About us
Our story began in South Africa, where we helped bring political parties together and supported them to define their new roles after the end of Apartheid. The objective of the politicians was clear: they wanted to create a united, equal and inclusive democratic society. However, there was no democratic culture to build upon, neither in their own country nor in the region.
So seven Dutch political parties stepped up to provide support to the South African parties as they developed a new the democratic culture for their country’s future.
For the first time, the South African parties worked together in the spirit of dialogue and consensus. And this had such a positive effect on the level of trust and collaboration between them that Nelson Mandela strongly recommended that the Dutch political parties expand their work to other countries.
And so, NIMD was established in 2000 by seven founding Dutch political parties. Our multiparty identity gives us the legitimacy and opportunity to work on an impartial basis with all political parties in a country and encourage dialogue between them.
We now have 18 offices and 20 programmes around the world, in Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, the Dutch Caribbean, and Central and Southeast Asia,
Founding Political Parties
NIMD maintains strong links with the seven Dutch political parties who founded our organization back in 2000. For example, each of these parties is represented on the NIMD Advisory Council. This Council is responsible for providing strategic advice to NIMD, and any political party with a seat in the Dutch Parliament can become a member.
We value this connection with Dutch political parties, as an important nexus with the Dutch political sphere. Our Advisory Council members are in a position to keep NIMD informed of trends and opportunities, while promoting our work on a senior political level. What’s more, our origins and continued ties with these parties – who hail from across the political spectrum – help to cement our non-partisan credentials.
