Development NGOs in the Netherlands are diversifying income streams and emphasizing strong program development. They’re exploring new markets, closing offices and hiring new talent with different skill sets — all in an effort to adapt to a vastly different aid environment in the country.
In just under five years, one of Europe’s largest donors has undergone a complete transformation. The Dutch government dropped its commitment to spend 0.7 percent of its gross national income on aid, cut the number of bilateral partners in half and decided to put more emphasis on trade in its international cooperation makeup.
By 2017, the coalition government’s decision to cut a total of 1 billion euros ($1.14 billion) from its development cooperation budget is expected to be realized, alongside its plans to refocus its core budget for civil society actors on lobbying and advocacy efforts. Dutch aid relative to GNI is expected to fall to just 0.55 percent by 2017 — its lowest level in more than four decades.
About the author
Jenny Lei Ravelo@JennyLeiRavelo
Jenny Lei Ravelo is a Devex Senior Reporter based in Manila. She covers global health, with a particular focus on the World Health Organization, and other development and humanitarian aid trends in Asia Pacific. Prior to Devex, she wrote for ABS-CBN, one of the largest broadcasting networks in the Philippines, and was a copy editor for various international scientific journals. She received her journalism degree from the University of Santo Tomas.
