1. Assessment of the role of the Dutch Aid and Trade
policy in relation to SDG 6
CSDS Conference - 27-29 June 2016
MSc Elisa Savelli

2. Aid and Trade policy: a world to gain
“A unified agenda that bridges the traditional
divide between aid and trade, for boosting trade
and pave the way for further economic growth
inclusive and sustainable.”
Eradication
of poverty
Inclusive and
Sustainable
growth
Success
for Dutch
companies

3. Target 6: By 2030, achieve universal and
equitable access to safe and affordable
drinking water for all
“A more effective approach for achieving
inclusive and sustainable growth whilst at
the same time promoting Dutch companies
abroad focusing on the Dutch top-sectors”
How the Aid and Trade policy relate to SDG 6?

4. The Aid and Trade shift in WASH sector
• Fostering economic growth.
• Private sector involvement.
• Hybrid alliances (PPPs, WOPs)
• Boosting private investments.
• Innovative financing.
• Promoting Dutch trade

5. “We are in the middle of a transition both the Embassy and the projects”
The Kenyan WASH sector

6. The private sector in the actors’ discourses

7. The emphasis on professionalism
“Water is not a hobby for social workers and we need to keep it like that”
“Since then the organization went professional”
“I like them because they are professional”
“We are a team of professional advisor”

8. Aid and Trade in the Projects

9. Is the private sector operating in the WASH projects?
Projects Approach Market Operation?
FINISH-INK, Teso-
North, WASH Alliance,
Nakuru Sanitation,
Cordaid Urban Matters
Development of local
private sector within target
communities
Market Development
PEWAK, K-RAPID
Intention of involving local
or Dutch private partners
No Market Operation Yet
MAP
Water Operators are
purposefully created for
the project
Market Development
“We are not capable to
invest. As entrepreneur I
am not successful because
I am not making profit.”

10. The struggle of involving Dutch small companies
“It seems that we are what they (the Dutch Government) want: innovative,
Dutch, SME, social enterprise, but in practice we do not match and they miss
us.”
“I filled in a form and I called the RVO and they basically said me: come back if
you need a bigger project and a bigger funding.”
A Dutch Social entrepreneur
A Dutch Small company
“I feel the constraint that I have to work with Dutch private sector. I have no
problem to work with Dutch if they fit in. But some local problems will never be
solved by Dutch private company. I have not found one Dutch company that
could be relevant to what I was doing.” A Dutch development practitioner

11. Projects Approach Private Investment?
K-RAPID
Intention of scaling up the
project budget through
private sector investments
Yet to come
WOP Mombasa
VEI & Mombasa Water
Utility are leveraging 30
Million Euro for
infrastructure
World Bank
PEWAK project
Output Based Aid
mechanism granting 60%
funding for NRW
investment and leveraging
the remaining 40%
Other donors
The lack of private sector investments

12. The success of hybrid organizations
We are not
a real NGO but a
“team of
professional
advisors”
“let’s
forget about public
and private let’s talk about
professionals. So the P is
professional and that we
are!”
Identity VEI SNV
Private Private company Professional Advisors
Public Stakeholder & funding Government core-funding
Social No-Profit, Social Impact No-Profit, Social Impact

13. Where is the TRADE in the WASH sector?
The private sector involvement in the implementation of the Aid and Trade policy in
the WASH sector appears limited. The policy seems to have benefitted traditional
actors able to incorporate a 'private sector logic' in their projects.

14. The leakage of meaning
“The private is leaking of its institutionalized features such as his for-profit orientation.
‘The private' seems the “legitimised symbol” of the ‘Aid and Trade’ agenda hence
organizations draw on it to gain legitimacy (Lund, 2009).
However, these organizations have worked hard to produce “coherent representations
of their actions as instances of public policies regardless of events (Mosse, 2004)”
What remains of ‘the private’ is an emphasis on professionalism, a guarantee of
efficiency and entrepreneurship.

15. Water, the uncooperative commodity
The biophysical characteristics, its unicity and not so easy categorization make water an
uncooperative commodity for international trade (Bakker, 2003) and a good which is not
very attractive for the private sector (Ahlers, 2010; Bayliss, 2014; Swyngedouw, 2005).
Dutch water sector: public ownership of water supply companies and the Water Supply
Act reduce the interest in developing water supply projects abroad.

16. The mismatch between projects and practices,
suggests that the Aid and Trade policy in the
WASH sector will unlikely lead to the success of
Dutch private companies abroad.
Inclusive and sustainable growth in the WASH sector?
The absence of a private sector willing to invest
and operate in the WASH sector raises the
questions on its capacity to achieve the
“inclusive and sustainable growth” and the
“poverty eradication” to which this policy aspire
Eradication
of poverty
Inclusive and
Sustainable
growth
Success
for Dutch
companies
Inclusive and
Sustainable
growth
Success
for Dutch
companies
Eradication
of poverty

17. Resources could be invested to develop
sustainable alternatives satisfying
societal basic needs for water
infrastructures and services instead of
diverting public funds for attracting
private sector and complying with
global institutional arrangements.
Further reflections and recommendation for the SDG6

18. “Should we be more concerned about supporting communities to solve their problems or
about how to fit their problems into already prepared solutions?” (van Klinken & Nelen, 2014)
Thank you