Interparliamentary Kingdom Consultation (IPKO) to start on Thursday in The Hague

THE HAGUE - The Interparliamentary Kingdom Consultation (IPKO) will begin this Thursday in The Hague. During the IPKO, delegations from the Parliaments of Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten, as well as the States General, will meet under the leadership of Mariëlle Paul, the chairperson of the standing committee for Kingdom Relations of the Second Chamber. 

 

The themes of discussion will include climate change and adaptation, education, the upcoming Kingdom Conference, data security within the Kingdom, and the impact and processing of colonialism and slavery. 

 

The IPKO, the consultation structure of the parliaments of the countries within the Kingdom, takes place twice a year in principle. The meeting is held in one of the Caribbean countries of the Kingdom in January, while the June meeting is organized in the First and Second Chambers in The Hague. 

 

Agenda 

 

The consultation will commence on Thursday, June 1, with an opening session at Nieuwspoort. The leaders of the Caribbean parliamentary delegations and the leader of the States General delegation, Paul Rosenmöller, will provide a presentation on the recent developments in the four countries. Following this, a discussion on data security within the Kingdom will take place. 

 

On Friday, June 2, the IPKO will convene in the plenary hall of the Second Chamber. The meeting will focus on further elaborating on the recommendations from the Findings Report of the Advisory College Dialogue Group on Slavery Past. 

 

The IPKO delegations will exchange thoughts with, among others, the coordinators of the National Slavery Museum. On that day, discussions will also take place regarding climate change and policies within the Kingdom. Ed Nijpels, coordinator for the Climate Table Bonaire, will give a presentation on his recently published advice. 

 

Furthermore, the delegations will discuss education within the Kingdom and the steps that were taken following the report "Worries of Caribbean Students" by the National Ombudsman. The National Ombudsman will provide a presentation on this matter. 

 

On Saturday, June 3, the IPKO will undertake a working visit to Delft. The agenda includes a visit to the Green Village of the technical university and a field lab for sustainable innovation in the urban environment. 

 

The interparliamentary consultation will conclude on Monday, June 5, with the adoption and signing of the list of agreements and a joint press conference by the chairpersons of the four delegations. 

 

The discussions between the delegations are largely public and can be followed directly via live stream on the Nieuwspoort website (Thursday) and on the website of the Second Chamber through the News Channel (Friday and Monday). 




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