Dutch embassies playing prominent role in development cooperation - Official

From: Hannah Asomaning, GNA Special Correspondent, Wageningen, The Netherlands
 
Wageningen, Netherlands, Feb. 11, GNA - Embassies of the Netherlands in developing countries are becoming more prominent in development cooperation as more funds are being disbursed through that source, Mr Melle Leenstra, an official of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on Sunday.He said one-third of funds from the Netherlands to developing countries were disbursed through the embassies adding that the Netherlands saw development cooperation as a political obligation towards the poor in society.

Mr Leenstra was delivering a lecture on "Dutch Development Cooperation" before the inauguration of The Third Chamber 2007, a Netherlands-based NGO that advocates strengthened political support for international cooperation and sustainable development.He said four out of the eight Millennium Development Goals were likely to be achieved in developing countries by 2015 and urged Dutch politicians to do more to help other parts of the world out of poverty.

Later in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), he said the Netherlands was involved in health projects among others in Ghana and called for private sector involvement in development cooperation."Many countries are dealing with so many inseparable problems that development cooperation is and continues to be relevant to them," he said.Mr Leenstra urged developed countries to monitor how things were improving and called on donors to remain modest.Mr Henk de Haan, a former Member of Parliament and a member of the Christian Democratic Party in the Netherlands, expressed worry about the decline in interest in development issues as compared to the 1970s and said people were becoming more self-centred.
    
He noted that civil society was absolutely vital as a cornerstone of development cooperation.Mr de Haan urged donors to monitor aid given to developing countries to know how these were being used.The Third Chamber is an initiative of the Netherlands National Commission for International and Sustainable Development in charge of raising awareness and distributing information about cooperation.The Chamber organizes three major sessions every year to bring together 30 people from developing countries to share ideas with their 120 Dutch counterparts on international development cooperation.
11 Feb. 07
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