An important indicator for monitoring humanitarian aid is the number of people reached. Exact numbers are difficult to determine, because different organisations sometimes reach the same people with different forms of aid. The Netherlands calculates reach by dividing the total number of people reached by the Dutch share in the total funding to its partners.

Contributions to humanitarian aid were largely unearmarked, which means that the decision on how to allocate the funds is delegated to the partners. This enables humanitarian organisations to respond quickly and flexibly.

The World Food Programme (WFP) reached a total of 62 million people, of which 422,000 can be attributed to Dutch funding. UNHCR, which is charged with the registration, shelter and care of refugees, reached more than 800,000 people through Dutch funding. The UN funds reached 3.2 million people in the Central African Republic, Congo, Iraq, Nigeria, Syria and Yemen. DRA reached more than 4.4 million people, in countries such as Afghanistan, Somalia and Nigeria. DRA also responded to acute needs in Zimbabwe and Afghanistan.

The Netherlands attaches great importance to mental health and psychosocial care for those affected by conflict, violence and natural disasters. Its efforts in this respect are made at various levels.

During bilateral discussions and at international forums, the Netherlands advocated the importance of mental health and psychosocial care in humanitarian aid. For example, the Netherlands co-organised an important side event to the UN Security Council, which was attended by 500 diplomats and experts. The Netherlands also attended the Global Summit on Mental Health in London and started preparations for an international conference in Amsterdam.

The quality of relief work is raised through capacity building and scaling up the services provided by the Mental Health & Psychosocial Support Network (MHPSS). The Netherlands is therefore funding a Mental Health Minimum Service Package implemented by UNICEF, WHO and UNHCR.

Finally, the Netherlands has set up an informal donor group with the United Kingdom. This will enable us to collectively argue in favour of scaling up funding and making better use of existing funding for MHPSS. At present, 10 donors have signed up.

Humanitarian principles are under increasing pressure and violations of international humanitarian law(IHL) are becoming increasingly common. On more than one occasion, aid workers have been the victim of targeted attacks, which jeopardise unlimited access to the affected population.

In 2018, the Netherlands pushed for the denunciation of violations of IHL. For example, the Netherlands focused on exposing the link between conflict and hunger and worked to ensure that this theme became a responsibility of the UN Security Council. This led to the unanimous adoption of Resolution 2417, which is intended to enable the international community, including the Security Council, to react more quickly in the event of life-threatening hunger in conflict situations.

To guarantee the safety of aid workers and unhindered humanitarian access, the Netherlands, in partnership with Clingendael, established the humanitarian negotiation facility. This facility offers negotiation training to aid workers. In addition, the Netherlands supported the International NGO Safety Organisation in providing safety related information to relief workers in the field.

Preparedness and capacity building are increasingly recognised as important components of emergency aid. In 2017-2018, the Netherlands invested in preparedness, for example by supporting the Dutch Red Cross in building the capacity of national Red Cross societies. This resulted in efficient deployment of personnel, for example during a sudden influx of refugees into Zambia. In addition, the Netherlands contributed to MapAction's efforts to collect crucial data following the outbreak of a disaster. Based on this information, aid workers are able to plan an effective response and act quickly and appropriately.

The percentage of funding allocated as directly as possible to national and local organisations is an important indicator for measuring the extent to which national and local organisations are taking on a more prominent role in emergency response and management. The assumption is that localization will lead to a more timely response and thus more lives saved.

The Netherlands is committed to expanding the role of national and local actors in humanitarian responses. In 2018, more than 20% of available humanitarian funding was channelled through Country Based Pooled Funds (CBPFs). One of the arguments for allocating humanitarian funds via the CBPFs is that national and local actors have direct access to the funds. The percentage of funding to local partners through these funds is increasing. In 2016, 18.5% went to national actors and this figure rose to 25.2% in 2018.

The signatories of the Grand Bargain - agreements between donors and humanitarian organisations to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of emergency aid - have committed to publish their data on activities through IATI. This indicator measures the extent to which agreements are being fulfilled. It provides an indication of progress towards reaching the goal of gaining better insight into data on humanitarian activities. This will in turn increase control, enable policy makers and implementing organisations to make more informed decisions and facilitate learning processes.

The Netherlands worked with the World Bank and the Development Initiative to encourage humanitarian organisations and donors to follow through on these agreements. This resulted in an increase in the number of humanitarian organisations and donors registered with IATI. The next step is to guarantee the quality of the data published by IATI.

Good coordination means that humanitarian organisations can perform their work effectively and reach as many people as possible with the necessary aid. OCHA is globally responsible for coordinating aid through thematic clusters, including protection, education, water, sanitation and hygiene. UN agencies, international NGOs and national organisations plan their efforts based on these clusters and on research into the needs of the affected populations.

The Netherlands pushed for good coordination of humanitarian aid via UN organisations, high-level consultations, field visits and through the efforts of the network of Dutch embassies. In addition, the Netherlands contributed to better coordination in crisis countries through its contributions to the Country Based Pooled Funds (CBPFs). These funds are managed by the UN Humanitarian Coordinator, who maintains an overview of needs. The contributions to the CBPFs enable the humanitarian coordinator to better coordinate aid in a certain country. In addition, the Netherlands' contribution to the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) reinforces the role of the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator.

As a result of ongoing conflicts and natural disasters, humanitarian needs are increasing worldwide. The funding available from donors for this purpose is not increasing proportionally, however. Technical developments and new partnerships, for example with the private sector, offer ample opportunity to improve the effectiveness, efficiency and quality of emergency aid. Successful examples show that innovation can make a difference: digitisation of the monitoring systems for food security yielded a 50% reduction in monitoring costs for the World Food Programme (WFP).

The Netherlands invested in innovation projects and funds, setting up and supporting data centres and funding platforms. For example, the Netherlands contributed to the Humanitarian Innovation Fund (HIF), thereby supporting, among others, the roll-out of technologies for the local production of medical devices in humanitarian situations. Through its support and contribution to the Dutch Coalition for Humanitarian Innovation (DCHI), the Netherlands stimulated collaboration between humanitarian actors, the business community and academics. Finally, the Netherlands supported initiatives to stimulate the use of data for more efficient and better decision making.