Administrative rules and ceiling for grants MFA Grant Regulations 2006

Decree | 04-07-2025

The Minister of Foreign Affairs,

Having regard to articles 6 and 7 of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Grants Decree;

Having regard to articles 3.1, 3.2 (b), (c) and (d), 3.4, 3.5 and 3.6 (d) and (e) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Grant Regulations 2006;

Orders as follows:

Article 1

The administrative rules appended as an annexe to this Order apply to grants awarded under articles 3.1, 3.2 (b), (c) and (d), 3.4, 3.5 and 3.6 (d) and (e) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Grant Regulations 2006 with a view to financing activities aimed at strengthening the humanitarian sector.

Article 2

An overall ceiling of €5,000,000 applies to grants awarded under the Order on Strengthening the Humanitarian Sector (Top-up) 2024-2027 from the date on which this Order enters into force up to and including 31 December 2027.

Article 3

1. Eligibility for grants is limited exclusively to organisations that have been awarded grants under the Order on Strengthening the Humanitarian Sector 2024-2027. [1]
2. Eligibility for grants is limited exclusively to applications aimed at:

1. promoting the safety of aid workers in humanitarian crises around the world, through interventions comprising mutually reinforcing elements and in any case advocacy activities at local, regional or international level; and
2. supporting the humanitarian system, to the benefit of both local and international aid organisations.

3. Top-up grants are awarded exclusively for activities that align with those for which a grant was awarded under the Order on Strengthening the Humanitarian Sector 2024-2027.
4. For efficiency reasons, only one applicant will be eligible for a grant up to the ceiling referred to in article 2. Of all the applications focusing on activities as referred to in paragraph 3, only the application that best meets those criteria will be eligible for a grant.

Article 4

This Order enters into force on the day after the date of the Government Gazette in which it appears and lapses with effect from 1 January 2028, with the proviso that it continues to apply to grants awarded prior to that date.

This Order and its accompanying annexe will be published in the Government Gazette.

Pascale Grotenhuis
Director-General for International Cooperation
For the Minister of Foreign Affairs

Annexe

1. Background and provision of additional funding

Last year, by means of the grant policy framework Strengthening the Humanitarian Sector 2024-2027, the Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation provided funding for activities intended to strengthen the humanitarian sector. [2] That grant policy framework noted that the safety of aid workers and of people in need is under pressure. To strengthen international humanitarian law and expand humanitarian space, this grant policy framework invited proposals focusing on more effective application of humanitarian principles and international humanitarian law, enabling more aid workers to do their work safely and reach people in need.

Pressure on humanitarian space and humanitarian safety remains as high as ever. Safety concerns due to incidents are increasingly limiting humanitarian access for aid workers. Safety is an essential condition for being able to offer assistance. At the same time that conditions are becoming increasingly unsafe, funding for aid organisations is also being reduced. Local aid organisations and organisations that serve the humanitarian system face particular difficulty. In light of this, the Minister of Foreign Affairs has decided to provide additional funding in support of the safety of humanitarian workers.

The grant policy framework Strengthening the Humanitarian Sector (Top-up) 2024-2027 complements the grant policy framework Strengthening the Humanitarian Sector 2024-2027, with a grant period up to and including 31 December 2027.

2. Activities and organisations that qualify for a grant

Eligibility for additional grant funding is exclusively limited to activities aimed at both a) promoting the safety of aid workers operating in humanitarian crises around the world (a requirement relating to the nature of the activities) and b) supporting the humanitarian system (a requirement relating to the target group).

With regard to a) promoting the safety of aid workers in humanitarian crises around the world, the intervention must comprise mutually reinforcing elements and in any case the provision of local, context-specific and up-to-date data on humanitarian safety, along with training activities aimed at improving the safety of aid workers and advocacy activities at local, regional or global level. The application must focus on supporting the humanitarian system and therefore be to the benefit of both local and international aid organisations.

With regard to (b) supporting the humanitarian system, the activity must support the humanitarian system as a whole. To do so, the activity must focus on both local and international organisations.

Eligibility for top-up grants is limited exclusively to organisations that have already been awarded a grant under the grant policy framework Strengthening the Humanitarian Sector 2024-2027. These organisations can be awarded a top-up grant to complement the activities carried out or to be carried out using the grants already awarded to them. Besides the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Grants Decree and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Grant Regulations 2006, the criteria set out in these administrative rules apply to this top-up grant award.

3. Criteria

To be eligible for a grant under the grant policy framework Strengthening the Humanitarian Sector (Top-up) 2024-2027, applications and applicants must meet the following criteria:

1. The applicant is an organisation that was awarded a grant under the grant policy framework Strengthening the Humanitarian Sector 2024-2027.
2. Eligibility for grants is limited exclusively to applications aimed at:

1. promoting the safety of aid workers in humanitarian crises around the world, through interventions comprising mutually reinforcing elements and in any case:
   1. the provision of local, context-specific and up-to-date data on humanitarian safety;
   2. training activities aimed at improving the safety of aid workers; and
   3. advocacy activities at local, regional or global level; and
2. supporting the humanitarian system to the benefit of both local and international aid organisations.

3. The requested grant will not exceed €5,000,000.
4. The activities for which grant funding is requested align with those for which a grant was awarded under the grant policy framework Strengthening the Humanitarian Sector 2024-2027.
5. The activities for which grant funding is requested have not already received grant funding from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs budget and have not yet begun at the time the application is submitted. [3]
6. The activities must be completed by 31 December 2027.

4. Application and assessment procedure

Applications for grants under the grant policy framework Strengthening the Humanitarian Sector (Top-up) 2024-2027 must be signed by an authorised signatory and received by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by 31 July 2025. Applications should preferably be submitted by email [4] to dsh-events@minbuza.nl. Applications by post [5] should be sent to: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Stabilisation and Humanitarian Aid Department (DSH), Postbus 20061, 2500 EB Den Haag. If you wish to deliver your application personally or by courier, it may be handed in at the Ministry’s mail desk (deliveries), Rijnstraat 8, 2515 XP The Hague.

The Minister will decide on applications by 29 August 2025.

With regard to the application procedure, particular attention is drawn to article 7, paragraph 3 of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Grants Decree. If an incomplete application is submitted, the Minister may request a supplement. In this case, the date of receipt of the application will be deemed to be the date on which the application was supplemented. If the application is submitted less than two weeks before the deadline, the lead party runs the risk that, if it is incomplete, the Minister will not use their discretionary powers to request a supplement because it cannot be submitted before the deadline. In that case, the application will be assessed as it stands.

5. Checklist of documents to be included with the application:

1. An activity plan encompassing an overview of the nature, scale and phasing of the activities and the relationship between them in relation to the objectives and results envisaged and the effects expected in the period in which the activities will be implemented.
2. A detailed and balanced budget for the activity plan covering the period for which additional funding is being requested, drawn up in the same format as the budget for the existing programme for which a grant was awarded under the grant policy framework Strengthening the Humanitarian Sector 2024-2027.

[1] Order of the Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of 28 September 2023, no. Min-BuZa.2023.19913-19, laying down administrative rules and a ceiling for grants awarded under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Grant Regulations 2006 (Strengthening the Humanitarian Sector 2024-2027), Government Gazette 2024, no. 27471.

[2] Order of the Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of 28 September 2023, no. Min-BuZa.-2023.19913-19, laying down administrative rules and a ceiling for grants awarded under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Grant Regulations 2006 (Strengthening the Humanitarian Sector 2024-2027), Government Gazette 2024, no. 27471.

[3] See article 9 of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Grants Decree.

[4] The time when the email is received on the servers of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be considered the time of submission. Please note that the email server will reject files larger than 14MB. If the size of all attachments together is more than 14MB, these should be divided over separate emails. In this case, the time at which the last email is received will be considered the time the application is submitted. If an application is split into several files which are each sent separately by email, the emails must be numbered, with both the email number and the total number of emails clearly indicated in the subject line (e.g. ‘email 1 of 5’, ‘email 2 of 5’, etc). Please note: The lead party bears the cost and risk of any technical issues relating to submission.

[5] The time at which the application is received at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be considered the time of submission. Please note: If an application is sent by standard post instead of registered post, the lead party bears the risk of it being received late or not at all.