Implications of the new Dutch international development budget

The Dutch government’s newly proposed international development budget introduces drastic cuts that will reshape the sector. Starting with a €300 million reduction in 2025 and escalating to €2.4 billion by 2027, the cuts will affect all key sectors, including Water Management, Food Security, and Global Health. Even more concerning is the decision to decouple Official Development Assistance (ODA) from economic growth, which may further diminish funding in the future.

Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) face a particularly challenging landscape, with their role reduced to a more limited, service-oriented function. The uncertainty surrounding future funding and tax deductibility for corporate donations compounds these issues, threatening the financial stability of many organizations.

Our white paper provides a detailed analysis of these changes, exploring what they mean for the sector and offering practical strategies for organizations to navigate this new environment. Download the full report to better understand the implications and prepare for the challenges ahead.

On November 11, the Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Aid, Reinette Klever (PVV) sent a letter to parliament on the future of the Dutch Strategic Partnerships, the main funding framework for civil society organizations (CSOs) that ends in December 2025. Read the letter here: https://open.overheid.nl/documenten/e3572cd7-ed09-408e-b375-ab3b50575f91/file

Key highlights:
🔸 The budget for cooperation with CSOs will be reduced from 1.4 to 0.4 billion euros for the period 2026-2030.
🔸 An indicative budget of approximately 390-565 million euros will be available for cooperation with civil society organizations under the new policy framework to be published early 2025.
🔸 The letter also proposed an increase for the threshold criteria for CSOs on income from other sources than the Dutch Ministry for Foreign Trade and Development to 50% (compared to the current 25%).
🔸 The mentioned focus areas for the new funding framework are as follows:
▪️ Health: continued emphasis on combating HIV/AIDS with a focus on women and girls, addressing harmful practices like female genital mutilation and child marriages.
▪️ Trade: programs supporting women entrepreneurs and promote fair, clean trade, leveraging local organizations’ networks in product source countries.
▪️ Human rights: dedicated initiatives to counter violence against women, support for women’s rights defenders in crisis, and protect fundamental rights for vulnerable groups (e.g., LGBTQ+, religious minorities).
🔸 New financial instruments to be developed aimed at encouraging small-scale Dutch-led citizen development aid initiatives.

The details of the new budget and policy are expected in early 2025. We will update this white paper continuously so stay tuned!

On 18 September, HVFC organized a brown bag lunch session with The Hague Humanity Hub to discuss our reflections and analyses of the budget announcements with Koos de Bruijn, Director of Advocacy and Political Advocacy at Partos. For those who couldn’t attend or want to revisit the insights, the recording is now available.