Solidarity is not a luxury: the global attack on development cooperation is a strategic mistake

Opinion published in De Morgen

The federal government is negotiating the budget. Development cooperation is all too often the victim. But whoever cuts solidarity today also jeopardizes our health, safety, and credibility tomorrow.

This week on Wetstraat, the talk is about billions and percentages. But in reality, it's about people—here and elsewhere in the world.

When development cooperation budgets shrink, budget lines do not simply disappear. Vaccines, health centers, schools, lives are disappearing. Investing less in solidarity means more deaths from preventable diseases, more children without education, more hunger, more people on the run.

That also has an impact on us, because global challenges do not stop at bordersThe coronavirus pandemic has taught us something we too quickly forget: our health, safety, and prosperity are intertwined with that of others. A virus that breaks out in one country can travel around the world within days. Healthcare systems under pressure in Congo or Bangladesh increase the risk of new pandemics. That we feel this in Italian hospitals or Flemish nursing homes is not fiction; it was the bitter reality of a few years ago.

Investing in strong healthcare worldwide, including through development cooperation, is therefore no charity, but smart prevention policyEvery euro we invest in pandemic prevention today will save hundreds of euros in costs tomorrow.

Shortsightedness has a price.  

Look at the United States, where the Trump administration billions were cut from development cooperation. The result? Up to 14 million additional people are expected to die by 2030, including 4,5 million children under the age of five.

Even perfectly usable contraceptives worth millions of dollars were destroyed. Hundreds of thousands of unplanned pregnancies and thousands of preventable maternal deaths are looming. Cutbacks without a moral compass cost lives—and these losses know no bounds. Some of the contraceptives were even stored in Belgium, in a logistics center in Geel.

Yet Belgium is in danger of making the same mistake by further reducing its commitment to development cooperation. Flanders has already taken a major step back: €15 million will be cut from the development cooperation budget. A small amount in the total budget, but with major consequences. Flanders no longer calls it "a core task."

The federal government also wants to cut development aid by 25% from its inception. Some politicians even propose reducing it to zero. Solidarity is not a luxury product That you only buy in good times. It's a moral obligation and a strategic necessity for a small but wealthy country like Belgium.

Belgian development cooperation works.

It saves lives, strengthens health systems, promotes education, democracy, and stability. It makes societies resilient to the effects of climate change and prevents crises from spiraling out of control.

What's more, our country has built up a strong reputation in many areasFor decades, our universities, NGOs, and healthcare organizations have been collaborating with partners in the Global South on research, disease control, and sustainable healthcare. This is not charity, but a shared strategic investment in stability and security.

Belgium once promised 0,7 percent of national income to be spent on development cooperation. Today, we're stuck at 0,4 percent. Due to the 25% cuts already planned by the government, we risk reaching 0,3 percent, less than half of what wealthy countries once set themselves.

A country that fails to fulfill its commitments loses credibility, influence, and trust. It also loses its moral compass. Less development cooperation doesn't mean the world stops burning. It simply means we look the other way while it burns.

Those who save now will pay the price later — in instability, insecurity and lost credibility. Anyone who invests now will build a stable, safe and credible future for everyone.