To value peace you must understand war.
Sentiments similar to this propelled the ravaged cities of central Europe to reach out to each other at the end of World War II with a view to fostering understanding and co-operation across boundaries of language, religion and race.
In September 1956, US President Dwight D Eisenhower called a White House conference to establish international protocols and formalise the Sister City concept.
Today, there are over 3,000 members in the Sister City Programme furthering global communication and exchange at the personal level through city-to-city affiliations.
Manukau's Sister City is Utsunomiya. The links to the right will be of interest to those participating in this movement.