NL MoFA-NLRC Partnership: Annual Report 2025
08 October 2026
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands and the Netherlands Red Cross have a long term partnership. The present partnership programme 2022-2026 is built on a simple vision: that people, communities, local authorities and Red Cross Red Crescent partners become more resilient, and are better able to anticipate, cope with and respond to crises.
The partnership on humanitarian action launched in 2022 for five years, and it has grown from €99 million to €237 million. It funds flexible and predictable support: contributions to IFRC mechanisms, bilateral and multilateral support to National Societies, and investment in preparedness, localisation, technical expertise, learning, communication and humanitarian diplomacy.
What we aim to change
The partnership has two goals: to provide humanitarian assistance and protection to people in acute and protracted crises, and to create an effective humanitarian response system by strengthening localization through preparedness, accountability, risk sharing and innovation. Localization is a central objective, reflecting a commitment to strengthening local leadership and capacity in humanitarian action. In 2025, the localization rate reached 66%, counting only expenditure that National Societies manage directly, so the figure reflects how far resources, decision-making authority and implementation responsibility have moved to local organizations.
In 2025, more than 32 million people affected by crisis received support through the partnership programme with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.
How we work
Flexible funding is one of the partnership’s key strengths. The end evaluation found that flexibility was a critical success factor, enabling faster, more relevant and more locally driven responses. Both the IFRC and National Societies emphasized the value of unearmarked funding, because it allows resources to go to urgent priorities and structural needs that are often difficult to address through traditional earmarked funding. That has strengthened partners’ ability to respond quickly to emerging crises, while also investing in long-term organizational development and preparedness.
