OCTA welcomes student group NGIZ Noord

On Wednesday 11 May, OCTA co-hosted with the Permanent Representation of the Netherlands, an information session for the NGIZ Noord, a regional student-led chapter of the Netherlands Society for International Affairs (NGIZ).

Mr Juan Thijsen, President of OCTA’s Executive Committee, welcomed the group and presented the work of OCTA. He also shared insights of his political career and his current posting as EU representative of Aruba and President of the Executive Committee.

NGIZ Noord Board Chair, Ms Esther Hesp, presented the functioning of their association and the work they carry out in the fields of international affairs, EU initiatives, among others. She highlighted that NGIZ Noord is the only chapter fully led by students.

The session continued with an overview of the functioning of the Permanent Representation by Mr Willem Knigge, Attaché for Internal Affairs and Kingdom Relations, who presented a clear overview of the day to day operations of the Member States towards the EU. In addition, as the contact point for the Dutch OCTs whithin the Dutch Representation, he explained the work carried out to support the OCTs.

Lastly, from OCTA’s Secretariat, Mr Pablo Lopez-Herrerias made a comprensive presentation on the history of the EU-OCT partnership, the organization of the Association, as well as presented the work done on youth, followed by Ms Marta Fernández Fornieles, who presented the participation of OCTs in EU programmes. Mr Andrei Moarcas explain the work developed on the fields of environment and energy for the OCTs.

This activity is part of OCTA’s initiatives to support the youth and to continue increasing the knowledge about the OCTs at EU level. The interest and enthusiasm of the student group was highly appreciated, showing the relevance of activities addressed to the youth. We thank again the Permanent Representation of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the EU for hosting this meeting in their offices.