Report on – 33rd IC Resolution 5: Women and leadership in the humanitarian action of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (33IC/19/R5) – Netherlands

Has your State/National Society/Institution incorporated the commitments contained in this resolution into the relevant strategic or operational plans?

The commitments are incorporated into:
Strategy
Policy
Legislation (e.g. Law, Regulation, Statutes, Rules of Procedure etc.)

At the International, Regional, National, Local level

Explanation:

The Netherlands announced the adoption of a feminist foreign policy aimed at reducing inequality and achieving global gender equality. This policy emphasizes protecting human rights and ensuring women’s meaningful participation in decision-making processes. It focuses on four key areas: rights, representation, resources, and reality. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs integrates these principles into its grant awards, diplomacy, and negotiations at international institutions like the EU. The Netherlands’ SDG 5 Fund supports various initiatives, such as promoting women’s participation in political decision-making, peace processes, reconstruction efforts, female entrepreneurship, women’s rights organizations, and human rights defenders. This includes direct funding for women’s organizations and their leadership roles in humanitarian responses.

The Theory of Change (ToC) for Dutch development cooperation prioritizes women’s and girls’ needs, especially in humanitarian assistance. It highlights their roles in identifying needs and planning emergency responses in conflict-related crises and natural disasters. The policy also addresses issues of sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment, while supporting women’s leadership during and after crises. See IOB Evaluation on Gender mainstreaming in the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs of 2021.

Has your State/National Society/Institution been working with other partners to implement the commitments contained in this resolution?

Partner with:
Humanitarian and development partners (e.g. UN, NGOs etc.)

Examples of cooperation:

The Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs has a partnership with de Dutch Relief Allience (DRA), an alliance of 14 Dutch NGO’s. In Somalia joint response of the DRA, the women-led organization, Save Somali Women and Children (SSWC), has played a significant role. The joint response carried out a transparent process to identify a Local Advisory Group (LAG) representative from Somalia. All local partners that were interested were asked to share their application. This was followed by a meeting in which all local partners could vote for their preferred candidate – SSWC received most votes and was selected. Shahida Suleiman of SSWC currently serves as the chair of the LAG, exemplifying the active participation and leadership of women-led organizations within the DRA framework.

Through financial support the Netherlands contributes to the full, equal and meaningful participation and leadership of women in the security sector and peacekeeping operations. The Netherlands contributes to the Elsie Initiative Fund for women in Peacekeeping, which is managed by UN Women. Through this fund, Troop and Police Contributing Countries (TPCCs) can receive project funding for projects that contribute to reducing the barriers to participation experienced by uniformed women within the armed forces and UN missions. Together with the US, Ghana and Zambia, the Netherlands has launched a first-of-its-kind women’s body armour pilot project during the UN Peacekeeping Ministerial Conference in Accra, Ghana in December 2023. This project, financed by the US and the Netherlands, is aimed at addressing inadequate personal protective equipment provided for women peacekeepers.

For several years The Netherlands has been promoting localization and gender inclusion within the Country Based Pooled Funds. End 2022 the CBPF global guidelines have been adjusted to include women led organisations (WLO) in the advisory board of the humanitarian funds. OCHA started the localisation agenda with the allocation of budget to National NGO’s (including WLO) and reached 39% in 2023. OCHA, supported by donors and in collaboration with the NGO dialogue platform, is continuously improving the position of women within the humanitarian assistance of the funds. The emphasis is changing from budget allocation to seat at the table and using the knowledge and access of WLO to reach the most vulnerable women in need of emergency aid.

Have you encountered any challenges in implementing the commitments contained in this resolution?

With challenges on:
Funding constraints
Lack of leadership support
Lack of capacity and/or support (technical, financial, or other)

Details about challenges:

An opportunity and challenge is the importance of locally led development, defined by the Netherlands as the process by which local actors – including individuals, communities, networks, organisations, private entities, and governments – set their own agendas, develop solutions, and mobilise the capacity, leadership, and resources to realise those solutions. A lot of challenges are within the context of a country. In some countries it is already difficult to start the localization agenda (South Sudan and CAR) while in other countries female leadership is finding her way to the seat at the table, but still working on the influence they are looking for (Somalia, Yemen). A lot of challenges can be tackled by good humanitarian leadership (OCHA), setting up dialogue platforms of WLO within the country and putting forward the chair who is representing the WLO in humanitarian fora.

Have the commitments contained in this resolution had an impact on the work and direction of your State/National Society/Institution?

Type of Impact:
Cooperation between Government/public authorities and National Society has been strengthened
Programming and operations have become more effective and efficient
Partnerships with other humanitarian actors have been created or enhanced

Details about the impact:

The NL Ministry of Foreign Affairs has a partnership with the Netherlands Red Cross in the field of international humanitarian assistance. The current partnership runs from 2022 to 2026 (five years). Since 2022, the humanitarian partnership between Foreign Affairs and the Netherlands Red Cross – previously a multitude of activities – has been streamlined into one activity: the Block Allocation 2022-2026. Through the Block Allocation, the Red Cross provides assistance with acute crises (short-term projects that are started during the year), with chronic crises (long-term projects of at least two calendar years), and has the budget for other types of activities, for example based on: communications, humanitarian diplomacy and learning. An annual core contribution is also made to the IFRC secretariat via the Block Allocation, as well as a contribution to the centrally managed Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF).

In 2023, the NL Ministry of Foreign Affairs also initiated an ambitious partnership called ‘Water at the Heart of Climate Action’ between the IFRC, The Netherlands Red Cross, the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the Systematic Observations Financing Facility (SOFF). This collaboration will combine local knowledge and global technology to help communities understand and act on the water-related risks they face – before they become disasters. The disaster impacts are felt most severely by vulnerable communities. The global water crisis disproportionately affects vulnerable and marginalized groups – including women, indigenous peoples, minority groups, refugees and internal displaced population, urban dwellers living in informal settlements, persons with disabilities, older persons, and people living in poverty, and are compounded by factors such as age, gender, poverty, disabilities and cultural or ethnic background enhancing their vulnerability to shocks and hazards. These groups may lack awareness of the level and type of risks they face, and they are often excluded from the design of interventions aimed at reducing their vulnerabilities and building capacity. That is something that this programme wants to do different.

The NL Ministry of Foreign Affairs also has a partnership with 14 Dutch NGOs that are united in the Dutch Relief Alliance (DRA). This concerns organizations: CARE NL, Cordaid, Dorcas, Oxfam Novib, Plan International NL, Save a Child, Save the Children NL, SOS Children’s Villages NL, Stichting Vluchteling, Tearfund NL, Terre des Hommes NL, War Child, World Vision NL, and ZOA. Cordaid is secretary of the partnership, but all members of DRA have an equal vote and the DRA board rotates between the organizations. The core of the DRA’s work are the joint emergency aid projects, called Joint Responses.

Have the commitments contained in this resolution had an impact on the communities that your State/National Society/Institution serves?

Description of the impact:

Yes, see answers above.