‘Unprecedented’ cuts leave Dutch civil society organizations reeling

The Dutch government plans to cut funding to local and international civil society organizations by around two-thirds, with development players calling it a “devastating and unprecedented” move. Reinette Klever, the country’s foreign trade and development minister, announced last week that grants for CSOs will be between €390 million (about $412 million) and €565 million for 2026 to 2030, down from €1.4 billion in the five-year period ending in 2025. The cuts will affect local CSOs and those abroad, the government explained in a statement, as it portrayed the changes as part of an effort to back localization. “The government wants to simplify the funding system, for instance by paying grants directly to implementing organisations where possible,” the statement read. “By avoiding complex arrangements, funds can be spent as efficiently as possible. In addition, local organisations and communities should more often be given a leading role. This will achieve concrete results that align more closely with local cultures, customs and norms.” However, Dirk Jan Koch, a professor at Radboud University, did not buy that argument. “Space for CSOs is shrinking quickly in a growing number of countries, and instead of reclaiming that space by widening the support, the Dutch government is doing exactly the opposite.” --— Paul van den Berg, chief political adviser, Cordaid “If 2/3rds of the budget is cut for Dutch NGOs, it is not possible that more funds will end up in the hands of local organisations,” Koch told Devex by email. “In their role of ‘middle man’ Dutch NGOs take about 10% overhead these days, not 67%. So, I see this primarily as a cost saving measure.” Koch, who authored a book, “Foreign Aid and its Unintended Consequences,” wrote that the budget cut was historic, but not only due to its size. Under the changes, from 2026, CSOs will also no longer receive funding for lobbying activities in the Netherlands. Koch argued that this would make it impossible for Dutch NGOs to amplify the voice of local stakeholders around the world. “Over the last decade … Dutch funded programs have brought the voices of unions and other crucial actors from the Global South to the negotiation tables in Brussels, The Hague and Geneva,” he told Devex. “The idea was that important rules that affect the development possibilities in the Global South are made there. That will no longer be possible.” Ideology in action Klever, from the far-right Party for Freedom, or PVV, led by Geert Wilders, came to power in July as part of a right-wing governing coalition tasked with progressively cutting the overall aid budget by up to €2.4 billion from 2027. In 2024, the development budget was roughly €3.5 billion overall. The news comes amid steep cuts in planned aid spending by other leading European donors including France and Germany. Meanwhile, earlier this year Sweden’s right-wing coalition government also announced plans to end all funding agreements with Swedish NGOs, forcing them to reapply in competition with organizations outside Sweden. Klever’s appointment in the Netherlands was controversial due to her previous comments that all development assistance should be ended, climate change is a “hoax,” asylum-seekers bring diseases, the European Union is an “Orwellian pigsty of arrogance and hubris,” the COVID-19 vaccine is “deadlier than it seems,” as well as her questioning the effectiveness of the cervical cancer vaccine. In its statement last week, the government said that the 2026-2030 Dutch aid policy will continue to focus on themes where the country “stands out internationally.” It said funding will “remain available” for areas like combating HIV/AIDS and female genital mutilation; women’s entrepreneurship; clean and fair trade; and human rights, including of religious minorities and LGBTQ+ people. However, Paul van den Berg, chief political adviser with Dutch aid organization Cordaid, told Devex that the cuts were a “devastating and an unprecedented cut on the invaluable work of CSOs.” “This is an unfounded, fact-free policy document which will destroy many organizations in the Global North and South and is exactly the wrong signal at the wrong time,” van den Berg wrote by email. “Space for CSOs is shrinking quickly in a growing number of countries, and instead of reclaiming that space by widening the support, the Dutch government is doing exactly the opposite.” The government statement noted that it wants to make CSOs less dependent on government money. In the future, at least 50% of organizations’ total income will have to be their own income, such as from private donations — up from 25% currently. “Many organisations are not even close to being able to leverage that amount of other funding,” Koch told Devex, “so they will probably not get any subsidies at all.”