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Kongoussi Express on the road in Ludwigsburg

A man is standing in front of a bus, which is printed with different pictures and texts.
Saliou Gueye, Coordinator for Municipal Development Cooperation in Ludwigsburg, is delighted by the Kongoussi Express. Photo: SKEW/Engagement Global

Ludwigsburg, 27 July 2017. Images and messages on two public buses in Ludwigsburg are now advertising the city's huge commitment to development. They buses are on the road in the city as the Kongoussi Express. One of their key messages is: 'We are working for a just world free from poverty and hunger'.

The City of Ludwigsburg is actively involved in development cooperation, and is now also demonstrating this engagement in public. The two buses – numbers 421 and 427 – will be displaying their colourful images and catchy messages on the city's roads from July to December 2017. On behalf of Ludwigsburg's actors for development they will be raising public awareness of global issues and motivating citizens to get involved. This is important, because sustainable local action makes an important contribution towards solving global problems.

This project is supported by the Fund for Small-Scale Municipal Development Cooperation Projects

A man speaks into a microphone, he is with other people in a bus.
Hans-Joachim Fuchtel, Parliamentary State Secretary in the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, welcoming the Kongoussi Express. Photo: Stadt Ludwigsburg

The Kongoussi Express project will be facilitated by a coordinator for municipal development cooperation, funding for which is delivered by Engagement Global's Service Agency Communities in One World on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The idea of the 'Express' itself arose in conjunction with the ten-year anniversary of the trilateral partnership between Ludwigsburg, its French twin city of Montbéliard and Kongoussi in Burkina Faso. A joint project that is working to protect the climate – supported by the Service Agency, which is implementing it together with the North Rhine-Westphalian Working Party on Agenda 21 (LAG 21 NRW). Flyers and posters on the buses will provide additional information – on the climate partnership with Kongoussi, on the Fair Trade Town of Ludwigsburg, on the Friends of Burkina Faso Association in Ludwigsburg and on the One World shop. The buses will also be used for other specific campaigns as campaign buses, for instance during Ludwigsburg's intercultural festival and its Africa Days in 2017.

Maiden journey

Five men stand side by side in a bus, one of them talking into a microphone.
Werner Spec, Mayor of Ludwigsburg, on board the Kongoussi Express during its maiden journey. Photo: Stadt Ludwigsburg

On its first tour of Ludwigsburg the Kongoussi Express stopped in the town hall yard. Waiting for it there were Ludwigsburg's Lord Mayor Werner Spec, First Mayor Konrad Seigfried, Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development Hans-Joachim Fuchtel, Steffen Bilger MP and Dr. Stefan Wilhelmy of the Service Agency. They all agreed on one thing: The development engagement of Ludwigsburg's citizens is exemplary, and important for the world. And it' a good thing that the Kongoussi Express is raising awareness of this fact even further!

In Ludwigsburg itself Saliou Gueye, Coordinator for Municipal Development Cooperation, provides information on the Kongoussi Express and other development activities of the municipality. And by the way – the coordinator's job is also funded through a Service Agency project.