Systems for resilient and inclusive futures
In a year marked by fragmentation, climate pressure, and shifting development priorities, at SNV we sharpened our focus, deepened partnerships, and advanced more interconnected ways of contributing to impact that matters.
From clarity to action, this is our 2025 story.
2025 at a glance
In 2025, we contributed to measurable outcomes across the countries where we work—made possible through strong partnerships and a shared commitment to impact that matters.
Our work contributed to measurably improving lives & livelihoods for
people gained access to clean and reliable energy
people strengthened their
resilience to climate risks
people benefitted from increased water security and WASH service improvements
people gained access to improved food security, nutrition, and livelihoods
people gained access to decent or self-employment
people increased their influence or access to decision-making, leadership, and financial spaces
A message from our leadership
Message from the Supervisory Board Chair
Melanie Maas Geesteranus, Chair, Supervisory Board
The relationships built through years of collaborative work are what make meaningful, lasting impact possible.
Melanie Maas Geesteranus
Chair, Supervisory Board
Sixty years is a long time to stay relevant. For SNV, it has required repeated reinvention, each transition driven by an honest reckoning with what the work actually demands.
This report documents SNV’s work against that standard: in fragile contexts, food and water systems under climate stress, and alongside the communities and partners who carry both the knowledge and the stakes.
On behalf of the Supervisory Board, I thank the Executive Team for their steady leadership through a year that has tested the whole sector. Their clarity of purpose and operational rigour continue to strengthen SNV's position as a trusted development partner.
Message from the CEO
This is a moment to move more boldly toward our mission, not away from each other.
Simon O’Connell
Chief Executive Officer
Simon O’Connell, Chief Executive Officer
Milestones have a way of clarifying things. SNV marked its sixtieth year in 2025, and given the state of global fracture today, our instinct was not to look back, but to look at the world as it is now.
What we see is a moment of profound disruption. Official Development Assistance budgets are contracting, the climate crisis continues to advance faster than the policy response, and food systems, energy access, and water security are under simultaneous pressure in the countries where we operate.
When resources tighten, and uncertainty grows, the instinct across the international development sector can all too often be to turn inward. At SNV, we believe that is the wrong response.
Pathways to resilient futures
Where resilience matters most
Today, global crises overlap, development funding is shrinking, and traditional aid is under pressure. Building resilience is not simply recovering from a single shock or waiting for a crisis to pass. It is having the ability to adapt or thrive under pressure.
To deliver lasting progress, we focus our efforts on three interconnected pathways. Explore how we are strengthening systems under pressure, expanding inclusion across systems, and enabling responsible scaling through innovation and investment.
Click on the cards below to explore our stories of change.
Who we are
Connecting local understanding to global opportunities
SNV is a global development partner deeply rooted in the African and Asian countries where we operate.
With 60 years of experience and over 90% of our team coming from and working within the countries where we operate, we strengthen capacities and catalyse partnerships that transform agri-food, energy and water systems.
Working on the core themes of gender equality and social inclusion, climate adaptation and mitigation, and strong institutions and effective governance, we tailor our approaches to different contexts to achieve large-scale impact and create sustainable and more equitable lives for all.
Our country reach and presence. Click on the pointers to learn more.
This is where local understanding meets global opportunity. Beyond where we work is how we work—the approaches that turn local roots into impact at scale. Click each area to explore.
A milestone, a mirror, a moment
60 years of SNV
In 2025, SNV reached a major milestone. We marked 60 years of impact not by looking backward with nostalgia, but by facing today's global realities.
In a time of fragility and rapid change, we asked a critical question: What must international cooperation become?
It’s important we reflect on how we can collectively make a difference. Let’s find a balance between acknowledging the complexities and also the positives.
Simon O’Connell
CEO, SNV
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The convening: Development on the edge
At the Peace Palace in The Hague, SNV gathered global voices for a constructive dialogue on the future of development.
Development on the edge: Generational perspectives amid fragility, fragmentation, and flux. Leaders from government, civil society, academia, and entrepreneurship reflected on what it takes to stay relevant and to move beyond "development as usual."
In a time of increasing fragmentation, connecting across perspectives, places, and sectors matters more than ever. To mark 60 years, SNV gathered global voices at the Peace Palace to reflect on where development goes next. The collective sentiment was clear: the future must be rooted in justice, humility, innovation, and above all in empowering people to lead their own transformations.
Voices from the dialogue
Poverty is the biggest prison on earth. As long as people are poor, justice, peace, and democracy mean nothing.
Victor Ochen
Founder, AYINET
People don't want development, they want transformation.
Fatima Maiga
Executive Director, ESEN
Without a more just understanding of how we share this world, we'll never come to justice.
Joyeeta Gupta
Professor, University of Amsterdam
Development should not impose a toolbox, but create an environment where people can catalyse transformation themselves.
Bert Koenders
Professor, Leiden University; Former Minister for Development Cooperation, the Netherlands
Inclusive technology is about reversing the concept of money and who gets it. AI could help break divides and barriers.
Harish Hande,
CEO, Selco Foundation
Sixty years also mean honouring shared journeys of lasting impact.
Bhutan: A partnership fulfilled
From the highlands of Gasa to the valleys of Zhemgang, SNV worked hand-in-hand with the Royal Government of Bhutan and partners to advance inclusive, sustainable development—across water, sanitation and hygiene, agriculture, biogas, rural roads, eco-tourism, and climate resilience.
The journey shaped the landscapes and communities we worked in—and SNV itself, through relationships rooted in trust, respect, and shared learning.
With Bhutan's significant development achievements, SNV closed its country office in 2025 with deep gratitude for what more than three decades of true partnership made possible.
To our partners, colleagues, and communities across Bhutan: thank you for your trust, vision, and steadfast commitment.
The work continues
In 2025, SNV worked with partners, communities, institutions, and businesses to strengthen systems that can endure pressure, expand opportunity, and scale responsibly.
The work continues in 2026.