BHOS-beleidsnota
Reactie
| Naam | UNICEF (Dr. A.A. Cronin) |
|---|---|
| Plaats | WASH Section, UNICEF House New York |
| Datum | 14 april 2022 |
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 is a critical player in the Global WASH sector via the support it provides support financially, diplomatically and politically to the push for SDG 6. The support of The Netherlands on the Accelerating Sanitation and Water for All (ASWA) program has seen large scale progress on providing WASH services to the most vulnerable in fragile states. In addition to the millions of people reached through this program, the great support of DGIS in times of crises – such as allowing re-focussing of funds to immediate needs in the times of Ebola and COVID-19 – has really made a huge difference to the lives of so many. The Netherlands must continue to play a global leadership role in the WASH sector – from a sector thought leader to a critical donor – the World and SDG 6 really needs such leadership and good example at this time.
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 world will not achieve SDG 6 without strengthening systems to deliver and sustain universal WASH services. While the vast majority of countries have aligned national targets, policies and plans with the SDG 6.1 and 6.2 targets, far fewer have adequate systems and finances to implement them. These include weak public financial systems and lack of public financing, poor regulatory oversight to control quality and continuity of services, high proportion of services delivered by informal providers, and weak monitoring and review systems to ensure that services are reaching the most vulnerable. Affecting positive change at the country level across the whole WASH sector requires a system-wide approach that tackles several dimensions simultaneously, including policy, financing, institutions, capacity and other key functions of the WASH enabling environment. However, this requires supporting fragile and low / middle income states on a twin track process of system strengthening while also continuing to helping them up increase rates of access to service delivery, especially amongst the most vulnerable such as ASWA is doing. Such innovation and visibility can help Governments increase the political will internally for increased WASH financing also.
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?
In 2023, The Netherlands is the President of the 2023 UN Conference on the Midterm Review of SDG6. This is a critical moment for the water and WASH issues to galvanize and leverage global support. UNICEF welcomes the opportunity to discuss with the Dutch Government on how we can we bold together to support the preparatory process for the High-level Water Conference to address key mutual areas of interest and engage young people given the pressing service improvement needs and the massive mobilization that the climate change agenda requires. UNICEF will also be contributing via its role as Vice-Chair role of UN Water and supporting the country process via our on-the-ground presence in over 120 countries, many of them LDCs and identifying & bringing forward best practices exemplifying the five accelerators from the SDG 6 global acceleration framework. UNICEF will also support countries and leveraging our partnerships towards the voluntary commitments of Global Pact on water.
Vraag10
Afrondende algemene vraag10. Heeft u nog andere punten van aandacht die u vindt dat meegenomen dienen te worden in de nieuwe beleidsnota?
(EN)
General closing question
10. Are there any other points that you believe should be included in the new policy document?
The global water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) needs remain huge, 2 billion people lack safely managed drinking water, 3.6 billion lack safely managed sanitation, and 2.3 billion lack basic handwashing facilities with soap and water available (WHO/UNICEF JMP, 2021). To UNICEF is addressing these gaps via 5 key priorities that touch upon the current key sector gaps globally:
• Water Security for All - to reach 450 million children living in high and extremely high, water vulnerable areas, providing sustainable and resilient water services by 2025.
• The new Sanitation Game Plan coupled with Hand Hygiene for All initiative will continue to focus on supporting and strengthening government leadership in advancing sustainable programs
• WASH in Institutions remains one of the key priorities due to its core importance to achieving other key goal areas for UNICEF such as health and education
• WASH Sector system strengthening requires a comprehensive approach to supporting the key blocks at country and global level, supported by the UN SDG Acceleration Framework and is now one complete Result Area for WASH moving forward in the new UNICEF Strategic Plan (2022-2025)
• Linking Humanitarian, Development and Peacebuilding via the “triple nexus approach”
Given the strong technical expertise of The Netherlands and their strong, sustained engagement in this sector as well as great support to many successful steps forward such as progress on the elimination of open defecation and the expansion of WASH programming in fragile contexts; it is extremely important to continue sustained support to WASH in the coming years as part of the sustained and collaborative push for SGD 6.