Flemish universities warn against deep cuts to development cooperation budget
Flemish universities and colleges are sounding the alarm over possible cuts to Belgium’s federal development cooperation budget. Prime minister Bart De Wever recently hinted that funding could be reduced by as much as half, a move academics say would jeopardise dozens of ongoing partnerships between Belgian and Southern universities.
“We work with about 32 million euros each year, which is really not much,” said Mieke Van Herreweghe, president of the VLIRUOS association. “If the budget is halved, as De Wever suggested, we would have a serious problem. We would no longer be able to meet our long-term commitments, with negative consequences for our own security and prosperity.”
VLIRUOS coordinates cooperation between Flemish universities and 13 colleges of higher education with partner institutions in the Global South. For example, Flemish universities work with East African partners on urban planning and water management in rapidly growing cities, with Southeast Asian institutions on sustainable agriculture and aquaculture, and with Latin American universities on biodiversity and pollinator protection.
Soft power
According to Van Herreweghe, the impact of these projects goes far beyond traditional aid. “We have built a large network of trust," she says. "Many of our alumni now hold important positions. Some even became ministers. That network is a form of diplomacy and soft power that our government can use.”
VLIRUOS stresses that the benefits of such projects are mutual. “These partnerships strengthen Flanders’ education, research and innovation capacity,” the organisation said in a statement last week. “Belgium does not have oil or gas but knowledge. Cutting back on that is not saving on expenditure. It’s cutting back on the future.”
#FlandersNewsService | The libary of Mount Kenya University in Nairobi © PHOTO LUIS TATO / AFP
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