SER-Curaçao emphasizes importance of renewed social contract at Kingdom level

Willemstad, Feb. 23, 2023 – “A renewed social contract between the countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands for a sustainable recovery. That was the title of the presentation made by a delegation from the Social and Economic Council (SER) during an Ibero-American meeting held from Feb. 14 to 16, in the city of Antigua, Guatemala. The meeting, centered on the theme “Democracia, pactos y consenso, vías para la recuperación. Los Consejos Económicos y Sociales como instituciones clave para la gobernanza democrática’ (Democracy, pacts and consensus, paths to recovery. Economic and Social Councils as Key Institutions for Democratic Governance), was organized by the Social Economic Council of Spain and the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation and Development (AECID), as part of the Plan for Transfer, Exchange and Knowledge Management for Development (INTERCOONECTA) and took place at the ‘Centro de Formación de Cooperación Española’ in the historic Guatemalan city.

Delegates from the socio-economic advisory bodies of Spain, Guatemala, Honduras, Argentina, Costa Rica, Curaçao, Portugal and the Dominican Republic, as well as delegates from similar institutions from Chile, Peru and Uruguay attended. The agenda included presentations and panel discussions on social, economic and labor issues of interest to Latin America and Spanish-speaking countries in the Caribbean ahead of the XXVIII Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government leaders to be held next March 24-25 in the capital of the Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo under the title “Juntos hacia una Iberoamérica justa y sostenible” (Together towards a just and sustainable Latin America).

Although the Country of Curaçao, formally speaking, is not part of the group of Ibero-American countries, the SER is almost always invited to INTERCOONECTA activities related to the key role that social economic advisory councils play in the region on issues related to sustainable development, democratization, peace, security and stability, among others. This is because of the close and friendly ties the SER has with sister organizations in the region and in Spain.

Given the main theme of the meeting in La Antigua, Guatemala, the SER, which was represented at a technical level by its director/general secretary Mr. Raul Henriquez, the senior advisor in charge of international affairs Ms. Miloushka Sboui-Racamy and the advisor in charge of inter-institutional affairs Ms. Dainadira Eustatius-Martis, explained, among others, how during the COVID-19 crisis a (de facto) renewed social contract, was concluded between the four countries of the Kingdom. This included a broad elaboration on the main themes of the Curaçao country package and the economic, financial, social and institutional reforms necessary to make the island more resilient. The role of the SER as a tripartite advisory body to the legislature in that process was explained in more detail.

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