WASHINGTON — Sister Cities International will recognize 14 communities, including Corvallis, for outstanding sister city programs during the organization's annual conference this summer.

The diversity of programs and innovation recognized through the awards competition is indicative of the sister city movement, said organizers.

"Because projects are planned at the grassroots level by volunteers working in partnership with local government, they take on the interests and needs of the partnering communities," said Tim Honey, executive director of Sister Cities International.

Because of work with its sister city Uzhgorod, Ukraine, through the Community Based Healthcare Partnership, the Corvallis Sister Cities Association will be awarded the Innovation Award for Healthcare. This project established medical clinics in Ukraine, trained medical professionals, established community health coalitions, worked with government officials to improve healthcare delivery, created school health peer education programs and conducted campaigns to prevent youth smoking and HIV/AIDS.

Best overall sister city program awards went to: Great Neck, N.Y. (population less than 25,000); Kent, Wash. (population 50,000 to 100,000); Tempe, Ariz., and Laredo, Texas (population 100,000 to 300,000); Virginia Beach, Va. (population 300,000 to 500,000); and Fort Worth, Texas (population greater than 500,000).

Awards will be presented during the Lou Wozar Annual Awards Ceremony at the Sister Cities International Annual Conference in Fort Worth on July 17.

Representing more than 2,400 communities in 124 countries, Sister Cities International (www.sister

cities.org) is a citizen diplomacy network creating and strengthening partnerships between the United States and communities abroad.