WILLEMSTAD, On the 23rd of June 2009 the Government of The Netherlands Antilles and the Untied Nations Development Programme (UNDP) signed a project document entitled “Capacity Development for Nation Building in The Netherlands Antilles”. The document was signed by her Excellency Mrs. Emily de Jongh-Elhage, Prime Minister of the Netherlands Antilles, and Ambassador Dr. Marcia de Castro, Resident Co-ordinator of the UN System and Resident Representative of the UNDP for the Netherlands Antilles, Aruba, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago, and co-signed by the Director of the Department for Development Cooperation, Ir. Ralph L. James, in this case acting as the representative of the Executing Agent of the activities) mentioned in the signed document.
The project must be seen in responds to a request from the Government of the Netherlands Antilles for technical assistance during the transition period of the constitutional reform of the Netherlands Antilles, in which new countries c.q entities will emerge.
With the signing of this project document between the two signatories a new cooperation phase is being ushered from which all the islands of the Netherlands Antilles will benefit greatly from, taking into consideration the advantages that the UNDP and the UN system have to offer to developing countries.
This project, which will be funded from resources made available to the UNDP by the Government of the Netherlands Antilles, constitutes three main components:
• Capacity Building and Institutional Strengthening for assessing the development progress of the Netherlands Antilles through the preparation of a Millennium Development Goals Report, and for monitoring progress towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the Netherlands Antilles.
• Strengthening change management skills, both on federal and island government levels, for public officials of Curaçao and St. Maarten, as these countries move forward in attaining their new country status’ within the Kingdom.
• Training of federal and island government officials to negotiate with multi-lateral organizations, such as the United Nations and the European Union, in order to maximize benefits from their membership of the multilateral community.
The project implementation will benefit from the recruitment of a United Nations Volunteer in the office of the UNDP ResRep. This person will have the responsibility for liaising with the Government of the Netherlands Antilles in matters pertaining to activities mentioned in the signed project document.
The implementation of the different components highlighted in said document will take place over a one year period in close cooperation with the island territories of the Netherlands Antilles.