Netherlands' ministry responsible for foreign relations
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (; BZ) is the Netherlands' ministry responsible for foreign relations, foreign policy, international development, international trade, diaspora and matters dealing with the European Union, NATO and the Benelux Union. The ministry was created in 1798, as the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Batavian Republic. In 1876, it became the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 
The Minister of Foreign Affairs is the head of the ministry and a member of the Cabinet of the Netherlands, the incumbent minister is Caspar Veldkamp. The Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Aid is a minister without portfolio within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Its incumbent minister is Reinette Klever.
History.
The Ministry was formed in 1798 as the Department of Foreign Affairs. Since 1965 a special Minister for International Development has been appointed in each government with the exception of the First Balkenende cabinet and the First Rutte cabinet).
Responsibilities.
The Ministry is responsible for the foreign relations of the Netherlands and its responsibilities are as follows:
Organisation.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation provide political leadership to the Ministry. The ministry consists of four directorates-general, which deal with a particular policy area:
The Netherlands has about 140 diplomatic missions abroad, see list of diplomatic missions of the Netherlands.
International Institute for Communication and Development.
The International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD) was a non-profit foundation established by the Ministry in 1996. IICD's aim was to support sustainable development through the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs), notably computers and the Internet.
The institute, which was based in The Hague, was active in nine developing countries: Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Ecuador, Ghana, Jamaica, Mali, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. IICD supported policy processes and projects involving the use of ICTs in the following sectors: health, education, "livelihoods" (mainly agriculture), and governance. IICD received funding from the Directorate-General for International Cooperation (DGIS) of the Netherlands, the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), amongst others.
IICD ceased operations on 31 December 2015.
References.
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