PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — Cultural heritage emergency specialists, archivists, disaster response professionals, and regional coordinators from across the globe are gathering in Sint Maarten from 18–22 May 2026 for the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Network of CER Regional Hubs.
Hosted by the Cultural Emergency Response (CER) Regional Hub in the Caribbean and the Sint Maarten Sub Hub, the week-long programme is coordinated by Marcellia Henry, Secretary General for UNESCO Sint Maarten, and brings together representatives from Aruba, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Curaçao, Kosovo, Suriname, the Netherlands, Barbados, Jamaica, Guatemala, Ukraine, Lebanon, St. Maarten, and St. Martin to strengthen international cooperation in protecting cultural heritage during crises and emergencies.
The AGM officially opened with welcome remarks from the Honourable Melissa Gumbs, Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport of Sint Maarten. In her address, Minister Gumbs expressed sincere appreciation to Cultural Emergency Response (CER) and the Caribbean Regional Branch of the International Council on Archives (CARBICA) for convening the gathering and selecting Sint Maarten as the host location for this year’s meeting.
“This Annual General Meeting provides a valuable platform for meaningful dialogue, knowledge exchange, capacity building, and regional partnership development,” Minister Gumbs stated. “The planned discussions, training opportunities, and site visits throughout the week will undoubtedly strengthen our collective ability to respond effectively to cultural emergencies and safeguard the heritage that defines our communities and identities.”
Additional welcome remarks were delivered by Sanne Letschert, Director of CER, and Max Scriwanek, Director of the Curaçao National Archives and Coordinator of the CER Regional Hub in the Caribbean.
A keynote presentation by Marcellia Henry highlighted Sint Maarten’s post-Hurricane Irma recovery efforts, with particular emphasis on cultural, heritage, and documentary institutions. She also noted that Sint Maarten officially became a CER Sub Hub in June 2025. In this role, Sint Maarten is responsible for coordinating cultural emergency response efforts within the northeastern Caribbean and supporting nearby islands, including Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Barthélemy, Sint Eustatius, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Saba.
The AGM programme, compiled by Freddie Thomson, Programme Manager for CER Regional Hubs, features presentations, workshops, training sessions, tabletop exercises, and collaborative strategy discussions focused on emergency preparedness, cultural protection, and regional response coordination.
Conference sessions highlighted the achievements and lessons learned from the CER Regional Hubs in the Caribbean, Levant, Western Balkans, Black Sea region and Central America.
Topics throughout the week include:
- Crisis management and emergency decision-making
- Psychosocial wellbeing in emergency response work
- Regional emergency response case studies and lessons learned
- Development of new large-scale response workflows
- Public engagement in cultural protection
- Continuity planning and simulation exercises for cultural emergency preparedness
Participants will also engage with local cultural institutions through visits to the Saint Martin Archives on the northern side of the island, cultural sites in Marigot, the Sint Maarten Library, and other heritage venues and sites in Philipsburg.
The Annual General Meeting represents an important opportunity to deepen international collaboration and reinforce the role of cultural heritage protection within disaster and emergency response frameworks.
