ODA Spending

How much ODA does the Netherlands allocate to global health?

The Netherlands was the 8^th-largest OECD DAC donor to health in 2022. Health ODA made up 10% of total Dutch ODA in 2022, putting it in 14^th place in relative terms.

How is global health ODA from the Netherlands changing?

Increases to health ODA for upcoming years will go towards the COVAX pillar of the ACT-A and implementing the Dutch Global Health Strategy, which lays out the goal of eliminating TB and HIV by 2030.

How does the Netherlands allocate global health ODA?

Bilateral Spending

Bilateral health ODA decreased by 20% between 2018 and 2022.

The increase in ODA to multilateral institutions and initiatives, as well as the global health strategy's focus on global health architecture and transnational health-related issues, such as pandemic preparedness and climate change impacts on health, indicates a shift from the Netherlands’ focus on bilateral health ODA funding.

Multilateral Spending and Commitments

The Dutch government recognizes health multilaterals as key to the global COVID-19 response, as well as the fight against AIDS, TB, and malaria. On November 11, 2022, the Netherlands pledged EUR10 million ( US$11 million) to the new Pandemic Fund established at the G20 conference in Bali, Indonesia to help countries finance their pandemic preparedness.

The top multilateral recipients of the Netherlands’ health ODA in 2022 were the EU Institutions, Global Fund and the World Bank IDA.

At the 7^th replenishment of the Global Fund in September 2022, the Netherlands pledged an increase of 15% compared to earlier commitments, leading to a total contribution of EUR180 million ( US$189 million) for 2023-2025. This pledge makes the Global Fund the largest recipient of Dutch global health development funding. On November 18, 2022, during a deep dive dialogue at the UNAIDS Global Center in Geneva, the Netherlands pledged an extra EUR3 million ( US$3 million) to UNAIDS, an increase in funding of 15%, and a multi-year agreement to secure UNAIDS funding for 2023-2025.

The Dutch contribution to the WHO for 2022-2023 was EUR4 million ( US$4 million) and focused on strengthening the Netherlands’ partnership with WHO for 2024-2028. The increased funds will also go to the World Bank’s new GFF, to increase international pandemic preparedness.

On December 20, 2022, the Netherlands also pledged over EUR86 million ( US$91 million) as part of the Product Development Partnerships of five NGOs between 2023-2027 to address global health challenges: IAVI, GARDP, EVI, FIND, and DNDi.

On December 2, 2022, the Netherlands reserved EUR9 million ( US$9 million) over 2023-2025 to promote agreements on SDG #8 by supporting trade unions and employers’ organizations’ social dialogue capacity in nine focus countries: Bangladesh, Colombia, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Senegal, South Africa, and Vietnam.

The Netherlands’ focus on health is also visible in its humanitarian assistance. For instance, on July 4, 2023, of the second support package in 2023 to Ukraine, US$27 million went towards healthcare and SRHR through contributions to the GFF, UNAIDS, UNFPA and the WHO. Additionally, of the US$76 million that was approved on November 2, 2023, for the 2023 development budget, US$16 million went towards water, food, and healthcare in Gaza.

The Netherlands co-hosted the second World Local Production Forum on November 6, 2023, with the WHO. At the conference, government leaders, member states, industry, technology experts, civil society, UN agencies and other stakeholders gathered to discuss and propose actions on key challenges for sustainable local production of quality health products globally. The Dutch Ministry of Health, Sports, and Welfare announced an additional US$15.2 million contribution to CEPI to help advance global vaccine research, development, and manufacturing.

Funding & Policy Outlook

What is the current government's outlook on global health ODA?

On October 21, 2022, the Dutch government adopted the first national Global Health Strategy for 2023-2030. The strategy outlined three priority areas: global health architecture, international pandemic preparedness, and the relationship between climate change and public health. Complementary to the Dutch Global Health Strategy, the third action plan of the Netherlands’ development policy coherence, published on November 25, 2022, mentions that the Netherlands will focus on promoting equal access to knowledge in the field of vaccine and drug production to reduce global health inequality.

The strategy also outlined the government’s increased financial commitments, steadily increasing from an additional EUR106 million ( US$112 million) allocated for 2023 to EUR125 million ( US$132 million) for 2026. However, during a debate about the strategy on April 4, 2024, CSOs and members of parliament expressed concerns over the announced development budget cuts of US$3.8 billion over 2023-2026, as this could hinder the effective implementation of the strategy.

The MFA and the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport are in charge of operationalizing the strategy. The same ministry also launched the Dutch Global Health Hub and signed a Global Health Pact with more than 20 partners. The Hub works toward three objectives:

• Strengthening global health architecture and national health systems, for instance by improving access to basic health and SRHR;
• Improving international pandemic preparedness by improving access to medicines and health products and strengthening action on AMR and zoonotic disease policy; and
• Ensuring global healthcare is both sustainable and climate-resilient.

With the Global Health Strategy, Dutch ODA is increasingly promoting the climate-health nexus. Specifically, the development budget 2024 contains contributions to strategic partnerships with large health funds, such as the Global Fund, Gavi and GFF to reduce their footprint and to promote making health systems climate-resilient.

The Dutch government is a global leader in SRHR. Funding for SRHR CSOs in 2021-2025 will be channeled through the SRHR Partnership Fund, which received EUR315 million ( US$373 million) for the period. Since 2022, the Netherlands’ has reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring UHC to ensure accessible health services to all, including safe abortion and prevention of unwanted pregnancies.

The Netherlands has also been a longstanding supporter of multilaterals such as the GFF and UNFPA.

Former Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Tom de Bruijn submitted a letter to parliament on December 6, 2021, describing the Dutch government’s approach to the global COVID-19 response. The approach has included making pledges to organizations within the ACT-A, including CEPI, COVAX, GFF, the Global Fund, WHO, and FIND.

On October 16, 2023, the Netherlands pledged US$109 million towards women’s and children’s health and rights at the GFF, and tripled its annual contribution to the GFF to $US98 million, as well as providing US$11 million to support the rebuilding of Ukraine’s health systems. Furthermore, based on the development budget confirmed in February 2024, from 2023-2025 US$1.6 million will be made available to the AMR Multi-Party Trust Fund.

Key Bodies

| Global health R&D is also important to addressing many of the global health challenges that disproportionately affect the world’s most disadvantaged people. For more information on how donor countries are supporting global health R&D across three main areas — 1) EIDs; 2) PRNDs; and 3) SRH — read the excellent G-Finder reports and explore the interactive data portal created by Policy Cures Research. Not all funding mentioned in these analyses qualifies as ODA. |