Global Health Global Access II In recent decades, the Netherlands has committed itself to the internationally agreed standard of spending 0.7% of its GDP to official development assistance (ODA). For many years the country met this target, together with a small group of other bilateral donors like Sweden and Luxemburg. Under the influence of the economic crisis of 2008, several Dutch cabinets have cut the development budget drastically. As a result of this, the Dutch ODA performance decreased to all-time low levels. The large influx of refugees in the years 2013-2015, of which the asylum costs in The Netherlands in the first year are covered from the development budget, led to even lower amounts available for funding programs in developing countries.  

The Rutte II cabinet (2012-2017) decided to cut the development budget structurally with 1 billion euro, and the current cabinet Rutte 3 (2017-now) has decided to not repair this budget cut. This means in practice that the Dutch development budget will decrease during this cabinet period to an estimated 0,54% GDP. Having said that, and on a positive note: after many years of very serious cuts, the coalition parties (VVD, CDA, D66 and Christian Union) which formed the cabinet Rutte III, partly reversed this trend. Approximately 400 million was annually added to the development budget. This is insufficient to return to the international commitment of 0.7 GDP, but the picture could have been worse without this intensification. So, with the trend slightly reversed, the challenge is to bring the Netherlands in the coming years back to the elite group of 0.7+ donors. 

Support in Dutch society and in the political arena for development cooperation has decreased in the last decades. In Dutch parliament the number of MPs who want to substantially decrease the development budget, or even want to immediately stop with development assistance has been rising steadily. This political trend is mirrored in Dutch society by growing criticism and skepticism about development cooperation.  

For global health, the WHO has recommended that countries contribute 0.1% GDP to global health funding. The Dutch government has traditionally been a strong supporter of SRHR programs, and is a major donor of organizations like GAVI, the GFATM and the GFF. The Dutch minister for foreign trade and development cooperation, Sigrid Kaag, has continued the SRHR spearhead of her predecessors. And she has decided to contribute significantly to the GFF, as a result of which the Netherlands is now part of the board structures of the 3 G’s. Despite this, the Netherlands are still below 0.1% GDP for global health. And this amount is under pressure because of several reasons. Firstly, there is a strong emphasis in the policy of the Dutch government on security, stability and migration, and the so-called ‘ring around Europe’. Secondly, minister Kaag is, in contrast to her predecessor Lilianne Ploumen, not a major champion of investing in SRHR and/or global health programs. Finally, it cannot be excluded that future governments will further cut the development budget under the influence of right-wing forces. This of course will also have impact on the Dutch contribution to global health. The ‘Global Health Global Access II’ program aims to strengthen Dutch political and public support for ODA, and particularly investing in global health in developing countries. Indirect beneficiaries: Population of Low and Middle Income Countries
Direct targetgroup: Dutch parliamentarians, Dutch government officials and the Dutch public and decisionmakers in Brussels.