Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands opens photo exhibition celebrating 100 years Simavi
Simavi is celebrating its 100th anniversary, which we marked on 13 November in the presence of Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands with a special event and a temporary photo exhibition at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
Princess Beatrix opened the special exhibition “100 years of Simavi – 100 years of Impact”. She did so together with photographer Sacha de Boer, who took beautiful portraits of women in Kenya and Indonesia.
Ankie van Wersch, chair of Simavi's Supervisory Board, expressed her gratitude to everyone who has contributed over the past hundred years. “From midwives and doctors to volunteers, donors and our partners in the countries where Simavi works.”
Van Wersch gave special thanks to Princess Beatrix for her many years of involvement with Simavi. 'We greatly appreciate your support and interest – and that of your mother and grandmother before you.'
Princess Beatrix was given a tour of historical images from Simavi's long history and contemporary portraits of women by Simavi director Dieneke van der Wijk and photographer Sacha de Boer. She described it as 'very special' that Princess Beatrix wanted to open the exhibition. 'She was very interested.'
This was followed by a programme with numerous guests from the Netherlands and abroad, including Laura Lubbers, Valika Smeulders, Pragati Bajracharya, Joyeeta Gupta, Sareen Malik, Eva Schreuder and Mert Kumru. The discussion covered the history of 100 years of development cooperation, decolonisation, and the water and climate crisis.
The future of Simavi as a member of the WaterAid Family
At the end of the programme, an important step for the future was announced. Simavi will become part of the WaterAid Federation and will continue as WaterAid Netherlands from 22 March 2026.
