The Policy and Operations Evaluation Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands (IOB) carries out independent research on the effectiveness and efficiency of the foreign policy of the Netherlands. It assists policy-makers in being accountable for policy results. In addition, IOB helps policy-makers to learn from evaluations and improve policy. To assure the quality and independence of the research, IOB follows transparent procedures. All IOB evaluations are made public and are submitted to the Dutch Parliament.