With the Caribbean Exchange Network, the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations and VNG are carrying out a memorandum of understanding signed in 2019 for a support network for the islands within the Kingdom. Under this programme, technical assistance is provided to the six Caribbean islands within the Kingdom (St Maarten, St Eustatius, Saba, Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire). The islands are assisted with concrete capacity, learning or advice needs in the field of governance in a broad sense.
We had the honour to welcome His Majesty King Willem-Alexander, Her Majesty Queen Maxima and Her Royal Highness Princess Amalia in VNG International's office on St Maarten.
Exactly five years after hurricane Irma, on Tuesday 6 September 2022, the Resources for Community Resilience (R4CR) team launched their 4th round of project financing for reconstruction and rehabilitation initiatives in Sint Maarten after hurricane Irma.
On the 16th of May, the Government of Sint Maarten and VNG International launched our new programme Fostering Resilient Crisis Management (FRCM).
St Maarten is frequently affected by various types of crisis such as hurricanes and floods, and has a high risk of earthquakes and tsunamis. Although its governments' crisis management has significantly improved since Irma, information management remains a weak spot in its crisis management system while this is the backbone of efficient coordination between all crisis teams.
VNG International is working on St Maarten in the context of the recovery and reconstruction efforts after hurricane Irma in 2017. One of the projects financed through the Trust Fund is the Emergency Debris Management Project (EDMP), which focuses on a number of activities related to solid waste management. In order to provide assistance to the Ministry of VROMI in solid waste management a Strategic Program Coordinator Waste Management (SPC) has been recruited to provide daily assistance. <br />
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The wider objective of the project is to improve the capacity of civil society organizations and support implementation of reconstruction and resilience sub-projects at the community level. The CSPFRP will be implemented through three main complementary components: (a) small grants to civil society organizations for reconstruction and resilience; (b) capacity building and technical assistance for local CSOs; and (c) project management and coordination.<br />
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The wider objective of the project is the preparation of the Civil Society Partnership Facility for Resilience (CSPFRP) project.<br />
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VNG International’s proposed project “Civil Society Partnership Facility for Resilience” was recently approved by the World Bank and the Steering Committee of the Trust Fund for St Maarten – established to provide assistance to the island after the devastating hurricane Irma in 2017. The project aims at strengthening the capacity of civil society organizations on St Maarten in their reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts after the hurricane. Under the new facility, civil society organizations will be invited to submit proposals for projects benefitting local communities.
On the 25th of June VNG International supported the Government of Sint Maarten in organizing the largest Hurricane Exercise (HUREX) Sint Maarten has seen of yet. A total of approximately 160 government officials, including Fire Department, Ambulance, Police and the Marines, participated in the HUREX 2019.