Third Counterpart Days TWO
“Knowledge sharing is the spearhead of Counterpart Days”
The Temporary Work Organization has organized Counterpart Days for the third time. With the Counterpart Days, the TWO wants to stimulate knowledge sharing between the countries. This time the three-day meeting took place in Curaçao.
During the interactive days, the cooperation partners from Aruba, Curaçao, St. Maarten and the TWO reflected on the experiences one year after the signing of the mutual arrangement on Cooperation on Reforms, the development of new implementation agendas and tools to efficiently monitor and evaluate projects. Time was also spent on knowledge sharing with training on change management, strengthening the legislative function in the three countries and a lecture from the World Bank on the experiences gained in St. Maarten, among others, in the field of reconstruction and strengthening resilience.
Eunelda Cairo on behalf of the Country of St. Maarten
“The collaboration between the TWO and the government of St. Maarten has had successes and challenges in recent years. The connection of the National Package with the National Development Vision of St. Maarten can be counted as one of the successes. The Counterpart Days create the opportunity to exchange ideas and also to have sensitive discussions. Furthermore, these days not only strengthen cooperation, but also show that the countries within the Kingdom can work together and cohesively on the general development of the countries. The past Counterpart Days are seen as a success by St. Maarten and we look forward to the next Counterpart Days.”
John de Lannoy of the National Reform Commission of Curaçao
“The individual countries are working hard to implement the various reforms within the thematic topics of the country package. Over the past few years, several successes have been achieved and a lot of experience has been gained. But at the same time, countries have faced several challenges inherent to major reforms. During the Counterpart Days it becomes clear again and again that we can learn from each other's successes and challenges. Knowledge sharing is therefore the spearhead of these days. Based on joint experiences, the need to improve the tools and reports was indicated during the previous Counterpart Days. The implementation organizations of the four countries subsequently jointly developed new formats and tools for the Implementation Agenda and the Implementation Report. These new formats and tools will be introduced starting from the next implementation cycle. This innovation was therefore an important topic during the Counterpart Days. The National Reform Commission of the government of Curaçao looks back on a successful meeting.”
Indra Zaandam of the TWO Aruba
“There is a wealth of variety and diversity within the Kingdom. That is our strength as countries. It was very useful to have a conversation with each other and to gain insight into the differences and similarities. Thanks to the counterpart days, it has once again become clear that jointly utilizing opportunities based on ownership leads to a more sustainable Kingdom. The Temporary Work Organization Aruba also looks back on a successful meeting.”
