New-style NICHE and NFP in effect
20 Jan 2009
On 1 January 2009, NICHE (Netherlands Initiative for Capacity building in Higher Education) and the modernized NFP (Netherlands Fellowships Programme) officially came into effect. These programmes fall within the scope of the Netherlands’ development cooperation activities and aim to support the expansion of knowledge, skills and technology in developing countries.
NICHE is replacing the now familiar NPT (Netherlands Programme for the Institutional Strengthening of Post Secondary Education and Training Capacity), which will gradually be dismantled by 2012.
Is this a clean break we are dealing with? Joep Houterman, Nuffic’s Director of Capacity Building and Scholarships, regards it as being more of a soft transition. “NICHE is a new-and-improved version of the NPT. The NFP will also be witnessing some primarily instrumental changes.” In the period up to 2012, there will be more money than ever before for activities at the interface of higher education and development cooperation, comprising 300 million euros for NICHE and the NFP combined. Yet it is quality rather than quantity that Houterman really wishes to emphasize.
Integration and harmonization
“We are really in a better position than ever to integrate these programmes with existing Dutch bilateral development assistance projects and higher education development work in the participating countries. At the same time, we have to aim for harmonization with what donors from other countries are doing to ensure that we don’t find ourselves at cross-purposes or doing the same work twice.”
“For NICHE, the first step will be to establish a coordinated portfolio of projects agreed upon by the Dutch embassy in the country concerned and the ministries that have a key role to play. It is essential to have clarity about where their priorities lie. Most of the NPT countries already have plenty of experience with this way of working – now it’s time to integrate this approach within the NICHE procedures in the clearest possible terms. The results have to be ratified with the signatures of the embassy and the national government, giving us a document that specifies the policy priorities and the type of institutions eligible for participation in projects.”
Aims
“Incidentally, we will be keeping two central aims proposed by Dutch Development Cooperation Minister Koenders in mind throughout the entire process, namely: equal opportunities for women and emphasis on the labour market and professional education. The tailor-made training programme previously directed by the NFP will be transferred to NICHE, which will in turn pave the way for new opportunities within the latter organization. The NFP will continue to be tasked with individual scholarship allocation for Master’s degree programmes, PhDs, short courses and refresher courses. Application procedures will become simpler and faster, thanks in part to further digitalization.”
New countries
Finally, Houterman notes that, in contrast with the situation that existed before, a number of new countries are now eligible for higher education projects: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Kenya, Kosovo, Nicaragua, Southern Sudan, the Republic of Sudan and Suriname. Some of these countries are classified as so-called ‘fragile states’, with major problems in the areas of national administration, public order and safety. It goes without saying that NICHE projects will have to be tailored to the specific difficulties present in each of these states. Countries to be added to the NFP countries list are: Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kosovo and Sudan.
Nuffic is planning an initial meeting of the consultative bodies PIE and PROFOUND this month, to be followed at a later date by broader information meetings for Dutch institutions interested in these two programmes. Houterman expects the first NICHE projects to get off the ground in the autumn of 2009.