VNG International

Inter-municipal co-operation

Training and Education

Public finance

Fund management

Institutional development

Land Aruba

Eilandgebied St. Maarten

Eilandgebied Bonaire

The wider objective of the Municipal Cooperation Programme with the Netherlands Antilles was to strengthen and improve the quality of local public administration in the Netherlands Antilles. The main beneficiaries of the programme were the governments of the islands of Curaçao, Sint-Maarten, Saba, Sint-Eustatius and Bonaire. From 1-1-2010 onwards Aruba was included as beneficiary of the programme.

The specific objective were:

1. to strengthen local governance in the Netherlands Antilles by capacity building activities for public servants and administrators;

2. to strengthen trust relationships between Dutch municipalities and the island governments of the Netherlands Antilles;

3. to exchange knowledge and experience between the island governments and Dutch municipalities.

The results of the programme are:

- 57 tailor-made municipal internships for public servants of the Netherlands Antilles designed and organised;

- 38 short terms expert missions designed and organised;

- 6 study visits for groups of municipal civil servants of the Netherlands Antilles to the Netherlands designed and organised;

- 4 series of trainings held on the Netherlands Antilles.

The programme supported the constitutional and administrative changes that were pursued on the Netherlands Antilles. On October 10th, 2010 the country Netherlands Antilles was absolved. The islands Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba became part of the Netherlands, and municipal laws and regulations would largely apply to them. Curaçao and Sint Maarten became separate countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands as Aruba had already been since 1986.