International Day against the Use of Child Soldiers
State Funeral for former German President Weizsäcker

Father and son exposition


36th anniversary of the Islamic Republic of Iran




New In-House Scanning service for Diplomats
Diplomatic Card Company introduces In-House Scanning service for diplomats.
Special Report from Diplomat Magazine. Diplomatic Card Company (DCC) specializes in advanced services for diplomats such as a Tax-Free Fuel service and a VAT-service. The company’s main goal is to make the Diplomat’s stay in the Netherlands as comfortable and as hassle-free as possible, by reducing the administrative paperwork to a minimum for the diplomat. Diplomat Magazine had a chat with Manolis Arvanitis, General Manager at Diplomatic Card Company, to explain the In-House Scanning service DCC is providing. “With our fuel card and VAT-free card, diplomats are already able to fuel up VAT- and Tax-free and to purchase goods VAT-free if the amount exceeds the minimum of € 225.00 per quarter. In addition, diplomats and international organisations asked us if we could develop a service system in order to take care of the handling of the VAT-reimbursement of their small tickets and invoices. Before, this reimbursement process was very complicated and time consuming,” Arvanitis explains. “We looked into it with our IT-department and developed a new service which we called In-House Scanning. After the Ministry of Finance approved the principle, we could finalise the system, which is now fully operational.”
Ottawa receives German Chancellor at the Hill
By: Eugene Matos De Lara
Photographer: Brendon Dawson
I had the pleasure of attending the press conference delivered by the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Angela Merkel, upon her arrival to Parliament Hill from Washington D.C. In the magnificent parliamentary press room adorned with German and Canadian flags, Prime Minister Stephen Harper welcomed the German Chancellor to Canada.
The session focused mainly on the mutual decision to tackle issues in the Ukraine as well as diplomatic relations with Russia.
“Unfortunately, to this point in time Putin has rejected diplomatic means, he seeks to move his agenda forward through military violence,” said Harper.”We have provided a whole range of aid to our friends in Ukraine…we’ll look at all options, but obviously we’ll proceed extremely cautiously in partnership and in collaboration with all of our allies.” Meanwhile, Merkel noted that Germany and Canada have been cooperating on the issue and that she is grateful today’s diplomatic tour has resulted in Canada and the United States’ support in pushing for a diplomatic solution in the Ukraine.
Moreover, the discussion of Ukraine’s ongoing crisis will continue during the G7 meeting in Munich this coming June.
The press room was filled with both Canadian and German news reporters who all took turns asking both leaders questions ranging from issues with ISIS to domestic concerns. In addition, Canada’s encouragement of youth involvement in politics was seen by the large presence of the University of Ottawa Campus Conservative group thatsat in the second row during the welcoming conference.
Dutch government promotes sustainable business in Bangladesh



Suriname Appeals to Diaspora Community
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Dutch Ministers of Foreign affairs and OPCW’s decision
Impact of Ending Dutch Development Support
Direct from MINBUZA. In 2010, the Dutch government decided to reduce budgets for development cooperation. Budget cuts had to be realised by reducing the number of countries receiving aid. In addition, the ministry intended to enhance the effectiveness of support by focusing on sectors where the Netherlands would have the highest value added. The minister decided to reduce expenditure to social sectors (especially health, not including SRHR, and education) and to focus more on productive sectors. In November 2012 the government announced new budget cuts as part of a package that aimed at reducing the Dutch budget deficit.
In December 2012, a resolution from Parliament (TK 2012-2013, 33 400-V, no. 45) requested the ministry to analyse the effects of the budget cuts in bilateral aid for developing countries. In a letter to Parliament (TK 2013-2014, 32 605, no. 134) the minister announced that IOB would evaluate the effects of the discontinuation of development cooperation partnership. The evaluation seeks to comply with the request of Parliament, and a positive reaction of the minister, to evaluate the effects of the budget cuts in bilateral aid and complete withdrawal for the countries and programmes involved. The evaluation will focus on the effects of the Dutch phasing out on exit countries, including the impact on programmes and (larger) projects. In addition, the evaluation will assess the impact of budgetary reductions in the health and education sectors.