Systems for resilient and inclusive futures
In a year marked by fragmentation, climate pressure, and shifting development priorities, SNV sharpened its focus, deepened partnerships, and advanced new ways of contributing to change.
From clarity to action, this is our 2025 story and joint achievements.
2025 at a glance
In 2025, SNV's programmes contributed to measurable outcomes across the agri-food, energy, and water systems we work in—made possible through strong partnerships and a shared commitment to impact that matters.
Because these investments reinforce one another, the change they produce persists beyond project timelines.
people worked with and for
people gained access to clean and reliable energy
people strengthened climate resilience
people benefited from improved water security and WASH services
people gained access to improved food security, nutrition, and livelihoods
people gained access to decent or self-employment
people increased influence or access to decision-making, leadership, and financial spaces
A message from the 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.
A milestone, a mirror, a moment
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
former Dutch Minister
for Development Cooperation
In 2025, SNV turned 60
We marked it not with nostalgia, but by looking honestly at the world as it is now, and asking what development cooperation needs to become.
Sixty years is a milestone; in a time of fragility, fragmentation, and flux, it is also a mirror, and a moment to act.
Because these investments reinforce one another, the change they produce persists beyond project timelines.
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
The convening: Development on the edge
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
former Dutch Minister
for Development Cooperation
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
former Dutch Minister
for Development Cooperation
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
former Dutch Minister
for Development Cooperation
In 2025, SNV’s programmes contributed to measurable outcomes across the countries where we work.
SNV at 60
In 2025, SNV turned 60
We marked it not with nostalgia, but by looking honestly at the world as it is now, and asking what development cooperation needs to become.
Sixty years is a milestone; in a time of fragility, fragmentation, and flux, it is also a mirror, and a moment to act.
Because these investments reinforce one another, the change they produce persists beyond project timelines.
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
The convening: Development on the edge
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
former Dutch Minister
for Development Cooperation
Connecting local understanding to global opportunities
Where resilience matters most
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