WILLEMSTAD - Participants from organizations on all six islands in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom and from the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (BZK) discussed expertise enhancement during the first 'Integrity Summit Dutch Caribbean' on Curaçao from October 30 to November 3.
It was agreed that a platform will be established for the exchange of best practices and daily experiences with the aim of increasing expertise levels and promoting cooperation in the field of integrity within the Kingdom.
Around 30 participants from 15 different government organizations agreed to create a platform involving both the autonomous countries and the Caribbean Netherlands, where knowledge and experience will be periodically exchanged on promoting integrity within the government, government-related entities, and society in general. The emphasis is on expertise enhancement from local organizations involved in this matter. A vision for jointly continuing to work on integrity in the workplace within government organizations in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom will also be developed.
Speakers from organizations such as the Whistleblowers Authority, Red Cross, Integrity Bureau Amsterdam, Nyenrode Business University, the Custodial Institutions Agency, and the Civil Service and Organization Directorate of the Ministry of BZK were present. Former Island Governor and member of the Board of Financial Supervision (Cft) Glenn Thodé opened the summit with a speech on Integrity in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom.
Sharing experiences
"The importance of the Integrity Summit cannot be stressed enough. Finally, there is a meeting of the four countries in the Kingdom with integrity as the central focus. The residents of the islands in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom yearn for honest leaders, officials, and civil servants. For those working on promoting integrity, an infrastructure to share knowledge and experiences and to support and collaborate with each other is of the utmost importance. The consolidation of forces through this first Integrity Summit gives me hope for a future with more integrity in society," Thodé said.
Expertise enhancement
The primary objective of the conference was getting to know each other and enhancing the expertise of employees of the integrity bureaus of Aruba, Sint Maarten, the public entity Bonaire, and the Caribbean Netherlands National Government Service, integrity officers, researchers, counselors, and the public bodies of Saba and Sint Eustatius, the Caribbean Coast Guard, the Joint Court of Justice Caribbean, the Public Prosecutor's Office Caribbean, the Caribbean Netherlands Police Force, the Justitiële Inrichting Caribisch Nederland (Caribbean Netherlands Correctional Institution), the National Government Representative, Royal Netherlands Marechaussee (KMar), the Ministry of General Affairs, Planning, and Services, and the Ministry of Justice of Curaçao.
Expertise enhancement is essential because it is crucial that the Caribbean part of the Kingdom works on the task of maintaining or improving integrity within government organizations. This mainly involves the extent to which organizations are able to prevent and address (financial) irregularities (such as fraud and corruption) and unwanted behaviors (such as abuse of power, insults, discrimination, harassment, and exclusion), both preventatively and reactively.
Organization
The idea for the Integrity Summit Dutch Caribbean arose from a need expressed by integrity officers in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom. The summit was organized by the Ministry of BZK and SRA-Caribbean Partners NV, a local agency specializing in integrity and compliance training and consultancy.
The summit, held for the first time, serves as a steppingstone towards a more structured form of cooperation. The organizers describe it as a successful week that was received with great enthusiasm.