The elections for the House of Representatives in The Netherlands are just around the corner. International (development) cooperation is of great importance to contribute to the creation of a just and more sustainable world. To draw attention to this important political topic, the SAIL institutes organized an online election debate: 'No development without knowledge exchange'. The debate took place on February 12, 2021 and is held in Dutch.
During the debate five Members of Parliament from VVD, CDA, GroenLinks, PvdA and D66 with (higher) education or development cooperation in their portfolio, gave their opinion on the future of international education and knowledge cooperation. This was done by means of propositions linked to two themes:
- The importance of knowledge within the aid and trade agenda
- Equality and inclusiveness in partnerships: idealistic or realistic?
Attendees at the debate
The themes were introduced by respectively mr. Marhijn Visser, Deputy Director International Affairs of VNO-NCW/MKB-Nederland and Prof.dr.ir. Thea Hilhorst, Professor of Humanitarian Aid and Reconstruction at the International Institute of Social Studies (part of Erasmus University Rotterdam). The Members of Parliament who took part in the debate were Tom van den Nieuwenhuijzen (GroenLinks), Dennis Wiersma (VVD), Mustafa Amhaouch (CDA), Jan Paternotte (D66) and Kirsten van den Hul (PvdA). The debate was led by writer, publicist and presenter Marcia Luyten, known among other things for her books on Africa and as presenter of Buitenhof.
Click here for a report on the debate on the NL Times.
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