On the picture Mr. Joost Reintjes, Head of the Western Hemisphere Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.By Roy Lie A Tjam
The arrival of the Latin America table at the Litteraire Societeit De Witte has been a highly anticipated. On Friday 28th February, Mr. Joost Reintjes, Head of the Western Hemisphere Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, delivered his inaugural speech. The musical Intermezzo played by pianist Joris van Goudoever, contributed to a relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere at de Groenezaal of Soc De Witte.
Ms Sonia Meijer, Chair of the Latin American Table, warmly welcomed the guests and thanked them for coming to this very special occasion. Among the fifty attendees were Ambassadors from across Latin-America, spanning from Mexico to Brazil and Peru.
For additional Kim Vermaat’s pictures on the event, please click here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/121611753@N07/albums/72157663105842783Mr. Joost Reintjes and Ms Sonia Meijer.
In his address, Mr. Joost Reintjes, a former Dutch diplomat highlighted how he was asked to speak about the relationship between Latin-America and the Kingdom of the Netherlands. His response: “I will gladly do so, but on one condition, that I may approach the subject through the prism of a passion, the Dutch and the Latino’s share, football.”
Mr. Joost Reintjes noted how his first encounters with Latin-America were colored by football and football-players. In 1974, the Netherlands played Uruguay, an impressive team that included the fearless Pablo Forlán. “We then played Argentina with the young Mario Kempes and later Brazil with the emerging star Revelino”.
In 1998 Reintjes worked in Venezuela, the year Argentina played The Netherlands in the World Cup. The whole of Venezuela was cheering for the Netherlands; he was touched and surprised by the display of solidarity. However the tables turned when the Netherlands played against Brazil, all of a sudden everyone in Venezuela decided to support Brazil. Football: full of surprises.
H.E. Ms. Aida Luz Santos de Escobar, Ambassador of El Salvador and H. E. Fermín Gabriel Quiñones Sánchez, Ambassador of Cuba.
Reintjes used to think only the Dutch were crazy about football, but it turned out the Dutch are far from alone in that respect. This ‘locura’ about football was one of the first similarities he encountered between the two countries, reflecting their broader level of understanding and like-mindedness.
The relations between the two entities are excellent and always improving, highlighted through the support Latin America has shown the Netherlands in their search for a non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council. It must be noted how three of the four autonomous countries of the Kingdom are located in the Caribbean. Thanks to this Caribbean dimension, the Netherlands actually are not that bad at baseball either, but that is a topic for another day.
The Ambassador of Mexico, H. E. Eduardo Ibarrola, H. E. Sergio Gerardo Ugalde Godinez, Ambassador of Costa Rica and the Ambassador of Chile, H. E. Maria Teresa de Jesus Infante Caffi.
Reintje stated how the Netherlands and CELAC share a solid basis of political understanding with the democracy in both regions being firmly rooted. Both countries share a strong commitment to the protection and promotion of human rights. They both believe in effective, representative and transparent global governance, the ideal of an inclusive society with opportunity for all.
Latin America has its challenges, but the Dutch have plenty of reasons to envy you. Where the spectre of interstate conflict has reared its ugly head in the east of Europe, many disagreements between Latin American states are still resolved in courtrooms. Despite economic headwinds in the near future, the middle classes are expanding. Latin-America, in many way can be regarded as in many ways as a stable region.
The CELAC region is on the rise, with a consistent growth in GDP over the last 15 years – around 3.5% per year according to the World Bank – and a growing income for over 600 million inhabitants, Latin America and the Caribbean have become an important economic force in the world.
Furthermore, the economic cooperation will be beneficial to both our regions. It will bring growth, jobs and an improved standard of living. We saw, for example, a sharp rise in trade between Colombia, Peru and the EU after the adoption of the Free Trade Agreement. For some goods, the agreement led to a rise in trade that exceeded 100%. There are many factors that bind the CELAC region and the Kingdom of the Netherlands, such as politics, commerce and of course, football.
H. E. Eduardo Ibarrola, H. E. Sergio Gerardo Ugalde Godinez, Ambassador of Costa Rica, the Ambassador of Chile, H. E. Maria Teresa de Jesus Infante Caffi, H. E. Héctor Horacio Salvador, Ambassador of Argentina, Mr. Joost Reintjes and the Ambassador of El Salvador H. E. Aida Luz Santos.
Mr Joost Reintjes, before concluding returned back to football “unfortunately, we did not win the world cup in ’78, or to be more specifically, we have not ever won it. And during the last World Cup we were eliminated, once again, by, you’re absolutely right, Argentina. There is no need to mention Brazil regarding the last World Cup.”
So after this devastation, the Dutch squad decided not to attend the 2016 European Cup in order to prepare for the 2018 World Cup of 2018 in Russia with the view of trying to win this one. When the day of this final, hopefully against Argentina or another CELAC-country, arrives, sometime in June or July, I am hoping we can all watch it together at the table of Latin America in the Litteraire Societeit De Witte.
Wanted: Women in Water – UNESCO-IHE’s International Women’s Day Conference
The UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education is organizing its International Women’s Day Conference 2016 on 17 March under the theme ‘Wanted: Women in Water’. The conference, from 12.00 – 17.00 hrs, will include three keynote speakers and will allocate time for discussion. It will be a forum for debate and reflection on the relevance, opportunities and obstacles of women choosing a career in the water sector.
The keynote speakers are three exceptional women who have made their careers in water, from the business, government and academia arenas. They will inspire the audience to reflect on the role that women working in the water sector can play.
Esther Bosman, Director Business Unit Water NL, Royal HaskoningDHV
Ndey-Isatou Njie, Former Chief, Water Energy and Capacity Development Branch Secretary, UN-Water Division for Sustainable Development, UN-DESA
Prof. dr. Simone Buitendijk, Vice Rector, Leiden University
Group discussions will be held on provocative statements dealing with the conference theme of Women in Water. Conclusions from these discussion will be presented during the wrap-up of the conference. People can also join the discussion on Twitter, using the hashtag #IWDC.
Ambassador Ahmet Üzümcü.
OPCW Director-General, H. E. Ambassador Ahmet Üzümcü, has announced that the European Union has contributed an additional €2.3 million to support the Organisation’s verification and fact-finding work in Syria.On 30 November 2015 the Council of the European Union adopted Decision 2015/2215/CFSP in support of UN Security Council Resolution 2235(2015) in the framework of the EU’s Strategy against Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction. That resolution established a Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) to identify, to the greatest extent feasible, individuals, entities, groups or governments who were perpetrators, organisers, sponsors or otherwise involved in the use of chemicals, including chlorine or any other toxic chemical, as weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic. The decision provides for a funding of 2.3 million euros to OPCW special missions in the Syrian Arab Republic, including activities related to the OPCW Fact Finding Mission in support of the JIM. By means of the same decision another 2.3 million euros will be contributed in support of JIM operations.Expressing his appreciation for the consistent and significant support extended by the EU for OPCW’s work, the Director-General said that, “This important contribution will enable the Organisation to continue to effectively carry out crucial mandated activities”.Thus, Council Decision 2015/2215/CFSP complements the commitment of the EU and its Member States to the complete elimination of Syria’s chemical weapons programme, including destruction of Syria’s declared chemical weapons stockpile (to which the Union has already contributed 17 million euros), in compliance with Syria’s obligations as State Party to the CWC.
On the picture H.E. Martijn van Dam Dutch Minister of Agriculture and H.E. Jean Pierre Karabaranga, Ambassador of Rwanda.
RDB, African Parks and the Government of the Netherlands present Wildlife Deal on the reintroduction of black rhinos into Rwanda.
Today, the Rwandan Development Board, African Parks and the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs presented a Wildlife Deal on the reintroduction of black rhinos into Rwanda. This project represents a very prestigious and positive initiative to bring an endangered species back into a safe environment in Rwanda. It restores Akagera National Park to a ‘Big Five’ park and will boost the tourism development in Rwanda.
The Wildlife Deal was presented today on World Wildlife Day at the Save Wildlife Conference in The Hague, the Netherlands. CEO of the Rwanda Development Board, Mr. Francis Gatare, expressed his gratitude to the Dutch Government and African Parks through a video-message and said that the ground-breaking conservation effort to re-introduce seven lions to Akagera last July was a resounding success and raised Akagera’s status among international conservation platforms.
‘The next milestone to achieve is the re-introduction of black rhinos to Akagera and to Rwanda. At this time I would like to express our gratitude for the financial support from the Dutch Government to aiding us in bringing back Rhinos to Rwanda. This would restore Akagera’s status as a ‘Big 5’ park and combined with the parks incredible scenery, huge diversity within a relatively small area, almost 500 species of bird and conservation success story, Akagera is set to become a must-see destination’, said Mr. Gatare.
H.E. Jean Pierre Karabaranga.
H.E. Jean Pierre Karabaranga, Ambassador of the Republic of Rwanda to the Netherlands, attended the High-level Round Table session, which was chaired by H.E. Martijn van Dam, chair of the conference and Minister for Agriculture of the Netherlands.
‘The future of wildlife is in our hands and the Government of Rwanda is playing a role in wildlife protection and has demonstrated a strong commitment towards the success of conservation in Rwanda’, said Ambassador Karabaranga after the presentation of the Wildlife Deal. ‘Rwanda is a stable country and, led by President Paul Kagame, has made huge advances in economic development and poverty reduction through a strong vision for the transformation of the country. The Government has the necessary will and conviction for conservation to succeed in Rwanda’.
The Ambassador took the opportunity to, on behalf of the Rwandan Government and the Rwanda Development Board, thank the Dutch Government and African Parks for supporting the various initiatives they undertook to ensure that wildlife has a future in Rwanda.
Since early 2010 African Parks and the Rwanda Development Board agreed to jointly manage Akagera National Park. The management agreement is for an initial term of 20 years, with an option to renew for a further 20 years. It is the goal of the partnership to restore, develop and manage Akagera as a functioning savannah ecosystem through biodiversity rehabilitation, sound conservation practices and tourism development, thereby creating additional benefit for the economy of Rwanda.
Akagera National Park is growing in profile nationally and the successful reintroduction of lion in June 2015 has boosted the park’s conservation status.
On the picture H.E. Sheikh Mohammed Belal, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh and H.E. Jonghyun Choe, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea.ASEF Photo Exhibition ‘On the Go’The Netherlands has a long shared history with Asia. Dutch sailors, merchants and adventurers sailed the Eastern waters already in the early 17th century. Today, the relationship between Europe and Asia has widened and deepened. Europe and Asia share many interests and face many similar challenges, which makes connectivity between our continents even more important than before. The Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) plays an important role in stimulating dialogue and cooperation between Europe and Asia. It unites 28 European Union member states, 2 other European countries, and the European Union with 21 Asian countries and the ASEAN secretariat. The ASEM dialogue addresses political, economic and cultural issues, with the objectives of strengthening the relationship between the two regions, in spirit of mutual respect and equal partnership. To celebrate the first meeting of ASEM in 1996, the 1st of March has been proclaimed as the international “ASEM-day”.For additional Mirza Kamram’s pictures on the event, please click here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/121611753@N07/albums/72157665299561476 The Asia-Europe foundation (ASEF), has invited photographers from Asia and Europe to participate in ‘On the Go’, a photo competition celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM). On the Go’s theme is the motion and the pace of life in Asia and Europe, illustrating the moments where we are different… and yet, so alike. The Asia & Oceania Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs organized an exhibition of 19 photographs selected from submissions of photographers of the 51 member states of the Asia-Europe Meeting to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Asia-Europe meeting at the Atrium of the City Hall in The Hague. The event was a nice gathering at which, head of missions and representatives of various embassies were present such as Bangladesh, South Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia, Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Sri Lanka. The city councilor Karsten Klein opened the event with a short speech followed some words of Deputy Director Arjen van den Berg from the ministry of foreign affairs.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is to provide Greece with medical equipment and supplies, in response to a recent plea by the Greek government for assistance with the refugee crisis.
Foreign Affairs Minister H. E. Bert Koenders and H. E. Lilianne Ploumen Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, will be providing specialised vehicles and medical supplies in the short term, for use in locations where refugees are stranded.
The tens of thousands of refugees currently stranded in various parts of Greece urgently need first aid and medical care. It has been agreed that the Netherlands will provide nine mobile aid units, each consisting of two vehicles, a generator, a tent and medical supplies. Greece will also receive sleeping bags, sheets, blankets and other items from the Netherlands as requested. The supplies will be dispatched as soon as possible.
Mr Koenders said the aid is meeting an urgent need. ‘It also shows that we are not abandoning Greece at this time of crisis which is weighing so heavily on the country. That’s why I believe there needs to be a European humanitarian aid programme for Greece. We must all pull together to help the refugees stranded there and also support the Greeks in the tremendous efforts they are making.’
Ms Ploumen added, ‘In recent months we have already donated humanitarian supplies to Greece and several Balkan countries, including lighting columns, camp beds and water pumps. The Netherlands is now sending this new aid consignment in response to the Greek government’s request, and I hope that other EU member states will quickly follow suit. We cannot leave all these people in the lurch.’
On the picture H.E. Mikalai Barysevich with Michèle Coninsx.
Yesterday, H.E. Mr Mikalai M. Barysevich, Ambassador for the Republic of Belarus to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, paid a courtesy visit to Eurojust. The visit was hosted by the President of Eurojust, Ms Michèle Coninsx.
The visit included a general discussion on Eurojust’s role in fighting organised crime and terrorism.
By Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, Founder and chairman of BRAC.
On 18 May 2015 from 16:00 to 17:30 at the International Institute of Social Studies ISS, Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, will describe in his lecture how he set up BRAC, now grown to become the world’s largest NGO, to deal with the multiple dimensions of poverty.
He will highlight the successes and challenges BRAC has faced in developing and managing programmes in health, education and financial services, including employment and income generation, with the underlying goal of helping the poor to lift themselves out of poverty.
Commission proposes new Emergency Assistance instrument for faster crisis response within the EU.
As the refugee crisis continues to put pressure on many European Member States, today the European Commission has proposed an Emergency Assistance instrument to be used within the European Union to provide a faster, more targeted response to major crises, including helping Member States cope with large numbers of refugees.
The initiative comes as the refugee crisis reaches an unprecedented scale with the need to provide immediate emergency support in several Member States hosting large amounts of refugees on their territories.
From the outset the Commission has been committed to supporting its Member States through all means possible and the proposal is a direct follow up to the European Council of 18-19 February, when governments called on the Commission to develop the capacity to provide emergency assistance internally.
European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management ChristosStylianides said: “With this proposal, we will be able to deliver emergency assistance for crises much faster than before, inside the European Union. Right now, there’s no doubt that this will be particularly needed to support refugees. No time can be lost in deploying all means possible to prevent humanitarian suffering within our own borders. Today’s proposal will make €700 million available to provide help where it is most needed. I now look to European governments and the European Parliament to quickly back the proposal.”
Member States whose own response capacities are overwhelmed by urgent and exceptional circumstances, such as the sudden influx of refugees or other major disruptions could benefit from this new instrument. The provision of emergency assistance will be based on Article 122(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. This will allow for support to be provided in the fastest and broadest possible way, in a spirit of solidarity between Member States.
Emergency assistance would be provided in close coordination with Member States and organisations such as UN agencies, non-governmental organisations and international organisations, and include the provision of basic necessities such as food, shelter and medicine to the large numbers of children, women and men currently arriving in EU countries.
The Commission will urgently propose, to the European Parliament and to the Council as the budgetary authorities, an amending budget for 2016 to create the budget line for the instrument. The estimated needs for 2016 are €300 million with a further €200 million each for use in 2017 and 2018, respectively.
Funding would therefore not be diverted from existing external humanitarian aid programmes outside the EU. The EU remains committed to continue leading the international humanitarian response to the Syria crisis, amongst other global emergencies worldwide where EU humanitarian aid saves lives.
The event was a nice gathering at which, head of missions and representatives of various embassies were present such as Bangladesh, South Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia, Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Sri Lanka.
The city councilor Karsten Klein opened the event with a short speech followed some words of Deputy Director Arjen van den Berg from the ministry of foreign affairs.
H.E. Mr Essid said: “Tunisia, since its accession to the Rome Statute, participated actively in the work of the Court and has always worked in favour of dialogue and consensus. These two principles have been implemented at the national level and have also enabled Tunisia to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2015. Tunisia, which led its democratic transition process successfully, is more than ever committed to the rule of law and respect of freedoms and human rights”.
ICC Prosecutor Bensouda equally expressed her appreciation for Tunisia’s support for the activities of her Office, and stressed that: “the Arab world and the wider Middle East have an important role to play in strengthening adherence to the principles of international criminal justice and the rule of law”.
“By ratifying the Rome Statute, Tunisia has demonstrated leadership and has confirmed its firm commitment to the fight against impunity for atrocity crimes under the jurisdiction of the Court. My Office welcomes the opportunity to further strengthen its cooperation with Tunisia”.
During the visit, H.E. Mr Essid unveiled a mosaic of “Virgil and the Muses” offered by the Government of the Republic of Tunisia, illustrating Tunisia’s historical legal heritage. This initiative reflects Tunisia’s firm commitment to the ICC and against impunity for the perpetrators of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, crimes that are within the ICC’s jurisdiction and are of concern to the international community.
ICC Registrar von Hebel thanked Tunisia’s Head of Government and said: “The ICC today occupies an iconic building that serves as a symbol of international criminal justice. Artwork donated by States Parties will become an integral part of the Court’s new premises and serve to remind all those who visit the Court of the strong commitment by the international community to the Rome Statute and the work of the ICC”.
