BHOS-beleidsnota
Reactie
| Naam | Dutch Global Health Alliance (K Scholten) |
|---|---|
| Plaats | Amsterdam |
| Datum | 14 april 2022 |
Vraag2
Nederland kent een lange traditie van publieke private samenwerking. Nu de mondiale uitdagingen steeds groter worden, is het van belang deze publiek-private samenwerkingen te verdiepen en te versnellen. De duurzame ontwikkelingsdoelen zijn in 2015 vastgesteld als actieplan voor overheden, bedrijven, kennisinstellingen en burgers om duurzame ontwikkeling te verwezenlijken wereldwijd.2. Hoe kunnen overheid, bedrijfsleven en kennisinstellingen beter samenwerken om de duurzame ontwikkelingsdoelen te halen?
(EN)
The Netherlands has a long tradition of public-private partnership. As the global challenges grow ever bigger, it is important to deepen and accelerate these partnerships. The Sustainable Development Goals were presented in 2015 as a plan of action for governments, companies, knowledge institutions and private individuals to achieve sustainable development worldwide.
2. How can government, the private sector and knowledge institutions work together better to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals?
Global health has a big impact on economic development in general and subsequently on trade opportunities. Investing in stronger health systems, promoting universal health coverage and fighting diseases ensures that people live healthier and longer lives which strongly increases productivity. For example the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria estimates that for every dollar that is invested in fighting these diseases, there is a return of investment of 31 dollars in economic gains.
However, economic policies and in particular free trade agreements can also harm global health outcomes when they are tilted towards protecting intellectual property and business interests rather than guaranteeing access to healthcare and medical products. The Netherlands should facilitate technology transfer to less resourced countries and de-monopolize and decolonize knowledge, technology, patents and know-how (e.g. in vaccine production). It’s important to remove legal and policy barriers that hinder such transfers, with special attention to be paid to intellectual property rights and trade agreements in relation to public health needs. Furthermore, access planning in (innovative) publicly funded projects and R&D is important to ensure equitable access to eventual products.
People most affected by diseases and civil society organizations representing them know best what kind of solutions are effective. Therefore it’s of vital importance that they are not only involved but can co-decide in the development, implementation and monitoring of policy responses in the Global Health architecture. The Global Fund’s governance structure offers an interesting example on how civil society participation in decision making can be institutionally embedded and should serve as an inspiration for other treaties and multilateral initiatives.
Vraag3
Nederland heeft sinds 2016 een actieplan beleidscoherentie voor ontwikkeling. Beleidscoherentie voor ontwikkeling heeft als doel om in niet-hulp (OS) beleid schade voor ontwikkelingslanden te verminderen en synergiën en samenwerking te versterken. Het Nederlandse actieplan is in 2018 herzien en geeft een overzicht van vijf Nederlandse beleidsthema’s die een invloed hebben op de ontwikkelingskansen in ontwikkelingslanden. Deze thema’s zijn: (1) het tegengaan van belastingontwijking/ontduiking, (2) ontwikkelingsvriendelijke handelsakkoorden, (3) een ontwikkelingsvriendelijk investeringsregime, (4) verduurzaming van productie en handel en (5) het tegengaan van klimaatverandering.3. Hoe kan de bovengenoemde Nederlandse inzet op beleidscoherentie voor ontwikkeling verder versterkt of verbeterd worden?
(EN)
The Netherlands has had an action plan on policy coherence for development since 2016. The aim of policy coherence is to reduce the negative effects on developing countries caused by policies in areas other than development, and to strengthen synergies and cooperation. The action plan, which was revised in 2018, identifies five Dutch policy themes that can enhance developing countries’ opportunities for development: (1) combating tax avoidance/evasion, (2) development-friendly trade agreements, (3) a development-friendly investment regime, (4) more sustainable production and trade, and (5) combating climate change.
3. How can the Netherlands’ efforts to achieve policy coherence for development be further strengthened or enhanced?
A key action the Netherlands should take to achieve policy coherence for development is to ensure that the Global Health Strategy delineates the importance of and way forward to coherence between policies, departments and priorities that are related to global health. This strategy should take on as a goal to achieve a holistic and multi-sectoral collaboration across ministries and priorities, and delineate how to include CSOs, as they are a key stakeholder.
In addition, the Netherlands should continue its support for international agreements that have been signed, such as those on tax evasion and climate change, and ensure that the different work streams adhere to these principles.
In terms of the topic of sustainable production and trade, it is essential that the Netherlands facilitates technology transfer (including focus on global public goods) and sharing to less resourced countries and de-monopolize and decolonize knowledge, technology, patents, know-how (e.g. in vaccine production). It is important that the Netherlands works to remove legal and policy barriers that hinder such transfers, with specific attention to intellectual property rights and trade agreements in relation to public health needs. When investing in innovations the Netherlands should prioritise measures such as access planning to ensure increased health equity.
Vraag7
OntwikkelingssamenwerkingDevelopment cooperation
Nederlandse inzet op Ontwikkelingssamenwerking
Nederland is op verschillende thema’s actief op gebied van ontwikkelingssamenwerking. Zo investeren we in het realiseren van de Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) en zetten we extra in op opvang in de regio, toegang tot vaccins, klimaatadaptatie en -mitigatie. Nederland gaat door met wat goed gaat en focust op waar Nederland goed in is, zoals verbinding tussen diplomatie en ontwikkelingssamenwerking. Meer informatie over het ontwikkelingssamenwerkingsbeleid van Nederland is te vinden op www.nlontwikkelingssamenwerking.nl.
7. Waar is Nederland op het gebied van ontwikkelingssamenwerking volgens u goed in? Op welke thema’s zou Nederland een aanjagende rol kunnen vervullen?
(EN)
Dutch development cooperation activities
The Netherlands is actively pursuing a number of policy themes in the area of development cooperation. For example, we're investing in efforts to advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), reception in the region, access to vaccines, and climate adaptation and mitigation. The Netherlands will continue its efforts in areas where progress is being made and will focus on its strengths, such as linking diplomacy and development. For more information about Dutch development policy, go to www.nlontwikkelingssamenwerking.nl.
7. In your opinion, what are the Netherlands’ strengths when it comes to development cooperation? In which policy themes could the Netherlands play a leading role?
The Netherlands has shown itself to be a leader in promoting global health (including topics such as SRHR, antimicrobial resistance and health equity) and should further strengthen this role by living up to commitments made on universal health coverage, including financial risk protection and guaranteeing access to quality health-care services for all. The focus should be on health services that are safe, integrated, people centered and deeply rooted in the communities across the care continuum.
This means supporting health system strengthening, to increase their resilience, while continuing disease specific interventions. One of the key lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic is that health systems are not resilient enough to respond to severe external shocks, which means that these shocks have considerable impact on access to basic health services especially for marginalised populations. Strengthening health systems also means creating sustainable financing mechanisms for health, and adequate and sustained attention for (and investments in) human resources for health.
Furthermore, the Netherlands should develop policies, programmes and initiatives in the light of one (planetary) health, and by doing so, placing its health interventions within the broader objective of attaining optimal health for people, animals and our environment/the planet.
Finally, The Netherlands historically has taken an international leadership position on supporting universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights particularly by opposing stigmatisation, discrimination and criminalization of so called key populations, meaning those most at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS and other STI’s such as LGBTIQ+ people, sexworkers and people who use drugs. The Netherlands should maintain this leadership position by supporting community organizations worldwide to advocate for their rights and build on an international coalition of progressive countries to offer a counterweight in an increasingly repressive international environment.
Vraag8
Innoveren op OSNederlandse internationale samenwerking is flexibel en kennisintensief, we zijn vernieuwend. Zo ontwikkelt Nederland nieuwe manieren van werken en partnerschappen die daarna door bijv. de Europese Commissie en Wereldbank worden opgepakt of opgeschaald. De Nederlandse internationale samenwerking fungeert dus veelal als een creatieve en kennisintensieve incubator (een broedplaats voor nieuwe ideeën. Nederland is een relatief kleine donor, maar als lidstaat van de EU en via bilaterale hulp kan Nederland de zichtbaarheid van EU-hulp vergroten en additionele relevante kapitaalstromen generen.
8. Op welke manier en op welk vlak kan de Nederlandse ontwikkelingssamenwerking nog meer innoveren?
(EN)
Innovative development cooperation
Dutch international cooperation is flexible and knowledge-intensive. We are also innovative, developing new ways of working and new types of partnership that are subsequently adopted or scaled up by others, like the European Commission and the World Bank. In this respect, Dutch international cooperation is like a creative and knowledge-intensive incubator. We are a relatively small donor, but as an EU member state and through bilateral aid we can make EU aid more visible and generate additional, relevant capital flows.
8. In what other ways and areas could Dutch development cooperation innovate more?
The development of a knowledge agenda (kennisagenda) around global health with emphasis on research and knowledge sharing (as well as training and education) is fundamental for innovation. Furthermore by looking beyond traditional stakeholders, substantial transformative change can be achieved (e.g. grassroot, community led organisations from the global south, youth-organisations, LGBTQI+ groups etc.). This should not only be through an ODA lens but also from the perspective of contributing to global public goods. In addition, using an intersectional lens to look at existing policy and programmes is an important step to achieve the ‘leave no one behind’ goal of the SDG agenda and ensuring that Dutch activities abroad are gender-transformative and address inequity-inducing power imbalances.
Vraag9
Een donor met durfDe Nederlandse internationale inzet is gedurfd, omdat we financiële investeringen koppelen aan onze diplomatieke inzet en expertise. We continueren thema’s waar we traditionele meerwaarde hebben: seksuele en reproductieve rechten en gezondheid (SRGR), water, voedselzekerheid en veiligheid & rechtsorde. Daarbij kunnen we nog meer gebruik maken van het diplomatieke gewicht van o.a. de EU. We investeren in systeemverandering om te zorgen dat we de SDG’s in 2030 realiseren. Met systeemverandering bedoelen we dat we de systemen die armoede en ongelijkheid in stand houden aanpakken.
9. Op welke manier/welk vlak kan Nederland als donor nog meer durf te tonen?
(EN)
A bold donor
Dutch international efforts can be characterised as bold, because we link financial investment to diplomatic efforts and expertise. We will continue our work on themes where we have always added value: sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), water, food security, and security and the rule of law. We will also make better use of the diplomatic weight of the EU. To ensure we achieve the SDGs by 2030, we will invest in systemic change, i.e. tackling the structures that maintain poverty and inequality.
9. In what ways or areas could the Netherlands, as a donor, be even bolder?
The Netherlands plays an important role on various topics within the Global Health arena but there are areas where the Netherlands as a donor could be bolder still. Of importance is a bold global health strategy that takes an intersectoral and interdepartmental approach to the key issues in global health (we refer to the policy brief of the DGHA available on our website). Moreover, the Netherlands should maintain its leadership position on SRHR by advocating for universal access to SRHR (and ensuring equitable access to SRHR products, existing ones and new ones through R&D when working with the private sector) and opposing stigmatization, discrimination and criminalization of key populations using expertise and know-how from existing networks and strategic partnerships.
Furthermore the Dutch government should take a stand on the importance of public funding for health systems strengthening and equitable health financing while being informed by the existing wealth of evidence and do’s and don’ts for private financing for health including double/blended financing and other public private partnerships.
In addition, we call upon the Dutch government to further advocate for sustainable domestic resource mobilization in LMICs and to take steps on promoting tax justice globally and at home. Concretely, this means scaling up efforts in combating tax avoidance and tax evasion as well as working towards global agreements on taxes on fossil fuels, sugars and international traffic, to benefit common goods including global health and climate.
Lastly we call upon the Dutch government to embrace the philosophy of global public goods and encourage the ministry to find interlinkages and intersectoral goals with other ministries in order to improve policy coherence with regards to global health goals and to mobilize non-ODA resources for the distribution of global common goods including global health. The ODA budget should return to the internationally agreed upon norm of 0.7% of GNI.