$Tweede Kamerfractie ChristenUnie 2017$ Joël Stephanus Voordewind (born 9 July 1965 in

Sleen Sleen is a village in Drenthe, Netherlands of about 2,500 people. Sleen has been inhabited for centuries. Much ancient history can be found in the area, particularly in the forests (which are planted, though). At birth and during the Republiek de ...

Drenthe Drenthe () is a province of the Netherlands located in the northeastern part of the country. It is bordered by Overijssel to the south, Friesland to the west, Groningen to the north, and the German state of Lower Saxony to the east. As of Jan ...

) is a Dutch politician and former

development aid Development aid (or development cooperation) is a type of aid given by governments and other agencies to support the economic, environmental, social, and political International development, development of developing countries. It is distinguishe ...

worker. As a member of the Christian Union (''ChristenUnie'') he was an MP from 2006 until 2021. He focused on matters of

foreign policy Foreign policy, also known as external policy, is the set of strategies and actions a State (polity), state employs in its interactions with other states, unions, and international entities. It encompasses a wide range of objectives, includ ...

defense Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood (Maturity (psychological), maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as bei ...

and family. Since 7 July 2022, he has been an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

Alkmaar Alkmaar () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands, located in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland. Alkmaar is well known fo ...

Biography

Voordewind, after receiving a degree in

political sciences Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and ...

(with a specialization in

international relations International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...

) at VU University Amsterdam, started working as an assistant for the Dutch Labour parliamentary party. He began in 1991 and left the party in 1994. After this he worked for the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

, the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

and an international Christian aid organisation named

Dorcas Aid Dorcas (), or Tabitha (), was an early disciple (Christianity), disciple of Jesus mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles (, see discussion Acts 9#The healing of Tabitha (9:36–43), here). She lived in the port city of Jaffa, Joppa, today absorb ...

. For some time he was committed as a spokesman to the Dutch Secretary of Defence. After some time Voordewind came to the conclusion that because of his Christian convictions, it would be better if he switched to a Christian party. He made this decision in 1999 and began to work for the

parliamentary group A parliamentary group, parliamentary caucus or political group is a group consisting of members of different political party, political parties or independent politicians with similar ideologies. Some parliamentary systems allow smaller politic ...

of the Christian Union. In 2001 he became their campaign leader for the Dutch general election in 2002. He also led the campaign towards the general election in 2003. In 2003 he was a member of the

States-Provincial The provincial council (, PS), also known as the States-Provincial, is the provincial parliament and legislative assembly in each of the provinces of the Netherlands. It is elected for each province simultaneously once every four years and has ...

North Holland North Holland (, ) is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht (province), Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevola ...

. Until 2006 he was head of the

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...

division of the party. He was chairman of the local Christian Union in the Dutch capital

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

for which in 2002 and 2006 he stood for the local council, but both times the CU gained no seats. Voordewind was elected into the Dutch Parliament in 2006. He was the fourth name on the candidate list of the Christian Union, which doubled its number of seats from three to six. For this party he was the spokesman for all issues concerning the health system, welfare and sports, defence and European Affairs. He is married and the father of two children. Son Manuel works as a press spokesperson for the Christian Union (CU) parliamentary group in the Second Chamber. He lives in Amsterdam and is a member of a Dutch Vineyard-church.

Electoral history

Honours

Upon his departure from the Second Chamber, Voordewind was appointed Knight in the

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau () is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has performed acts of special merits for ...

Notes

References

Parlement.com biography

External links

Alderman Joël Voordewind
, Municipality of Alkmaar website {{DEFAULTSORT:Voordewind, Joel 1965 births Living people Aldermen in North Holland Association of Vineyard Churches Christian Union (Netherlands) politicians Dutch anti-poverty advocates Dutch evangelicals Dutch MPs 2006–2010 Dutch MPs 2010–2012 Dutch MPs 2012–2017 Dutch MPs 2017–2021 Dutch nonprofit directors Dutch political scientists People from Alkmaar People from Coevorden People in international development Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam alumni