acharya of Pokhara visitied Ithaca in 2024.
Looking Forward
The Pokhara–Ithaca Sister Cities Partnership is entering a new phase. Building on the formal relationship established by the two municipalities, the Partnership is now expanding opportunities for collaboration among educational institutions, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and individual citizens in both regions.
The Partnership seeks to facilitate initiatives that strengthen ties between the gateway communities of Pokhara and Ithaca, the central Himalaya and the Finger Lakes, and, more broadly, Nepal and the United States.
Whether your interest is education, tourism, culture, environmental stewardship, entrepreneurship, or another area entirely, we invite you to explore the Partnership and consider whether you might want to collaborate with this initiative.
Contact
Do you have suggestions or other feedback? Contact Seth Sicroff, Co-Chair of the Pokhara-Ithaca Sister Cities Committee, sistercities@mountainlegacy.org.