New Belgian development policy demands courage and cuts

More with less — that could be the motto of Belgium’s development policy for the coming years. The new center-right government wants a “courageous” policy that focuses on human rights, economic growth and greater efficiency, while cutting the budget even more than its predecessor. Understandably, the nongovernmental organization community is worried. The new minister for development cooperation, 38-year old Flemish liberal Alexander De Croo, has big plans. In a presentation of his policy to the Belgian parliament in November, he said he wants to “sharpen the DNA of development cooperation.” But the overall priority of Belgium’s new center-right government, which came to power in October, is to cut costs. The four coalition partners — the francophone liberals and three parties from Dutch-speaking Flanders: liberals, Christian democrats and Flemish nationalists — want to economize 11 billion euros ($13.7 billion) by 2019. Development cooperation will have to bear a large part of the effort. A cut of 1 billion euros over 5 years Belgium’s development budget has been going down over the past years, from 2.27 billion euros in 2010 to 1.73 billion euros in 2013 — and it is expected to decline further in coming years. De Croo has said that annual cuts will increase to 270 million euros by 2019. In contrast, as a result of the economic crisis, the government decided in 2011 to just freeze its development budget. But the reductions will be relatively painless in 2015 and 2016 as the bulk of the cuts will come as a result of rescheduling Belgium’s contributions to the World Bank. But all in all, about 1 billion euros will be cut from the development budget during the government’s five-year term, Bogdan Vanden Berghe, director of 11.11.11, the association of Flemish development NGOs, told Devex. “And it comes on top of the 800 million euros cut of the previous centrist government,” Vanden Berghe said. “This is very worrying, in view of the increased global challenges that we are facing.” Parliamentarian Wouter De Vriendt of the opposition Green party has been more scathing in his remarks, noting that the coalition government “wants to use funds that are meant for the countries in the [‘global south’] to solve the problems of the [‘global north’].” The reductions in the development budget also seem to mark a turnaround for Prime Minister Charles Michel, who once defended the budget when he was development minister. “Saving on development cooperation is stupid,” Michel said in 2009. “You’ll end up paying the price as migration, instability and insecurity increase.” Respecting the 0.7 percent norm Despite the cuts, the government maintains it commitment to spend 0.7 percent of gross national income on official development assistance. “I still think it’s important that we stick to this norm,” De Croo said in a recent interview. “In the coming years we won’t be able to make it, but once the economy kicks off again this must be our challenge.” But although Belgium enshrined this commitment into law in 2002, the closest it is has ever gotten to meeting this target was in 2010, when it achieved a 0.65 percent ODA-to-GNI ratio. This, however, was largely a result of forgiving the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s 365 million euros debt to Belgium. Since then, the ratio has dropped consistently, falling to 0.45 percent in 2013 and projected to plummet further to 0.38 percent by 2019. Vanden Berghe notes that all government parties support upholding the 0.7 percent norm — except for De Croo’s own Flemish liberal party. Fewer partner countries Belgium will concentrate its bilateral aid by reducing the number of beneficiary partner countries from 18 to 15. Presently, most of the partner countries that receive support through the Belgian development agency BTC are in Africa. These include former colonies Congo — by far the largest recipient of Belgian aid — Rwanda and Burundi, as well as Benin, Senegal, Mali, Niger, Tanzania, Uganda, Mozambique, South Africa, Morocco and Algeria. Beyond Africa, aid goes to the Palestinian territories, Peru, Bolivia and Vietnam. While the minister has not confirmed which countries will be scrapped, De Croo did indicate that assistance will be concentrated on three regions: North and West Africa, and the African Great Lakes region — which means countries outside of Africa are likely on the chopping block. Exit programs will be drawn up for the countries that are dropped from the list. “This will create a lot of uncertainty in the aid sector. It could lead to a loss of expertise on Latin America and Asia that has been built up over the years,” Huib Huyse, head of the sustainable development research group at Leuven University, told Devex. Moreover, the government announced that its choice of partner countries will also be determined by their effect on migration to Europe and on radicalization. “Linking the allocation of aid to specific regions to serve [Belgium’s domestic agenda] holds risks,” Huyse argued. “There is hardly any scientific evidence that development cooperation can influence migration flows. The danger is that aid will be instrumentalized to serve other purposes.” Focus on fragile states Under the new government, Belgian aid will be targeted toward less developed countries and more fragile states. “Politically and morally, this is a justifiable choice,” professor Tom De Herdt, who heads the Institute for Development Policy and Management at the University of Antwerp, said. But Vanden Berghe argued that middle-income countries should continue to receive support as well. “That’s where most of the poor people are, that’s where durable economic development is the most effective to counter inequalities,” 11.11.11’s director said. But this focus on fragile states also brings to question one of the government’s major policy changes, which is to make a rights-based approach central to Belgium’s development policy. “This is a positive point in the new policy,” Huyse noted. “But it means that the government will have to make strategic choices. The question is: How are they going to implement this in the difficult context of fragile states?” De Croo made it clear that respect for human rights — including the rights of gays, lesbians and bisexuals — will be a condition for development cooperation. “Development cooperation is not a blank check,” the minister told parliament this month. “If we see that the human rights situation is deteriorating, Belgium should not look away. That doesn’t mean that we should stop cooperation every time that something goes wrong, but we should change our way of working, for example by partnering with civil society instead of directly with the government.” Huyse has identified a major problem with this policy, especially if the government will indeed focus development cooperation on fragile states. “The whole point with these states is that the rule of law and respect for rights is often very weak,” he emphasized. “If you put these issues upfront as a condition, you risk blocking all forms of cooperation, as governments of such countries often don’t want this sort of meddling.” New partnership strategies About 11 percent of the development budget is currently channeled to nongovernmental organizations in Belgium, which forms part of the 240 million euros in public funds that these groups receive annually. But while De Croo has reassured NGOs that funding will be maintained at about the same level in 2015 and 2016, cuts may be necessary from 2017 onward. The minister is currently considering developing a procurement system where the government determines the countries of operation, sectors and strategic choices, among other factors, according to its priorities. “This is what’s already been done in countries like the [United Kingdom], but it’s new for Belgium,” Huyse said. “The risk is that NGOs will be restricted in what they can do and in what they’re good at. This could lead to exclusion of new and alternative ideas and the instrumentalization of NGO partners.” De Croo is also looking at working more closely with the local private sector in its partner countries, particularly in supporting micro, small and midsize enterprises, as part of efforts to promote inclusive, sustainable economic growth. The minister believes inclusive and sustainable economic growth is a viable way out of poverty, but also emphasizes the need to reduce countries’ dependency on aid and promote opportunities and empowerment instead. “We’re giving people in the less-developed countries a push in the right direction, so that they can take their development in their own hands,” De Croo said. ‘Missed opportunity’ for much-needed policy coherence De Croo is in a strong position to push for policy coherence, since he is responsible not only for development cooperation (alongside telecommunications, postal affairs and the digital agenda), but is also deputy prime minister. This could give him some clout within the government to oversee areas that are related to development, such as foreign affairs, asylum and migration, foreign trade, durable development, and debts. Moreover, the minister wants more concentrated assistance. “There is fragmentation in the different sectors of the Belgian aid system,” Huyse noted. “Adjusting this, however, will require dialogue with the organizations involved.” 11.11.11’s director Vanden Berghe has said NGOs are ready to review their activities and their way of working, emphasizing that “there are no taboos.” The need for coherence is compounded by Belgium’s federal system, where development aid is dispensed not only by the national government, but also by the regions of Flanders and Wallonia, the two main constituent parts of the country — an issue that was not addressed in the government’s new development policy. “This is a missed opportunity,” De Herdt noted. “The division of labor between the different levels of governments should be reviewed. I know that the University of Kinshasa in [Congo] receives Belgian, Flemish and Walloon funding — and all of this has to be coordinated!” Check out more insights and analysis provided to hundreds of Executive Members worldwide, and subscribe to the Development Insider to receive the latest news, trends and policies that influence your organization.