The Asso­ciation of Dutch Munici­palities VNG is setting up a Caribbean Desk, which will serve as a central point of contact for Caribbean members. This was an­nounced by Director of VNG International Pieter Jeroense in an interview in the recently published newsletter by the Cabinet of the Special Envoy of the BES Islands.

Public entities Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba (BES), as well as countries Curacao and Aruba, are members of VNG and can therefore make use of its services. But many of the products and services pro­vided by the VNG are not always easily accessible to its Dutch Caribbean mem­bers, says Jeroense.

“Supporting our Carib­bean members requires tailored assistance. The programmatic approach adopted by VNG International helps to address the specific interests and needs of the islands,” the director says. Besides offering tai­lored expertise, for exam­ple through the Caribbean Exchange Network, VNG is also working on making the services that are avail­able to its European mem­bers just as accessible to its Caribbean members.

“We are in the process [with funding from the Ministry of Interior Affairs and Kingdom Relations ­Ed.] of setting up a Carib­bean Desk, which will serve as a central point of contact for Caribbean members. This will enhance the ac­cessibility of VNG services for the islands,” Jeroense explains.

VNG collaborated with Special Envoy for the Ca­ribbean Netherlands for European Union (EU) funds, United Nations (UN) funds and economic ties with Latin America, Edison Rijna to explore op­portunities to open more doors towards the EU, it was stated in the newslet­ter. “Our collaboration with the Special Envoy for the BES, Rijna, primarily focuses on cooperation in EU projects. We have good communication with each other and are always open to new ways of collabora­tion,” says Jeroense.

VNG and the Cabinet of the Special Envoy of the BES Islands are setting up two concrete initiatives. The first concerns organ­ising workshops aimed at strengthening the capac­ity of local organisations to write EU proposals, which, according to Jeroense, is not always easy. The sec­ond focuses on supporting each of the BES islands this year in writing two EU pro­posals.

“Currently, not all oppor­tunities for EU financing are being utilised by the BES islands. This is un­fortunate because there is a lot of money available. At VNG International, we have a lot of knowledge and experience in this area and are happy to support the islands. Through the Carib­bean Exchange Network, we facilitate training to in­crease the knowledge and capacity of organisations in writing proposals for EU financing. In 2023, this has already led to the successful acquisition for an organisa­tion in Bonaire, and we are pleased to continue and ex­pand our support this year, extending it to the other is­lands,” Jeroense concludes.

The Daily Herald.