State Secretary for the Interior and Kingdom Relations Mr. Raymond Knops recently paid a visit to VNG International’s R4CR programme during his visit to St Maarten. The Resources for Community Resilience Programme aims at strengthening the capacity of civil society organizations on St Maarten in their reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts after hurricane Irma. Under R4CR, civil society organizations are invited to submit proposals for programmes benefitting local communities. In addition, they will receive support in managing and monitoring their projects and will be offered a platform for exchange and cooperation with other organizations.

The R4CR programme team exchanged information with Mr. Knops on the overall objectives of the programme as well as on the first 12 grant projects that have recently been approved and are currently being implemented. Mr. Knops, joined by Mr. Chris Johnson, Representative of the Netherlands on St Maarten, and his staff were appreciative of the manner in which the Resources for Community Resilience Programme is moving forward and has organised itself swiftly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

For more information on the R4CR-programme and the first approved projects, please consult www.R4CR.org.