The Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Development Cooperation (BDO) committee is organizing an expert meeting on Tuesday, March 4, about the budget statement for Foreign Trade and Development Aid 2025.
The experts will provide insights from their fields on the possible consequences of the proposed cuts in development aid. How can the Netherlands effectively organize development aid? And what does this mean for our international political leverage?
Program
The committee has invited five experts to give a short introduction. Subsequently, the committee members will engage in discussions with them.
The invited speakers are:
- Thea Hilhorst, Professor of Humanitarian Aid and Reconstruction, Erasmus University Rotterdam
- Dirk Jan Koch, Secretary-Director of the Advisory Council on International Affairs
- Maarten van Nieuw Amerongen, Political Advisor at Woord en Daad
- Tom Middendorp, Senior Research Associate at Clingendael, former Commander of the Armed Forces
- David Kuijper, Chief Executive Officer at the Association of European Development Finance Institutions
The meeting is from 16:30 to 18:00. You can attend the expert meeting or follow it via the livestream. More information about these options can be found here.
About the Budget Discussion
On February 18, the BDO committee provided input for a second round of questions (second report) in the discussion of the budget. The committee is awaiting responses. If the memorandum in response to the second report is received in time, the plenary discussion of the budget proposal can take place on March 11.