BES islands reach consensus on permanent representative in the Netherlands
Oranjestad/The Bottom/Kralendijk – The island councils of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba held the 9th BES Summit on June 10 on Sint Maarten. The islands reached consensus on a permanent representative in the Netherlands and drew up concrete action plans for healthcare and education. This summit also completed a full cycle: all three islands have now organised and chaired a meeting.
A notable innovation at this summit was the introduction of a breakout session, for the first time in the history of the BES Summit. Participants were divided into three groups to discuss the main themes in greater depth: healthcare, education and the permanent representative. In addition, an update was provided on WolBES and FinBES, the welfare and financial measurements of the BES islands, and a review was made of the agreements from May 2024.
In the area of healthcare, the focus was on prevention and early intervention. The islands also pointed to bottlenecks in the current structure, including limitations in supplementary insurance for specific medical and dental care. For education, the conclusions of the Education Council were discussed and concrete proposals were formulated for structural improvement, tailored to the local needs of each island.
The most concrete outcome concerns the permanent representative in the Netherlands. The island councils reached agreement on the job content, the profile and the logistical aspects, and drew up an action plan. The islands also expressed their intention to explore cooperation with all six islands in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom, including Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten.
Evaluation and next summit
To close, an evaluation survey was held on the effectiveness of the BES Summit. The chairmanship of the second cycle has been transferred to Sint Eustatius, with Glenville Schmidt as chair and Melissa Robins-Spanner as secretary. The next BES Summit is scheduled for September 4, 2026.
