Opening speech Integrity Summit Dutch Caribbean 2024
Welcome to this 2nd Dutch Caribbean Integrity Summit. Last evening I had the pleasure of meeting and greeting some of you at the welcome reception.
Before me this morning, are civil servants from all six Dutch Caribbean islands that work on integrity within their respective governmental organizations. Also, in attendance there are delegations from the Ministry of Interior and Kingdom Affairs, and of course RCN. Then, there are participants from other, very vital, organizations such as the Joint Court of Justice, the Caribbean Netherlands Judicial Institution, the Royal Marechaussee, which play a key role in keeping us on the right track. This really makes me smile. Because how often do we meet to work together so intensely?
Your presence here is proof that we all share a common agenda. That is to ensure that we can develop and uphold a high standard of Good Governance. Upholding integrity ensures transparent decision-making, accountability, and fairness, allowing local governments to effectively address community needs and safeguard public support. When we use a word like ‘integrity’, we automatically refer to people, organizations, or structures. It means they must be solid, dependable, and most importantly trustworthy.
During these three days you will work together on Integrity. You are here, because you yourselves have indicated that you need a platform where best practices and lessons learned can be exchanged. That is why the first integrity summit took place in Curaçao one year ago. I understand that this event was an enormous success, and that now you are ready to take the next steps. I am excited to learn what this 2nd integrity summit will result, and how it will further enrich the steps you have already taken.
Ms. Scotborgh, your moderator, will soon share some of the topics that will be discussed, and what the programme will look like for today and the remainder of the summit.
I am of the firm belief that integrity should be carried at the core by all members of our communities. But it starts with governmental organizations. That is why this year, here on S. Eustatius, we made efforts to integrate integrity into our organization. In order to ensure that the entire organization is on the same page, for us it is important to have an integrity office with an integrity advisor, integrity coordinator, 4 counselors (vertrouwenspersoben). They are responsible for developing the agenda on integrity and sharing it with everyone. To set this up, we tapped into the experience of other islands that are present. We thank you for that.
Being relatively small islands with small communities, we face different challenges when it comes to integrity. For example, we need to teach ourselves that development does not come with playing favorites to the ones we know. Development comes with serving the general interest of our islands, and not our own. Since all of this requires a change of culture, we need to be vigilant, but we must also give it time. We can help each other with finding a common ground on how to move this forward. If there is anything that we can take away from the days we will spend at this summit is that organizations that prioritize integrity are more likely to achieve long-term success and sustainability. By building trust with stakeholders, maintaining ethical standards, and fostering a positive work environment, a solid foundation for growth and resilience is created.
I would like to thank the Ministry of Interior and Kingdom Relations (BZK) for your support with coordinating and organizing and sponsoring this Integrity summit. You have made it possible in many different ways.
You can imagine how proud I am that St, Eustatius is the host of this event. It is my pleasure to welcome you to Statia, a unique island, with its own characteristics, history, culture and customs. We Statians are very proud of our island. Statia has many hidden treasures that we would love to share with others. I do hope that you will enjoy your brief stay and that you will find some time to explore and experience some of these special places. I wish you a very fruitful summit.