| Mission |
The ministry of Foreign Affairs coordinates and carries out Dutch foreign policy at its headquarters in The Hague and through its missions abroad. It is likewise the channel through which the Dutch Government communidates with foreign governments and international organisations. As part of its Development Cooperation policy the ministry invests in research for development. Research and knowledge play an important role in poverty reduction and sustainable development. Investments in knowledge and innovation systems are needed to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of halving poverty by 2015. In the absence of sufficient private investment, international support is crucial to enable the poorest countries to benefit form new developments and to help them build their own capacity in areas such as health care, hiv/aids prevention, water supply, education and food production. The ministry's Research & Development policy will focus on innovation and a more effective use of knowledge for development. Effective use of knowledge and research is enabled by an approach of central management and coordination by the ministry's division for Research and Communication (DCO/OC), combined with a better integration of research in bilateral, them-based and multilateral programmes. The approach has been further explained in a recent policy memorandum (September 2005) 'Research in Development'. |
