NGOs Urge Belgium to Reverse Aid Cuts, Warn of Human Toll

Hundreds of activists from development cooperation and international solidarity organizations gathered at the Arts-Loi intersection in Brussels on Tuesday, carrying portraits of people from the Global South to demand that the Belgian government increase — not cut — its investment in development aid. The protest, organized by CNCD-11.11.11, 11.11.11, Oxfam, Caritas, and other civil society groups, came as the Arizona coalition government prepares for a critical budget conclave in September 2026, La Libre Belgique reported.

A Historic Decline in Belgian Aid

The protest takes place against a backdrop of steep decline in Belgium’s official development assistance (ODA). In 2025, Belgian aid fell by 21% in a single year — one of the worst declines in Europe, according to OECD data. Belgium now allocates just 0.37% of its Gross National Income (GNI) to development cooperation, a level not seen since 2001, as CNCD-11.11.11 documented.

This erases 25 years of progress and falls far short of the international commitment of 0.7% of GNI that Belgium has repeatedly pledged to reach. The Arizona government — a coalition led by Prime Minister Bart De Wever comprising N-VA, Vooruit, CD&V, MR, and Les Engagés — has already announced a 25% cut to the development cooperation budget for the entire legislature, with a 25% cut to non-governmental cooperation funding planned from 2027 onward.

Budget Pressures and Political Choices

The government confirmed on July 10 that it needs to find €10 billion in savings by 2029, with a budget conclave scheduled for September, DH Les Sports+ reported. The sectors to be affected have not yet been announced, but the NGO sector fears that development aid — a relatively small budget item carrying significant symbolic weight — will bear a disproportionate burden.

In November 2025, the government added €132 million over the legislature to maintain the baseline budget, but this did not reverse the cuts — it merely prevented additional reductions beyond the 25% already decided, as CNCD-11.11.11’s analysis made clear.

‘Every Budget Is a Societal Choice’

Arnaud Zacharie, Secretary General of CNCD-11.11.11, framed the issue in stark moral terms. “For all these reasons, we ask the Arizona government to renounce the announced 25% budget cuts in Belgian development cooperation — and above all to refinance Cooperation to the level of our international commitments, i.e., mobilizing 0.7% of our GNI for development aid,” he said. “Every budget is a societal choice. We ask the government to choose humanity and honor our values of solidarity.”

Els Hertogen, Director of 11.11.11, the Flemish umbrella organization, warned of the broader consequences. “When the world is burning, a full-fledged development cooperation budget is not a luxury or a footnote,” she said. “Drastic cuts mean choosing a world with even more instability, chaos and insecurity. No one can afford that.”

A Global Context of Rising Need

The NGO appeal comes amid mounting evidence that development aid cuts have measurable human costs. A study published in The Lancet warns that cuts to development aid by the United States and several European countries could lead to up to 22 million preventable deaths by 2030, including more than 5 million children under five.

While Belgium cuts aid, several European countries are moving in the opposite direction. Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Luxembourg all chose to increase their aid in 2025, according to OECD data cited by CNCD-11.11.11.

The NGO sector points to ongoing global crises — wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, pandemics, climate change, and the resurgence of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo — as evidence that development aid is more urgently needed than ever. Partner organizations from India and the Philippines participated in the Brussels protest, underscoring the international dimension of the issue.

What’s Next

The September 2026 budget conclave will be a critical moment for Belgian development policy. The NGO sector has signaled it will continue to mobilize, and the planned 25% cut to non-governmental cooperation in 2027 remains a key flashpoint. Whether the Arizona government will yield to pressure or press ahead with its fiscal consolidation agenda — and what that will mean for the real people behind the budget figures — remains an open question.

As the protest slogan put it: “Une seule solution. La coopération!” — Only one solution. Cooperation.”