Brief history
The co-financing programme (CFP) began in 1965. In that year, three co-financing organisations, Cebemo (now Cordaid), ICCO and Novib, received government subsidies to finance the work of partner organisations in the South. In 1978 Hivos joined the programme. During the first decade the CFOs mainly financed projects in the sectors of education and health, a continuation of the work previously carried out by the Catholic and Protestant missions. Later, policies were formulated along the lines of the government's development cooperation policies and the emphasis shifted to poverty alleviation, changing unjust structures and the emancipation of disadvantaged groups. The system, which was originally established on the basis of project financing, by 1980 had evolved into a system of programme financing, in which the government granted greater autonomy to co-financing institutions.
By the end of the 1980s demands for results in development cooperation became an increasingly important topic of political debate in the Netherlands. In response to those demands, the four CFOs initiated their own study on the results of the co-financing programme (the Impact Study, 1991). During the same period, public opinion questioned the privileged position of the four co-financing agencies. Also, due to European legislation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had to adopt a new law that became effective in 1999. The law stated that government subsidies had to be accessible for all citizens and organisations in the Netherlands. As a consequence, the privileged position of the four co-financing agencies came to an end. In 2000 PLAN Netherlands (formerly known as Foster Parents Plan Netherlands) began to participate in the co-financing programme.
The financing of the six co-financing organisations is no longer regulated by means of an agreement with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but on the basis of subsidy allocations.