Speech by Ben Knapen, Minister for European Affairs and International Cooperation, at the Heineken HIV/AIDS Symposium, Amsterdam

Toespraak | 31-03-2011

Let me explain. Recently, I sent two letters to the Dutch parliament saying that the Millennium Development Goals and global public goods are key elements of my policy. I will be focusing on themes and areas where our country can make a difference.

With an aid budget of 0.7% of GNP, the Netherlands remains a leader in international cooperation. This gives us scope to invest in my priorities. First: food security. Second: water. Third: security and the rule of law in fragile states. And last but certainly not least: sexual and reproductive health and gender.

It may not be immediately obvious fo all, but HIV/AIDS is a big part of that last priority, sexual and reproductive health and gender. In this area we are focusing on two things. Firstly, prevention – prevention of unwanted pregnancies, prevention of unsafe abortion and prevention of infection with HIV or other sexually transmitted diseases.

And secondly, we’re focusing on the rights dimension of sexual and reproductive health – the rights of women; the rights of young people, particularly girls; and the rights of specific population groups such as gays and lesbians, drug users and sex workers. Seven million euros of my budget have been earmarked for a number of Dutch NGOs involved in fighting HIV/AIDS among these vulnerable groups, as requested in a motion by the Dutch Parliament.

We are focusing on prevention and rights because progress has been slow on these issues. And because we believe that our long track record gives us added value in this area. The Dutch aren’t too shy to deal with issues that many other donor countries would rather avoid, such as family planning, abortion and safe sex. Cultural values and taboos are an important obstacle in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Of course, it is true that necessary budget cuts will force us to take a step back in some parts of the fight against HIV/AIDS. But fortunately also, this is not to say that the fight is lost. The Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, for example, received commitmentsd for 11.9 billion dollars during its last replenishment. With the extra contributions that donor countries have promised to pay, it will be possible to continue all current activities.

And let’s not forget that the Netherlands is still one of the most important donor countries in the field of HIV/AIDS and sexual and reproductive health and gender, with an annual budget of 400 million euros. What’s more, we are involved in a number of public-private partnerships on sexual and reproductive health and HIV. An interesting example is the Joint Programme on Universal Access to Female Condoms. This is a partnership between government, civil society and the private sector to make female condoms widely available for a good price.

Another good example is the North Star Alliance – a collaboration of several companies, NGOs and the Dutch government. North Star builds roadside health clinics at truck stops and border crossings in Africa, offering an accessible and low-cost response to HIV transmission and other health problems.

In a nutshell: our government is fully committed to the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Ladies and gentlemen,

In 2001 the United Nations General Assembly organised a special meeting on HIV/AIDS. This was the first time ever that a health problem had been discussed in such an important forum. Looking back, the 2001 meeting was a turning point in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Funding has increased dramatically over the past ten years. And the results have been equally impressive. At the start of this century only a few thousand people had access to treatment in low and middle-income countries. By last year, that figure had risen to more than 5 million.

There’s another side to this story, however. We must acknowledge that despite the significant budgets for HIV/AIDS, there was still a funding gap of 10 billion dollars in 2010.  And although access to treatment has increased, ten million people in low and middle-income countries need treatment but don’t get it. What’s more, access to treatment is distributed unequally. The access rate varies greatly among regions, and is much lower for children and other vulnerable groups like drug users and prostitutes. And sadly, of course, we haven’t yet killed the beast. For every person who starts treatment, two more people are newly infected.

Another big issue is transparency. Our country supports the International Aid Transparency Initiative. This initiative is working on an international standard for publishing development aid data, including with regard to HIV/AIDS. And every two years, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs publishes a report on the results of its own development efforts.

Recently, I decided not to suspend our contribution to the Global Fund in response to the serious cases of misappropriation identified and published by the Fund itself. Of course, we have a zero-tolerance policy on corruption and fraud. The investigation by the Fund’s independent Inspector General is in keeping with this policy. So I had no desire – I would say I had no populist desire - to encourage a culture of silence and penalise efforts to maintain transparency.

In a nutshell: funding, access to treatment and transparency are crucial. Our government believes that public-private partnerships are an important tool in facing these challenges. Bringing together partners from both the public and private sectors creates the synergy and leverage we need in order to step up our efforts.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Let me congratulate Stefaan van der Borght on obtaining his PhD for his thesis on Heineken’s HIV workplace policy over the past ten years. As I heard it is his second PhD, so it is not just Dr, Dr Dr Van der Borght. Your work is an important educational tool. Not just for Heineken and other companies, but also for NGOs and governments like ours. I am not too proud to admit that our HIV workplace policy for Dutch embassies is largely based on Heineken’s example. 

Heineken was a pioneer in this area. Not only because the company was losing trained employees to such an extent that offering treatment was more efficient, but also because the company had a strong sense of social responsibility. Our government believe that this combination of business values and moral considerations is the main reason for the success of Heineken’s workplace policy. When I visited a Heineken plant in Kinshasa last February, I was very much impressed with the way the company treats its people. Country manager Hans van Mameren didn’t boast about this, but talked about it rather matter-of-factly, as if it was the most natural thing to do.   

Heineken has received international recognition for its efforts. And it is well deserved: the company has set an example in the fight against HIV/AIDS. I sincerely hope more companies will follow in its footsteps. The Dutch government is more than happy to cooperate with those companies in ‘brewing a better future’.

Currently, the Netherlands is involved in 75 public-private partnerships. I hope that number will grow soon, especially in the field of HIV/AIDS. Because, as I said earlier: my government is fully committed to fighting this disease.

Thank you.