Flying Visit by Minister Koenders to MDG-profs Platform at WUR

20 May 2008

On his way from Zimbabwe to The Hague, Dutch Minister Koenders of Development Cooperation made a stop-over in Wageningen to exchange ideas with the MDG-profs Platform on the new campus of Wageningen University and Research Centre on 19 May.

The MDG-profs Platform, in which knowledge centres VSNU, KNAW, NWO/WOTRO, SAIL and Dutch Ministries of Education, Agriculture and the Directorate General of International Cooperation are participating, aims to make better use of high quality Dutch scientific expertise for development cooperation issues. The Platform signed the Schokland Agreement, based on which a proposal for the Schokland Fund is being prepared.

The Schokland Fund, according to Minister Koenders, is mainly intended for meeting the Millenium Development goals (MDGs) faster and to involve new players in development cooperation. The fact that the most important Dutch knowledge centres are involved in this proposal is very much applauded. Based on two pilots, this Platform will work on a more detailed proposal. 

Minister Koenders expressed his enthusiasm about the clear analysis by Henk Molenaar, vice-president of WOTRO. Molenaar argued that in connection with European policy, the policy of the Dutch Ministries (particularly OCW and EZ) but also the knowledge centres themselves encourages privatisation of knowledge and competition for knowledge workers. However, this policy does not contribute to combatting poverty (the policy of the Ministry of Development Cooperation). For example, over 30% of all highly educated Africans are employed in the US or Europe leaving Africa with too little absorption power and an insufficient framework for critical thinking.

For more information about the Platform MDG-profs:
Judith Kroon (beleidsmedewerker WOTRO Science for Global Development), j.dekroon@nwo.nl

Here you can download the presentation by Henk Molenaar (Dutch only)