The Netherlands organisation for international cooperation in higher education (EP-NUFFIC) offers fellowships to participate in training courses in The Netherlands. The aim is to promote capacity building within organisations in eligible countries via training and education for professionals. This is initiated and (almost) fully funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs from the budget for development cooperation.

The Nuffic Fellowships (NFP and MSP) are available with which one can participate in one of the training courses of The Hague Academy for Local Governance.

Eligibility Requirements:

In order to qualify for a NFP Scholarship, you need to meet the following selection criteria. You must:

  • be a national of, and working and living in one of the 50 countries on the NFP country list;
  • not be employed by an organisation that has its own means of staff-development, for example:
    multinational corporations (e.g. Shell, Unilever, Microsoft),
    large national and/or a large commercial organisations,
    bilateral donor organisations (e.g. USAID, DFID, Danida, Sida, Dutch ministry of Foreign affairs, FinAid, AusAid, ADC, SwissAid),
    multilateral donor organisations, (e.g. a UN organization, the World Bank, the IMF, Asian Development Bank, African Development Bank, IADB),
    international NGO’s (e.g. Oxfam, Plan, Care);
  • must have an official passport that will still be valid for at least three months after completion of the training;
  • must not receive more than one fellowship for courses that take place at the same time;
  • English Language skills: The short courses are taught in English. Therefore, it is important that your English language skills (writing and speaking) are good.
  • Work experience: Minimum of 2 years of experience required, working with or for local or regional authorities. It is to your advantage if the work/experience is related to the content of the training.

To be eligible for a MSP Scholarship you must meet the selection criteria mentioned above. Furthermore you:

  • must be a national of, and working and living in one of the countries on the MSP country list valid at the time of application;
  • must have an official passport that will still be valid at least three months after completion of the training;
  • must not be over 45 years of age at the time of the grant submission.

Step 2:      Prepare a Government Statement

For some countries, applicants must provide a government statement that meets the requirements of the country in which the employer is established. Please check the Overview Government statements to determine if you need a Government statement.

If you do need a Government statement, you have to provide one using one of the following prescribed formats: NFP Scholarship or MSP Scholarship (MENA)

Step 3:           Prepare your Employer Statement

All applicants must provide an Employer Statement according to the format that Nuffic prescribes. Your Employer Statement consists of 3 parts and together this must form 1 (one) PDF document which is no larger than 2MB.

The 3 parts are:

  • Declaration by your employer (Permission to participate)
  • Motivation by your employer and your own motivation
  • Implementation plan (with clear goals and deadlines)

Step 5:           Apply for admission with The Hague Academy

  • Apply with The Hague Academy by completing this online application form.
  • After completing this form, you will receive a registration code, a link and instructions to complete the final stage of your application.


Step 6:           Registration for a Nuffic (NFP or MSP) Scholarship (final step)

After completing your course admissions with The Hague Academy for Local Governance, you need to apply for a NFP or MSP Scholarship in the online Nuffic database called Atlas. Please read the Obligations for NFP and MSP applicants carefully before you start your application

  • You will have to answer amongst others the following 3 questions in Atlas:
    Question 1: What is the issue or problem you want to address in your country?
    Question 2. How will this training course enable you to address this issue?
    Question 3. How will you address this issue with your position within your organisation?
  • Please read the ‘Quality Guidelines for your motivation in Atlas’
  • Pay careful attention to the formulation of your answers. Be specific and base your answers on factual information. Refrain from copying the course information or learning needs from our website. Through the various stages of the application, the answers to these questions will be closely scrutinized.
  • Upload the supporting documents that you prepared in Steps 1-4. Please note: It is not possible to temporarily save once you have started your scholarship application. You need to complete it in one session. Therefore it is important that you have all the supporting documents ready.

For More Information:

Visit the Official Webpage of the Hague Academy for Local Governance