KIT Royal Tropical Institute, based in Amsterdam, is an independent centre of expertise, education and intercultural cooperation dedicated to sustainable development. Using the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a general framework for action, KIT contributes to sustainable development in key impact areas: healthcare, gender strategies and agriculture.

KIT is a non-profit organisation that works for both the public and the private sector in collaboration with partners in the Netherlands and abroad. KIT’s role is to enhance the positive impact of agencies, governments and corporations on sustainable development in low- and middle-income countries. KIT’s landmark, historic premises in Amsterdam serve as a forum — the SDG House —  for the exchange of knowledge and intercultural cooperation and a venue for conferences.

Fields of Work and Expertise

KIT Royal Tropical Institute works with governments, companies, international organisations and NGOs in over 60 countries.

KIT’s sustainable development experts provide advice, management and evaluation services. They perform research, capacity building, education & training and engage in dialogue, discussion and knowledge sharing with stakeholders. Central to KIT’s approach is the elaboration of practical expertise in policy development and implementation. KIT favours inclusive and holistic approaches that reflect diversity and practical and feasible solutions to the challenges of sustainable development and poverty reduction. 

Sustainable Health

KIT’s health unit works towards improving equity in health in the developing world by empowering people and strengthening countries’ health systems. KIT’s health unit consists of 40 health care professionals with knowledge and experience of working in the poorest countries.

Its focus is on areas where it can have the greatest impact, namely countries challenged by conflict and climate and excluded populations and strategies to strengthen health systems and the capacity of personnel to plan, provide, monitor and evaluate health care services. Other areas of expertise include sexual and reproductive health, health rights, health programme design, programme monitoring and evaluation. KIT’s clients and partners in health include governments, donors, non-governmental organisations and multilateral organisations such as the WHO and Unicef.

Continuous education is an essential part of staying ahead of the learning curve in international health. Through its master’s degree programmes, short courses and institutional support, KIT equips health professionals to be leaders in addressing public health challenges around the world.

Sustainable Economic  Development

KIT’s sustainable economic development unit employs approximately 40 experts who inform and advise on sustainable and inclusive local economic development, with a focus on agricultural innovation, land governance and food value chains. The involvement of farmers and their organisations as active stakeholders in this process is crucial.

The team shapes collaboration between private and public sector, designs novel initiatives, and coaches clients to improve performance. KIT also facilitates learning, documents experiences and publishes good practices.

KIT's sustainable economic development unit also acts as an independent third party to ensure delivery against development goals, to assess and measure the impact of programmes in order to inform funders, shareholders and the public at large.

Clients value creating solutions in an inclusive way that improves performance. Together, they increase people’s access to healthy food.

Gender in Development

Development actors agree on the importance of integrating gender issues in policy and practice, but there is a gap between these intentions and the actual practice of integrating gender and achieving equal rights for women and men. KIT’s gender unit is an international team of gender specialists that focuses on gender and rights analysis, gender inclusion, capacity building and action research.

KIT’s gender team works on both stand-alone women’s rights initiatives and addresses gender and rights issues within programmes related to health, and social and economic development. It supports the development of policies and strategies that focus on gender equality outcomes together with partners and clients. KIT’s gender experts advise and support management in addressing gender concerns in all aspects of their organisation and also conduct independent evaluations and assessments such as gender audits.

Over the last 20 years, KIT Gender has built a strong network of Southern-based organisations and experts to work with. Partners appreciate KIT’s combination of experience, practicality and theory.

Intercultural awareness

KIT’s Intercultural Professionals unit provides cultural diversity advice and training to companies working internationally.