On 19 December 2022, the Prime Minister apologised on behalf of the government for the Dutch actions in the past with regard to its slavery past. The apologies had come after years of struggle by activists from the Kingdom and Suriname.
Along with the apologies, the government also released a response to the research report ‘Chains of the Past’ presented in July 2021 by the Slavery Past Dialogue Group. In its report, the Dialogue Group recommended, among other things, that the following actions are taken:
- Raise awareness about the transatlantic slavery through research, education, and artistic projects.
- Strengthen the knowledge about the meaning of discrimination in everyday life.
Make the slavery past visible so that it can become a shared history.
From 1 April 2026, at 9:00 a.m. CET (Central European Time) until 1 June 2026, 5:00 p.m. CET the first application period opens for applications for subsidies. These applications are for middle large social projects ranging between $25.000 to $125.000 (category 3) and large social projects ranging between $125.000 and $500.000. (category 4). You can find more information about application periods here.
A subsidy application can be submitted via the Subsidy Portal of Implementation of Policy. Here you can read more about this subsidy scheme.
For further information about this scheme and the opening of other periods, please keep an eye on this site.
A subsidy scheme for Social Initiatives Transatlantic Slavery Past for the European Netherlands (SUMS-NL) has also been published. For more information about this subsidy scheme, you visit this link.