Her Majesty Queen Máxima will visit the municipality of Zaanstad on Wednesday, October 15, together with the Secretary of State for Participation and Integration, Jurgen Nobel, as part of the Pact Zaandam-East 2024-2044. In this alliance, social organizations, knowledge institutions, the municipality, police, and residents work together to improve development opportunities, especially for the youth. The Pact is part of the National Program for Livability and Safety (NPLV).
In Zaandam-East, approximately 47,000 people with diverse backgrounds live in five neighborhoods. Compared to other neighborhoods in the municipality, residents demonstrably have fewer opportunities to develop their talents and build their future. The Pact Zaandam-East is a multi-year plan to create more equal opportunities for all Zaankanters. The approach within the Pact is strongly neighborhood-oriented, with intensive involvement from residents. This allows people to find appropriate help more quickly in their own neighborhood for issues such as poverty and debt prevention and finding work. It also ensures that neighborhood residents feel more connected to their environment.
Queen Máxima, Secretary of State Nobel, and the host, Mayor Jan Hamming, speak with professionals in a community center about the issues they encounter in the neighborhoods and how these are addressed together within the Pact and the NPLV, focusing on poverty alleviation and participation. There are discussions with residents on topics such as youth and debts, increasing opportunities in the labor market, physical and mental health issues, and participation in society.
In the National Program for Livability and Safety, the government, together with municipalities and other local parties, is committed to improving the livability and safety of 1.2 million residents in twenty focus areas across nineteen cities and providing residents with more perspective. The ministries of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, Justice and Security, Education, Culture and Science, Social Affairs and Employment, and Health, Welfare, and Sport invest to address the accumulation of problems in these areas. Special attention is paid to better housing, preventing youth crime, tackling poverty and debts, and improving the quality of education.
Queen Máxima is honorary chair of the Financially Healthy Netherlands Foundation and MIND Us.
RVD, no. 279
