Prince Claus as chair and (inter)national changes in development thinking
Prince Claus (born German and partly grew up in Tanzania) was appointed as the first chair of the NCO in 1970 by the minister of Development Cooperation at the time, Udink, after Udink succeeded in convincing Prime-minister De Jong of this appointment. It is not hard to conceive the political insensitivities of this move, but, considering the strong motivation of the prince to support the cause, and the explicit limitation to non-controversial issues of the commission, Udink took a chance.
The NCO's strategy was based on the UN's new strategy for the 1970s, which had been one of Udink’s notable achievements. On the 24th of October, the UN Resolution 2626 was adopted, marking the beginning of the Second Development Decade and providing a framework for the decade's goals, objectives and policy measures. Notably, the resolution's last item (number 84) emphasised the importance of mobilising public opinion. It called for the establishment or strengthening of national bodies to deepen public understanding of the interdependent nature of development efforts during the Decade. Specifically, it aimed to raise awareness among the public about the benefits of international cooperation for development and the need to support developing countries in accelerating their economic and social progress.
The NCO consisted of civil servants from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and had representatives from civil unions, churches, youth groups, and others. Its formal mandate for the first three years read as follows:
“... de gedachtenvorming en informatie over de grondslagen, de doelstellingen, de uitvoering en de voortgang van de internationale ontwikkelingsstrategie van de Vernigde Naties op gang te brengen en te stimuleren”.
Which translates to:
“ … to initiate and stimulate the formation of thoughts and information about the foundations, objectives, implementation, and progress of the United Nations' international development strategy.”
While closely aligned with the UN’s strategy, the NCO and its mandate in its early years proved to be politically sensitive.
UNCTAD III
While the third United Nations Conference on Trade and Development was organised in Santiago, Chile in 1973, in January of the previous year, a three-day symposium was hosted in the Hague. This event covered topics about the upcoming conference. This symposium was initiated by the UCTAD-strategy group and was partially organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in conjunction with the NCO. The symposium was a remarkable success, boasting a substantial turnout of dozens of experts and attracting nearly one thousand representatives from NGOs, churches and other societal organisations. The event was inaugurated by the chair of the commission, Prince Claus himself. He took the opportunity to voice a number of political statements regarding the strategy of the upcoming conference and called for radical action on the UN's development strategy.
Angola Coffee Case
Later in 1972, the Angola Committee, founded by a group of anti-colonial activists in 1961 who promoted Angola’s independence from Portugal and tried raising awareness about the issue in the Netherlands, requested subsidies from the NCO to organise a protest against the outdated colonialist and racist position of Portugal, as they refused to grant the African country its independence. The action consisted of a boycott of coffee coming from Angola. Therefore, NCO support on this matter did not meet the political neutrality prerequisite of the commission. Nevertheless, the NCO granted a subsidy of f. 9500 (approximately 20.000 euros today). However, amidst a wave of societal upheaval, the newly appointed minister for development cooperation, Boertien, blocks the subsidy since it did not align with the development strategy of the commission. Following this event, the position of Prince Claus was questioned, which led to the decision of prime-minister Biesheuvel of prohibiting Royal Family members from being involved in controversial situations. This case is an example of the difficult situation of the NCO.
Other political discussion points occurred around subsidies for the Palestina Committee, Venceremos, Boycot Outspan Actie (see here, here and in our timeline on development cooperation), and the Mondlane Stichting. Very soon after its establishment, Minister Boertien aimed to end the committee (in 1973). However, because the Biesheuvel-cabinet fell, the proposal did not proceed. Rather, the NCO underwent changes under the new Minister for Development Cooperation Jan Pronk.
Read more about the NCO and the changes the organisation underwent over time in the topic timeline here (this timeline is still in development).
Sources and further reading:
- Andere Tijden, “Prins Claus en de NCO”
- Beleidsadviezen: De Toekomst van de NCO (1982)
- Coppens, H.A.J. (2019), "Ministers voor de schone schijn? De eerste vijf ministers voor Ontwikkelingssamenwerking van Nederland", Hoofdstuk 2 Voorgeschiedenis 1945-'65
- Digitale Versie Bronnenuitgave Nederlandse ontwikkelingssamenwerking 1944-1989
- NCDO’s (2012) report (15855 in the NICC collection)
- NRC, “Claus uit commissie ontwikkelingsstrategie”, 19 februari 1974.
- Reformatorisch Dagblad, “De Koning houdt vijf projecten NCO aan”, 22 februari 1979.