KEY QUESTIONS the Big Six
The Netherlands Donor Profile KEY QUESTIONS the big six Who are the main actors in the Netherlands' development cooperation? Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Coop- advocating for shorter public versions of these strategies eration leads on strategy; embassies administer bi- to be openly available, when finalized. lateral ODA The role of Parliament is to scrutinize development poli- Prime Minister Mark Rutte (People’s Party for Freedom cy and budget allocations. Parliament can annually and Democracy, VVD), currently in his third term of of- amend the government’s draft budget bill. Parliamenta- fice, has led a coalition government with the social-liber- ry debates in November/December can lead to significant al Democrats 66 (D66), the Christian Democratic Appeal changes to the ODA budget. (CDA), and the Christian Union (CU) since 2017. The Min- istry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) defines priorities for Dutch Dutch civil society organizations (CSOs) play an active development policy, currently under the leadership of role in Dutch development cooperation. The develop- Stef Blok (VVD). Minister for Foreign Trade and Develop- ment CSO umbrella association, Partos, represents over ment Cooperation (MFTDC) Sigrid Kaag (D66) leads the 100 organizations. They engage with the Parliament and MFA’s work on development cooperation. Within the the MFA to influence policy and funding decisions. Many MFA, the Directorate-General for International Coopera- CSOs implement their own programs in developing coun- tion (DGIS) is responsible for designing and coordinating tries and are funded by the Dutch government and the implementation of development policy. through private donations. In 2015, program funding for CSOs was sharply cut, and since then, a larger focus has Unlike many other donors, the Netherlands does not been placed on strategic partnerships and advocacy.
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