The three-day state visit of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima, which concluded on Thursday, received considerable criticism from Kenyan youth. They believe that the Dutch government is legitimizing President Ruto’s repressive policies with this visit. According to the delegation, however, the visit was essential due to the significant trade relations between Kenya and the Netherlands. Kenya exports approximately half a billion euros worth of products to the Netherlands annually, and the Netherlands exports nearly the same amount back to Kenya. It’s no surprise that, alongside three ministers, more than fifty entrepreneurs accompanied the royal couple. The royal delegation and trade mission participants visited companies and institutions for three days.
However, Kenya is also known as the NGO capital of Africa. Many (Dutch) development organizations have offices in Nairobi, and the United Nations has a major base in the Kenyan capital, from which 34 UN agencies are coordinated. A visit to those NGOs was not on the agenda for the royal couple or the accompanying Minister Reinette Klever (PVV) of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation.
The focus on trade interests and reduced attention to development aid aligns with a global trend. Governments are cutting back sharply on development programs, led by President Donald Trump and the dismantling of USAID, the US aid agency. In a policy brief, Klever announced her development policy last month. Significant cuts are particularly targeted at lobbying programs. Funding for organizations like UN Women, the United Nations organization for women’s rights and gender equality, is being withdrawn. The Schoof Cabinet had previously agreed to cut 2.4 billion euros from development aid starting in 2027.
Female Genital Mutilation
The effects of global cuts to development aid are already being felt in Kajiado, a town about 80 kilometers south of Nairobi. ‘Because Trump turned off the money tap, people here suddenly have to pay for healthcare,’ says Antonia Milanoi, a social worker and theater maker for the Ewanga’n Foundation in the Majengo slum. The young woman, dressed in a red dress decorated with traditional Maasai beads, sees that the cuts mainly impact women.
‘Pregnant women are no longer going to the hospital to give birth,’ says Milanoi, ‘but are giving birth at home. That can be life-threatening.’ Home births can also lead to more instances of female genital mutilation, a ritual practiced in both the Islamic and semi-nomadic (mainly Christian) Maasai community. ‘Girls are often mutilated as babies. And when women give birth out of sight of the government and NGOs, the number of mutilations will increase.’
To combat female genital mutilation, as well as other issues such as child marriages and teenage pregnancies, Milanoi is also a member of a theater group. ‘I don’t want to be married off,’ her fellow actor Sophy shouts on a muddy field, squeezed between a small community room and a bright pink bougainvillea bush. To escape the ‘drunken’ actor, the woman seeks protection from a police officer.
As the officer addresses the drunkard and eventually arrests him, about ten people have gathered on the field to watch the lively play. ‘We provide entertainment,’ says Ramadhan Shim, the theater group’s leader. ‘But we always try to include a serious message in the performances.’
The theater group is funded by the Power to Youth project, which teaches girls and young women how to claim their rights and put issues like female genital mutilation and child marriages on the political agenda. The project aims to strengthen civil society.
The project is fully funded by the Dutch government and implemented by Amref Health Africa (formerly Amref Flying Doctors). This is the NGO for which King Willem-Alexander worked as a pilot in the 1980s — a time he recalled during his speech at the state banquet. From 1999 until his coronation in 2013, he was Amref’s patron.
Dutch funding for the Amref-supported theater project will end at the end of this year. ‘It’s been running for four years,’ says Shim, ‘so we’ve learned a lot about the community and how to combat stigma.’ According to him, behavioral and systemic change requires perseverance.
However, Shim and Milanoi fear that the project will be terminated. ‘We saw what happened during the COVID-19 pandemic,’ sighs Milanoi. ‘We had to stop our activities, which immediately led to an increase in violence against women, female genital mutilation, teenage pregnancies, and forced marriages.’
Painful Choices
In Nairobi, Minister Klever does not hesitate long about the fate of the theater project. ‘No, we’re not continuing it,’ she says firmly. ‘It’s very difficult to determine how useful such projects are.’ In her letter to Parliament, the minister wrote: ‘The Netherlands is a country with strong shoulders, but it cannot solve all the world’s problems with development aid.’ Klever is therefore shifting the focus ‘to Dutch interests.’
During her visit to Kenya, the emphasis was on foreign trade rather than development aid. According to Klever, trade is more sustainable than development aid, for example by investing in the agricultural sector. ‘That benefits the country, but also the Dutch citizen. After all, a third of our income comes from trade.’
Issues like women’s rights are therefore not directly addressed during the visit. However, the minister says women should be involved in business dealings. ‘What they earn goes back into their families or their businesses, which benefits society.’ The minister says women’s rights remain ‘incredibly important’ but emphasizes that she must also cut 2.4 billion euros. ‘Painful choices must be made.’
From ‘Aid’ to ‘Trade’
King Willem-Alexander says he cannot comment on the development aid cuts since Klever’s plans are still being worked out. However, he says he is not worried about the future of Amref Health Africa. ‘Especially an organization like Amref is very strong through Amref Netherlands,’ he says during a press moment in the Dutch ambassador’s garden in Kenya. ‘They have their own organizations in various countries that raise funds for Amref here. And I am sure that Amref, with its reputation and knowledge, and the way it is rooted across the continent, will certainly find funds to continue its good projects.’
During a ‘business forum,’ a series of white tents and stands on a grassy field on the outskirts of Nairobi, Klever, along with the royal couple, visited various companies and organizations already active in Kenya. Among the companies are some social enterprises, still partially or fully funded by NGOs.
‘We know the world order is shifting,’ says Kennedy Omwaka, project leader of Waterstarters, a company that helps small entrepreneurs set up water points where locals can buy water. ‘We are currently fully funded by Amref Health Africa,’ he says, ‘but the goal is to become an independent company soon.’
‘Standing on Our Own Feet’
More non-profits are transitioning from development aid to the business sector. For example, Minister Klever visited CarePay. This company collaborates with the NGO PharmAccess, which focuses on improving access to healthcare.
“Under previous ministers, the focus was more on the importance of solidarity to reach poor people,” says PharmAccess chairperson Nicole Spieker. “But for our meeting with Minister Klever, we are specifically emphasizing the business side of our approach.”
The system developed by CarePay, which aims to facilitate insurance payouts, is also of interest to Dutch insurers, government agencies, and healthcare institutions, according to Spieker.
Through that ‘transactional way of doing business,’ which is intended to largely replace development aid, project leader Omwaka sees opportunities for African countries. “The bitter truth is that people will die due to the budget cuts,” he says. But according to him, the transition also offers opportunities. “Kenyans must understand that water and healthcare are not free. We have been too dependent on Western NGOs and governments for too long. It’s time we stand on our own feet.”
He pauses briefly. “We simply have no other choice.”
