Following the decision of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the end of 2010 regarding the ending of financial support to the LOGO South Programme, municipalities were shocked and disappointed. Under the LOGO South programme, Dutch municipalities aim to strengthen local governance and democracy in 17 developing countries.
In April the Senate has adopted a motion which asks the government to explore how the specific expertise of local governments can continue to contribute to development programmes.
On the basis of this motion, which passed unanimously on April 12th, the Minister of Development Cooperation Mr. Ben Knapen has written a letter informing the Dutch Parliament about his intentions regarding the LOGO South Programme. In his letter, Mr. Knapen announced that he is reserving €1.96 mln. for the LOGO South programme in 2011 in order to maintain the infrastructure of the programme and that he is planning to start a new development cooperation programme in 2012 which benefits from the expertise of Dutch municipalities.