How does the international aid sector survive shrinking budgets? Hisham Allam asks Steven Collet, Deputy Director-General of International Cooperation at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. With a background ranging from the Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH) to diplomatic missions in Tanzania and Vietnam, Collet knows the terrain cold. In this episode of the DevelopmentAid Dialogues podcast, he provides a straight-talking analysis of the European funding crisis, outlining the critical shifts in Dutch policy and what they mean for the future of global aid.
Download the transcript of this episode.
Netherlands aid takes a 2.4 billion euro hit, sliding from 0.65% to 0.5% of Gross National Income (GNI), due to austerity measures, defense spending jumping to 2.2% of GDP, and public fatigue with blank-check aid. “Whilst we do face budget cuts and we are going down from .65% of GNI to .5% we still also have a considerable budget of 3.5 billion euros,” Collet says, pointing to carve-outs for humanitarian work, Ukraine rebuilding, and asylum costs capped at 10%. The October 2025 general elections in the Netherlands could nudge it up—coalition talks show parties warmer to ODA. “This is not the final verdict; it could be different,” he adds. Defense pressures hit everywhere in Europe, tied to Russia’s war and less U.S. cover, while voters demand clear payoffs:
The focus sharpens on shared stakes—security, trade, migration—in the Sahel, the Horn of Africa, and the Middle East. Humanitarian cash stays untouched, funneled unearmarked to NGOs and UN funds for spots like Sudan. “When you support without earmarking… that funding can be utilized at the moment it is required and wherever it is required,” Collet explains. Partnerships lean on Dutch know-how in health, water, and food to rebuild frayed social contracts and head off chaos. Private cash flows bigger: pension funds dumped over a billion into development banks; risks backed by decades of data.
Examples like Seed.NL mix Dutch firms, NGOs, and African researchers for drought-tough seeds that boost farm output and teach lessons both ways.
See also: Raj M. Desai: Rethinking Development Finance in an Age of Shrinking Aid | DevelopmentAid Dialogues
Climate money swings to adaptation—food security, water—with 60% as grants, since solar costs crashed 90% in five years. Multilaterals get trimmed for duplicate mandates, but the UN core, development banks, and the EU hold firmly if they slim down. Tax transparency ramps up domestic cash in partner nations, via G20 deals on multinational profits:
Equal footing beats handouts: “If we do it right, we can come to a model which is not extractive… a truly equal partnership based on mutual understanding and mutual interests.”
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