IOSA’s mandate is to raise various issues of importance to international civil servants in the Netherlands; it enables the staff representatives of international organisations (IOs) to come together to speak with a common voice about matters and problems that affect its membership as a whole. IOSA facilitates the exchange of information on policies affecting international organisations in the Netherlands. It is in that context that IOSA undertakes informal surveys to assess how international civil servants feel about their working/living conditions in the Netherlands.

Results of IOSA-NL Surveys

“Report on the Survey on the Dutch Medical System” (2008)
This report provides a summary and an analysis of a survey on the provision of medical care in the Netherlands. It was carried out by the International Organisations’ Staff Associations of the Netherlands (IOSA-NL), and is a follow-on to IOSA-NL’s first report, “At Home in Holland? How International Civil Servants View Life in the Netherlands”, in which the staff of international organisations (IOs) stated that the poor quality of healthcare was one of the three top reasons why they would choose to relocate to another country.

The questionnaire, which was completed by staff members of eight of the largest IOs, provides a snapshot of the level of satisfaction among some 2500 respondents, and its results should be viewed in the context of the efforts that Dutch authorities are actively making, both to recruit and retain international organisations to the Netherlands (and particularly to the environs of The Hague).

A number of questions about medical services (the services of general practitioners, emergency care, dental services, waiting times, specialist services, comparisons with medical care abroad, and so on) were posed. The findings, which reflect both answers and comments from Dutch and non-Dutch staff members, were significant, and can be summarised as follows:

• The statistical results show that a majority of respondents, although generally satisfied with the provision of services by medical professionals, expressed dissatisfaction with the state of the healthcare system in the Netherlands, and commented favourably on how much better such provision was both abroad (for example, in Belgium), and in their home countries. Points of contention were: the “gatekeeper” (viewed as obstructive) role of the huisarts, long waiting times for appointments (especially with specialists), denial of the full spectrum of diagnostic tests which are standard procedure elsewhere and other forms of “rationing” of healthcare, and dissatisfaction with emergency and hospital care.
• In short, the primary focus of the negative assessment of the provision of care was the system itself, its bureaucracy, its systemic flaws (reinforced by recent reforms), and the many obstacles/mechanisms that hinder responsiveness to patients’ needs.

The results of the IOSA-NL survey are confirmed not only by the number of individuals who travel abroad to receive medical care with which they have expressed satisfaction, but also by a variety of recent Dutch publications, which indicate that the local population has raised and is raising some of the same concerns voiced by IO staff members.

IOSA-NL concludes with the recommendation that it is imperative that the relevant Dutch authorities address the concerns that are reflected in this report if they wish to continue pursuing their stated objective of attracting and retaining international organisations to this country. If these issues are not addressed, the perception of the Netherlands as an attractive venue for IOs will continue to shift, and staff will continue to “vote with their feet” in terms of healthcare.

“Current and Future Needs for the Education of Dependents of Employees of International Organisations” (2006)
Read the full report here

The purpose of this report is to furnish the Netherlands Foreign Ministry with relevant and substantive information that will help them to assess the current education infrastructure provided for the international organisations (IOs) that are permanently based in, and hosted by, the Netherlands. In particular, demographic material was collected and is being made available with the express intention of facilitating the timely identification of current and future needs for education infrastructure — an infrastructure that, in light of both the active policy of the Netherlands government to attract and retain IOs and, the discernible trend of growth in demand for international education in The Hague area, will necessitate a well-timed deployment of educational resources.

The Netherlands Foreign Ministry is also provided with this report in response to their encouragement of IOSA-NL’s initiative to conduct a survey as to whether sufficient interest exists n relation to the possible creation of a European School in The Hague area. The pertinent survey results, as well as recommendations — the outcome of IOSA-NL’s consultation of users of various international and European education facilities in the Netherlands are provided herein.

“At Home in Holland?” (2005)
Read the full report here

IOSA undertook an informal survey to assess how international civil servants felt about their working/living conditions in the Netherlands. This was carried out after emerging problems became apparent early in 2005, when even the Mayor of the Hague expressed his concern that changes in current local and national policy were making the Netherlands an unattractive venue for international organisations. One organisation has in fact left, stating that representatives of other IOs were free to make use of that fact during their negotiations with the relevant Dutch bodies. The findings are not new and, in fact, simply confirm the existence of problems that have been spoken and written about for a very long time.

IOSA realises that the findings of its report may not make pleasant reading for some, but believes that this survey, with all its limitations, gives a clear image of the feelings of its member organisations’ staff members. To summarily dismiss the findings by stating that the survey is “biased” and not representative is to shoot the messenger instead of listening to the message.Instead of viewing this report as a “problem” that needs to be “solved” or worse, suppressed, it might be more constructive for various authorities (including the authorities within the relevant organisations) to consider the provision of this information as a valuable opportunity to put matters right, to reverse certain negative trends that have been developing over recent years, and to formulate a positive way forward. It would surely be remiss for all concerned not to carefully consider the information and feedback that have been articulated in this report. If IOSA can help to foster a constructive dialogue between the management of IOs and the relevant Dutch authorities, then it will have fulfilled its mission.

IOSA has offered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs an opportunity to exchange views about a number of the issues that the survey has pinpointed as being of special concern to its membership, and has even offered to post any responses from the MFA on its website. In addition, it has made the offer to conduct another survey in a year’s time (after an appropriate time of dialogue) to see whether perceptions of the staff members of IOs have improved.

We believe that the report speaks for itself, but that it should be read in its entirety, and that the findings should not be distorted to present one particular interpretation or another. The final page of the report offers a positive way forward that should not be missed.