VNG International

Inter-municipal co-operation

Training and Education

Public finance

The wider objective of the 'Municipal Cooperation Programme with the Netherlands Antilles' is to strengthen and improve the quality of local public administration in the Netherlands Antilles. The main beneficiaries of the programme are the governments of the islands of Curaçao, Sint-Maarten, Saba, Sint-Eustatius and Bonaire.

The specific objective are:

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 expected results of the programme are:

- 40 tailor-made municipal internships and trainings for public servants of the Netherlands Antilles will be designed and organised;

- 30+ short terms expert missions designed and organised;

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

- 4+ exchange activities between civil servants and/or political representatives of the five islands will be designed and organised on the Netherlands Antilles

The programme supports the administrative change that is currently being pursued in the Netherlands Antilles. After December 31st, 2009, the country Netherlands Antilles will disintegrate. The islands Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba will become part of the Netherlands, and municipal laws and regulations will apply to them. Curaçao and Sint Maarten will become separate countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.