Youngsters will be giving form to the future of the Kingdom themselves. That
is on of the most important decisions of the Kingdom Youth Parliament (KJP),
which reached its closure on Thursday May 22nd on Sint Maarten. For three
days 50 youngsters debated there about the topics in the Kingdom of now and
the future, which are important to them. Education and culture, children’s
rights and durable economic development were central.
Princess Beatrix, who opened the KJP on Tuesday, was also present when the
end results were submitted. On Thursday she followed a part of the debates
and she has spoken with all of the youngsters during the past days. She was
also the first to receive the closing agreement.
In three short presentations the youngsters indicated how the three themes
which should receive special attention concerning the collaboration within
the Kingdom during the coming years, should be further concretely elaborated
upon. They are going to make a Kingdom Career Website (Koninkrijks Carrière
Website) in collaboration with colleges and universities. The goal is to
help future students on the island to make good study choices when they are
considering to go to the Netherlands for further studies. According to the
youngsters currently there is not enough information about this subject.
Another point of action will be combating the brain drain on the islands.
The Caribbean parts of the Kingdom invest in their youngsters to go study in
the Netherlands, but many of them do return home afterwards. This means that
they no longer give a contribution to further developing their
country/island, which did invest in them. This is the reason why the KJP
youngsters want to realize more collaboration between institutions for
higher education in all parts of the Kingdom. The students also have to be
motivated themselves, in order to choose those studies that contribute to
the development of the Caribbean parts of the Kingdom. One of the KJP
youngsters put it like this:
“Let’s stop the braindrain and start the braingain”.
To obtain more and better knowledge about each other, a Kingdom Youth
Channel will also be setup on Youtube, where youngsters will take care of
popular video’s themselves. The target group here consists of youngsters of
12 to 18 years. The first video has to go online in December. The goal is to
create a ‘kingdom identity’.
In order to get more and better knowledge and awareness of each other there
will be a Kingdom Youth Channel on Youtube, where youngsters will take care
themselves of uploading popular videos. The target Group here is young
people aged 12 to 18 years. The first video should go online in December.
The goal is to create a ‘kingdom identity’.
For the 19 -year-old Aruban KJP participant Nurianne Helder, after three
days of debating together, the KJP already a great success for that matter.
She said at the closing session: “I’m no longer an Aruban citizen or a Dutch
citizen, but now I certainly feel and am a Kingdom citizen” .
From various sides during these three days of Kingdom Youth Parliament,
people insisted that this initiative should be continued. Aruba proposed
through its Minister of Culture, Michelle Winklaar, to be the candidate to
organize the next edition, possibly in 2017.
The KJP was the third national event of the National Committee in the
context of the 200 years celebration of the Kingdom. On behalf of the
National Committee, President Ank Bijleveld promised to raise the subject of
continuation of the KJP initiative in a letter to the Minister of Interior
Affairs Ronald Plasterk. Commenting on the results of the KJP, she stated to
be particularly pleased about the “connection” it brings in the Kingdom.
After the earlier national events of the National Committee Kingdom 200
years in Scheveningen, the Hague and now St. Maarten, there still are three
upcoming events: end of August in Maastricht, in April 2015 in Zwolle and
the closure next September in Amsterdam.