Subsidy Programme for Responsible Business - SPVO (previously Social Sustainability Fund - SSF)

Because of upcoming laws, companies must show how they avoid and address negative impacts in their supply chains. As an unintended result, negative impacts can lead to local producers' and suppliers' exclusion from international markets. SPVO aims to support companies and their local producers and suppliers in socially responsible business practices. Local producers can be different types of businesses, such as small textile mills, agricultural cooperatives, or smallholder farmers.

For whom is SPVO?

SPVO supports companies active in the Netherlands that: 

• Want to improve social sustainability in their international value chains;
• Work with local supplier(s) to prevent, reduce or stop negative social impacts; and
• Take steps following the OECD Due Diligence Guidelines.

Would you like a non-committal consultation with one of our advisors? Then email spvo@rvo.nl or call +31 (0) 88 042 42 42. 

Budget and duration

SPVO (previously SSF) is a 3-year subsidy programme that runs from 2023 until 2025. The Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) awards this subsidy on a first-come, first-served basis.

• For the second application round in 2024, a total of €4,249,144 is available, divided as follows: 
  - €3,186,858 for partnerships that include only SMEs*. Local companies in the target country do not have to be SMEs. The companies in the partnership have not received a subsidy from this funding programme before; 
  - € 1,062,286 for other applications.

* SPVO uses the following definition for SMEs:  
A company that belongs to the business sector as defined in European Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC from 6 May 2003.  

Complete the SME questionnaire to check if your company is an SME.  

• You submit a budget sheet for your SPVO project. In the budget sheet, you break down the eligible project costs. The applying partnership can apply for a subsidy for at most 70% of the eligible costs and up to €500,000. The applying partnership contributes the remaining project costs (own contribution). The own contribution is at least 30% of the eligible project costs. The project administration must account for 100% of the eligible costs. 
   
• Applicants must start within 3 months of receiving their subsidy and complete their projects within 3 years. It takes up to 3 months to assess your application. So, the project's start date should be within 6 months of your application. 

Conditions

Projects must meet the following conditions:

Lead party (applicant)

• The lead party is:
  - a (Dutch) company with a branch or permanent office in the Netherlands; or
  - a (Dutch) NGO with a branch or permanent office in the Netherlands.
• The lead party applies for a subsidy for activities aimed at 1 or more of the following topics:
  - Combatting child labour;
  - Working towards living income or wages;
  - Ensuring good working conditions.
• Applicants must carry out their activities in a partnership.
• The lead party applies for a subsidy to improve social sustainability in their value chain(s) in one or more countries on the SPVO list. See the list of target countries in the section 'Eligible countries' below.

SPVO partnerships

One of the conditions to apply is that your company involves its local producers and suppliers. Your partnership consists of at least the following parties:

• 1 company with a branch or permanent office in the Netherlands;
• 1 local company or corporation;
• 1 local social organisation, a local civil society organisation or a social organisation with sufficient knowledge of the local context and a local network.
  
  Please note: If it is not possible to involve a local civil society organisation or social organisation with sufficient knowledge of the local context when applying for a subsidy, please do so during phase A instead. In this case, the partnership must include at least 1 civil society organisation when you apply for a subsidy. 

A company with a branch or permanent office in the Netherlands or a Dutch social organisation can be the main applicant.

A project partnership is a mix of companies and social organisations (for example, NGOs) in which:

• Each partner is a legal entity;
• 1 of the applicants has an integrity policy that they will apply during the project;
• Each partner is essential to reach the subsidy project's goals; 
• The companies must be part of the same value chain;
• At least 1 of the companies has significant activities in the Netherlands; and
• The partners suspect social risks or abuses in their production chains, such as low wages, poor working conditions, or child labour.

You can involve more local or international companies, NGOs or organisations in the formal partnership besides the required parties. All partners must be necessary to achieve the project's goals, and the partnership must remain manageable. You can involve extra partners in the project as (external) third parties.

Your project activities may not focus on social improvements at your own local branches, local sub-organisations or production sites. 

You should focus your project activities on or link them to an existing partner production chain.

The subsidy programme aims to support as many companies as possible and seeks innovative project proposals. A company, NGO or other organisation may be involved in multiple applications or ongoing projects. But in the assessment, we will evaluate whether the company, NGO or organisation has enough resources and capacity to carry out multiple projects at the same time. 

Responsible Business Conduct

Your project must follow international guidelines on Responsible Business Conduct (RBC). We take RBC into account when assessing your application. We ask you to:

• Follow the OECD guidelines; and
• Share how you follow the OECD guidelines via your company's RBC policy.

Social sustainability

SPVO helps improve social sustainability in your supply chain. Social sustainability means:

• Contributing to inclusive, sustainable and gender-equal production chains;
• Production chains are child-labour-free;
• Workers and small producers have decent working conditions; and
• Producers and suppliers earn a living wage or income. 

SPVO supports parties that carry out innovative approaches to become more sustainable. The programme funds new pilot projects for the companies, sectors, and countries involved.

The aim is for companies to try out their approach during pilot projects and scale up if their approaches prove successful. Also, others can learn from the experience gained during these projects. 

SPVO wants to share and develop the lessons learnt through a knowledge and learning programme. This way, more companies and stakeholders in the Netherlands and producing countries can make their value chains more sustainable. 

SPVO aims to support supply chain partners that want to strive for a sustainable business model and improve social sustainability in their value chain by:

• Investigating risks and abuses;
• Increasing transparency;
• Integrating their sustainability and sourcing goals;
• Improving their due diligence processes;
• Setting up a long-term cooperation and dialogue;
• Developing and carrying out an improvement action plan; and
• Contributing to local capacity building.

Social sustainability themes

To reach social sustainability goals, companies applying for SPVO must focus on 1 or more of the following 3 themes:

1. Combatting child labour

The International Labour Organization (ILO) states that 160 million children carry out child labour worldwide. Child labour means that children are too young to work or carry out tasks that are too dangerous, and work interferes with their schooling and development. Children have a right to a good education, play, and to be children.

More information on child labour

2. Living wages and incomes

A living wage is a worker's wage for a standard working week. It is enough to provide the worker and their family with a decent living standard. 

A living income is the income that a self-employed person, for example, a coffee or cocoa farmer, can earn from carrying out their core activities, which provides a decent living standard.

A living wage is not the same as a minimum wage. A minimum wage is the amount a worker must legally receive.

More information on living wages

3. Ensuring good working conditions

Good working conditions are a part of responsible business conduct. The basic ILO standards include:

• Decent wages;
• No child labour or forced labour;
• No violence in the workplace; 
• No discrimination; and
• Trade union freedom.

More information on working conditions

In phase A, you should research all 3 social sustainability themes. If you can sufficiently prove why you can omit other risks in the implementation phase (phase B), you can focus on one particular theme.

Environmental themes

You can address environmental problems, but only if there is a direct link to one or more of the 3 main themes. For example, regenerative agriculture: in this case, an environmental solution contributes to higher income or better working conditions.

Sectors

SPVO focuses on high-risk sectors, for example:

• Agriculture (primary production or processing);
• Clothing and textiles;
• Mining (minerals, natural stone), and so on.

You can also apply if you can prove that there are significant social risks in another sector.

Eligible countries

Countries eligible for an SPVO subsidy are Algeria, Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Chad, Colombia, Côte d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Moldova, Morocco, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Uganda, Ukraine, Palestinian Territories, Rwanda, Senegal, Somalia, South Africa, Southern Sudan, Sudan, Suriname, Tanzania, Tunisia, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.

SPVO project activities and measures must take place in 1 of the eligible project countries. If social problems occur mainly in groups of migrant workers, we do not take their origin into account.

We have based the country list on the Policy Document for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation: Do what we do best (2022) from the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The policy states that the Netherlands wants to focus on fewer countries than before, concentrating on a smaller number of markets to achieve more results with the same resources. 

Calendar

How to apply for SPVO

Would you like an initial, non-committal consultation with one of our advisors? Please email spvo@rvo.nl or call +31 (0)88 042 42 42.

You must first submit a quick scan to apply for a subsidy from the Subsidy Programme for Responsible Business (SPVO). You can submit a quick scan at any time during the year. Please note that you can only apply for a subsidy during an application round. SPVO is now open for subsidy applications.

You need our recommendation on your quick scan before you can apply for a subsidy. The second application round of 2024 is from Tuesday, 20 August, 09:00 CEST until Monday, 7 October, 15:00 CEST. 
The lead applicant applies on behalf of the partnership. You can download all the required documents on this page during an application round.

To submit a subsidy application, you must take the following steps:

Quick scan

You can submit a quick scan at any time during the year. But note that you can only apply for a subsidy during an application round.  

1. Complete the mandatory quick scan.
2. One of our project advisors will contact you to arrange an online meeting during the next application round. 

We use the quick scan to check if your project idea meets the conditions for an SPVO project. Based on your quick scan, we will give you a non-binding recommendation.

We aim to assess your quick scan within 2 weeks. After completing the advisory process, you can decide whether to submit a formal subsidy application. 

Please note: If you have already started preparing your application, you can still use the Social Sustainability Fund (SSF) quick scan. Both SSF and SPVO forms and annexes are valid during this application round. 

You can now download the SPVO quick scan here: 

Apply for SPVO

Once you have completed the advisory process, you can apply for funding during an application round. 

1. Apply for eHerkenning level 3. It may take a few weeks to process your application;
2. Log in with eHerkenning level 3 and apply for an SPVO subsidy via eLoket. 
   
   Please note: To add a foreign organisation without a Dutch Chamber of Commerce (KvK) number, choose 'Reason no KvK'. Do not fill in the field 'KvK-number'. If you do not have RSIN identification, you do not have to fill in the 'RSIN' and 'Statutory name' fields. These fields are optional.
    
3. We only process complete applications in English. We will ask you for more information if your application is incomplete. If we do so, the date of your application will be the date on which we receive this extra information.

Risk analysis 

You must carry out a risk analysis before you apply. This is part of your project proposal. A risk analysis gives insight into your chain's social risks and the opportunities to address them. A project consists of phases A and B.

Phase A 

• Local impact assessment
• Due Diligence research
• Developing an action plan

Phase A should not take more than 6 months

Phase B

• Implementing the first (short-term) steps identified in the action plan.

Checklist for your application

Make sure that your company is an SME and that you have the following information ready when submitting your application:

• Your company's Chamber of Commerce registration number, if applicable;
• Your quick scan reference number;
• Your social organisation or company's bank details;
• Partner forms;
• Project name;
• Start and end date of the project (projects cannot be longer than 3 years);
• Budget and subsidy amount; and
• Completed required documents (see 'Required documents' below).

Required documents 

You must submit several documents with your application. Please complete the following documents in English:

• Annex I: Project Proposal
• Annex II: Result Sheet 
• Annex III: Budget 
• Annex IV: Cooperation Form
• Annex V: Authorisation Intermediary (if applicable)
• Form free: Risk Analysis and Outcome 
• Form free: The companies' RBC Policies 
• Form free: Integrity policy (this can be of any of the organisations in de partnership)

Please note: If you have already started preparing your application, you can still use the Social Sustainability Fund (SSF) forms and annexes. Both SSF and SPVO forms and annexes are valid during this application round. 

You can download the annexes here:

Following your application

We will assess your application based on the criteria in the Administrative Rules and inform you of our decision within 13 weeks. If we approve your application, you can start carrying out phase A of your project. You will receive the subsidy in advance payments. 

After you finish your project, we will assess the total realised costs and results. All costs should be eligible, justified and aligned with the project's results and efforts. 

SPVO project administration

If we grant you a subsidy, you must report on the project's progress. On completion of your project, you must submit a final report. Below, you will find the required documents for your project administration. Please include the extra documents mentioned in the annexes as separate files if necessary. You can already submit a gender analysis. Please complete all documents in English and send them to spvo@rvo.nl.

The document 'Final Report Phase A' includes questions on the local impact assessment. The local impact assessment is form-free.

The 'Due Diligence Improvement Plan' is the outcome of the in-company due diligence training programme. Use the provided form and complete it during the course.

Please note: If you are carrying out an SSF project, please use the Social Sustainability Fund (SSF) forms and annexes. You can find SPVO project administration forms here soon.

Please submit the following reports for your project:

• Final Report Phase A (4 weeks after the phase A end date);
• Proposal Phase B (4 weeks after the phase A end date);
• Final Report Phase B (3 months after the phase B end date). This form will be available soon; and
• Annual Progress Reports (as specified in the Grant letter).

Social sustainability: An example

Frequently asked questions

Find answers to frequently asked questions below.

Publications

• Subsidy Programme for Responsible Business in Government Gazette, 6 August 2024 (official publication in Dutch)
• Social Sustainability Fund 2024 - 2025 in Government Gazette, 12 February 2024 (official publication in Dutch)
• Social Sustainability Fund 2023 - 2025 in Government Gazette, 2 October 2023 (official publication in Dutch)