The Netherlands

Women sit around a meeting table in discussion with paper and pens on the table in front of them.
PROPSECTS-funded mental health and psychosocial support session for Lebanese and Syrian refugee women in Beirut.
© Elisa Oddone
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The Netherlands is a reliable partner to UNHCR in refugee protection and humanitarian assistance, providing invaluable financial, political, humanitarian and policy support around the world.


The Netherlands provides essential support to UNHCR, both as a top contributor of unearmarked funds and a top donor overall. UNHCR relies heavily on these contributions to assist individuals and communities affected by displacement. As a key partner of UNHCR, the Netherlands has served as a member of the Executive Committee since 1955.

The Netherlands is a leading actor in humanitarian policy fora on issues related to transparency and accountability, and the humanitarian-development nexus among others. The Netherlands and UNHCR are both strongly committed to the prevention of and response to gender-based violence, as well as a zero-tolerance approach to sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment.

With a large share of their funding in 2022 being unearmarked, the Netherlands plays an instrumental role in helping UNHCR to respond where the needs of refugees and other displaced people are the greatest. This includes allowing UNHCR to kick-start emergency responses, and fully respond to situations of protracted and neglected conflicts.

An example of the Netherlands significant support to operationalize the humanitarian-development nexus, a new funding instrument and multi-annual hybrid partnership called PROSPECTS was launched in 2019. At the Global Refugee Forum in the same year, the Netherlands pledged to invest US$ 558 million in the partnership for the period of 2019-2023, enhancing protection, education and livelihoods of people forcibly displaced and their host communities, in eight countries in the Middle East and North Africa region, and the East and Horn of Africa and Great Lakes region. PROSPECTS brought together five organizations working across the humanitarian-development spectrum: UNHCR, UNICEF, ILO, IFC and the World Bank.

The Netherlands strongly supports the Global Compact on Refugees and is a leader in advocating for and supporting mental health and psychosocial support services in emergencies – as per its pledges at the Global Refugee Forum.

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Total contributions in 2023 to date