On September 11, 1989, Mayor Charles Luken and Konstantin Khirnyi, leader of the Kharkiv delegation, signed official documents uniting Cincinnati and Kharkiv as sister cities. Since then, the Cincinnati-Kharkiv Sister City Program (CKSCP) has attracted the interest and participation of over 3,000 Cincinnatians.
From 1989 until 2004, the organization was named the Cincinnati-Kharkiv Sister City Project (CKSCP). In July 2004, the board voted to rename the parent organization the Cincinnati-Ukraine Partnership (CUP) with CUP’s main subsidiary being renamed the Cincinnati-Kharkiv Sister City Program (CKSCP). In November of 2011, the Board decided to change their name to the Cincinnati-Kharkiv Sister City Partnership which addressed more broadly our sister city relationship and its ongoing programs and exchanges and eliminated some of the confusion between our main name and the subsidiary name.
Over 2,500 Cincinnatians and Kharkivites have traveled between the two cities through delegations and exchange programs sponsored by Cincinnati-Kharkiv Sister City Partnership (CKSCP) to share, teach, learn, and understand. Cincinnati-Kharkiv is known as one of the strongest sister city pairings in the world, and continues to expand the success of the relationship.
All support for our volunteer-driven, non-profit organization comes from private contributions by individuals, corporations and foundations. Major projects are funded through federal and local grants. CKSCP organizes and facilitates exchanges in areas ranging from education and youth to individual liberty to professionals.
We have also helped to found a landmark volunteer counterpart committee in Kharkiv, the Kharkiv-Cincinnati Sister City Association (KCSCA) and an American Center in Kharkiv, the first of its kind in the former Soviet Union.
The Cincinnati-Kharkiv Sister City Partnership is a member of the Sister Cincinnati-USA Sister City Association (CINUSCA) and is a member of Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI).