This policy review discusses the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ policy on basic education and development cooperation during the period between 1999 and 2009. During this period, the Netherlands was one of the five largest donors in this area. The report includes an analysis of the Ministry’s expenditure on basic education, a systematic literature review on the impact of investments in basic education, a review of external evaluations of six Dutch NGOs co-financed by the Ministry, and last but not least, a synthesis of six evaluations in the Dutch education partner countries Bangladesh, Bolivia, Uganda and Zambia.