13 EU humanitarian assistance
| (35720)
17399/13
+ ADD 1
SWD(13) 503
| Commission Staff Working Paper: Annual Strategy for Humanitarian Aid in 2014: General Guidelines on Operational Priorities
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| Legal base
| — |
| Document originated
| 13 January 2014
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| Deposited in Parliament
| 14 January 2014
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| Department
| International Development
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| Basis of consideration
| EM of 13 January 2014
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| Previous Committee Report
| None; but see (34519) 16959/12: HC 86-xxix (2102-13), chapter 15 (23 January 2013)
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| Discussion in Council
| To be determined
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| Committee's assessment
| Politically important
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| Committee's decision
| Cleared |
Background
13.1 The Commission's humanitarian operations
are led by the Directorate-General of Humanitarian Aid (DG ECHO),
which in 2010 was placed under the responsibility of Commissioner
Kristalina Georgieva. The main objective was to exploit synergies
between Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection, maximise complementarity
and reinforce the crisis response capacity and the coherence of
EU response operations [54]
13.2 The EU Civil Protection Mechanism,
now managed by ECHO alongside humanitarian aid, was set up in
2007 and aims at supporting and complementing the efforts of Member
States for the protection, primarily of people, but also of the
environment and property, including cultural heritage, in the
event of natural and man-made disasters, acts of terrorism and
technological, radiological or environmental accidents.[55]
13.3 According to the latest figures
available on its website, the EU provided substantial needs-based
assistance in 2012, with total funding of €1,344 million
in commitments, including:
— humanitarian aid actions
helping approximately 122 million victims of natural disasters,
man-made or protracted crises in more than 90 non-EU countries;
— 38 activations of the Civil
Protection Mechanism (including requests for assistance, pre-alerts,
and monitoring).[56]
13.4 In 2013, ECHO planned to increase
its focus on aid effectiveness, results-orientation and impact.
ECHO would continue to support UN-led efforts to strengthen the
international humanitarian system and increase cooperation with
non-Development Assistance Countries (DAC) donors, in particular
Arab countries and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN). The Commission would pursue finalisation of the revised
EU Civil Protection legislation and the legislative framework
for EU Aid Volunteers.[57]
13.5 A year ago, the Minister (Lynne
Featherstone) noted that DFID's Multilateral Aid Review (MAR)[58]
had concluded that ECHO provided (her emphasis) very good value
for money — but there was still room for improvement,
particularly on: improving Value for Money (VFM) in all their
programmes; improving the linkages between humanitarian aid and
development and improving the gender and environmental dimensions
of their programming. She further noted that ECHO's progress against
the areas identified in the MAR would be formally assessed in
the MAR Update in 2013, and accordingly welcomed the intention
stated in the 2012 strategy to prioritise aid effectiveness, results
and impact, as well as engaging more with non-DAC donors and advancing
the UN's Transformative Agenda — "areas which the UK
recommended ECHO had room for improvements in the MAR and in subsequent
lobbying".
13.6 In a climate of increasing demands
and decreasing humanitarian budgets, the importance of ECHO's
contribution was, the Minister said, likely to increase further
in 2013; this was particularly important for the "forgotten
crises", where ECHO was often the sole donor.
Our assessment
13.7 We would not normally have regarded
a Commission Staff Working Paper of this nature as warranting
a Report to the House. However, on this occasion there was a
welcome, and overdue, emphasis not simply on how ECHO planned
to respond to these manifold humanitarian crises, vital as that
was, but also — as the Commission said — on the humanitarian
community needing to do more with less by increasing the effectiveness,
efficiency and quality of aid.
13.8 Many other such Commission documents
also contained worthy intentions about increasing VFM, effectiveness,
efficiency and so on. Now, however, in 2013 the Minister's Department
would be formally assessing ECHO's progress against the areas
identified in its 2011 Multilateral Aid Review; and thus, presumably,
whether it remained (as the Minister put it) "very good value
for money".
13.9 The Minister also focused on other
proposed areas of change, viz., developing a gender policy for
humanitarian aid operations, with components on addressing sexual
and gender-based violence; and engaging more in areas in which
the UK had recommended ECHO had room for improvement (with non-DAC
donors in the Middle and Far East and advancing the UN's Transformative
Agenda.[59]
13.10 We therefore asked the Minister
to report on these issues and on the outcome of the MAR review
in particular when she submitted the 2014 operational guidelines
for scrutiny.[60]
The Commission Staff Working Paper
13.11 The Commission says that, globally,
humanitarian needs continue to increase substantially, driven
principally by the consequences of climate change and population
growth. For natural disasters, an average of 269 million people
is reported as affected each year and in 2010-12 and is projected
to rise to as much as 375 million by 2015. Rapid and unplanned
urbanisation is the largest driver of disaster risk; already half
the world's population lives in urban areas and in developing
countries the number of urban dwellers is increasing at a rate
of around 65 million a year. To address such increases in humanitarian
needs, humanitarian budgets must be used as efficiently and effectively
as possible to ensure the maximum impact. Weaknesses and key gaps
in the international response system need to be identified and
addressed, and ways of working have to be reviewed and innovated.
The Commission will continue supporting the strengthening of the
overall international humanitarian system; its valuable first-hand
knowledge of the complex situations on the ground can help shape
the response of both the humanitarian community, including other
donors, and that of political and development stakeholders, who
should contribute to more structural and sustainable solutions.
13.12 The Commission will continue work
with partners to ensure transparent and accountable communication,
including field visibility for EU assistance. This will be crucial
for European citizens continued awareness, better understanding
as well as their support for EU humanitarian action.
13.13 EU Humanitarian Aid continues
to focus on supporting those in most need following sudden onset,
protracted and forgotten crises. At the same time, building the
resilience of populations to better withstand the effects of shocks
and stress is becoming a central aim of humanitarian aid. Based
on the results of its integrated (humanitarian and food) needs
assessment, the Commission plans the main humanitarian interventions
for 2014 in Africa (mainly in Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic
Republic of Congo, the Sahel Region and the Horn of Africa), but
also in the Middle East. The protracted conflict in Syria which
has caused a humanitarian crisis of an unprecedented scale is
likely to continue to generate massive needs. The humanitarian
response to this complex crisis of a regional dimension will therefore
continue to put a heavy strain on aid budgets.
13.14 The Commission will also pursue
its enhanced assistance to the populations of the Central African
Republic (CAR), and continue its efforts, with other partners,
to ensure adequate international attention for the crisis in CAR.
It will build on its advocacy efforts for CAR in 2013 (which notably
involved high-level missions to CAR and the facilitation of a
dialogue among key stakeholders on the humanitarian crisis in
CAR at the UN General Assembly).
13.15 Overall, while the scale of the
needs worldwide is such that no single donor can address them
all, the Commission will continue to have a global reach supporting
relief and resilience work in around 80 countries, covering major
and forgotten humanitarian crises.
13.16 The Commission also notes that
operational and funding priorities have been based on the "Integrated
Analysis Framework" (IAF), a new tool for humanitarian need
and situation assessment developed by DG ECHO — part of
the overall "process review" carried out by the service
with the aim to improve quality/effectiveness (aid effectiveness,
policy leverage, visibility and accountability to taxpayer), and
improve further evidence-based decision-making.
13.17 In her Explanatory Memorandum
of 13 January 2014, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Department
for International Development (Lynne Featherstone) highlights
the following aspects of the Commission's plans:
"The Commission will use the
Resilience Action Plan, which was issued in June 2013, to scale
up EU efforts on resilience. In 2014, the Commission will integrate
resilience as a driver for quality and aid effectiveness of its
humanitarian response and development assistance. Resilience will
be systematically included in Humanitarian Implementation Plans
(HIPs). The Commission will also increasingly be involved in joint
planning processes with Member States that have the potential
to play a key role in supporting the resilience agenda. These
include the AGIR (Global Alliance for Resilience) Initiative in
the Sahel and the SHARE (Supporting the Horn of Africa's Resilience)
Initiative in the Horn of Africa. There will also be more integration
between these initiatives and DIPECHO (Disaster Preparedness ECHO)
programmes, which build national and local capacities for resilience.
The EU will also promote resilience and disaster risk management
in international fora including the G20, the process for the revision
of the Millennium Development Goals and the development of Sustainable
Development Goals as well as engaging in the revision of the UN
Hyogo Framework for Action.
"An independent evaluation
of the impact of the European Consensus on Humanitarian Aid was
launched in mid-2013. [61]
The findings of the evaluation will be assessed in 2014.
"As negotiations on the EU
Aid Volunteers draft Regulation are finalised, the Commission
will focus on completing the preparatory steps necessary for implementing
the programme. It will launch the first capacity building measures
to ensure that sending and hosting organisations are ready to
participate in the programme and the first organisations will
be certified. Training of the first EU Aid Volunteers is scheduled
towards the end of 2014. In the meantime, implementation of the
pilot projects agreed in 2013 will continue including the deployment
of around 80 volunteers in 2014.
"The Commission will also continue
to support the UN-led efforts to strengthen the international
humanitarian system through the IASC (Inter-Agency Standing Committee)
Transformative Agenda.[62]
This aims at improving the overall performance and accountability
of the collective humanitarian response. The Commission will also
closely follow the preparation of the World Humanitarian Summit
which will take place in Istanbul in 2016. The Commission will
also strengthen its cooperation with a number of non-DAC donors,
in particular with Arab donors and ASEAN.
"The Commission adopted its
new gender and gender-based violence policy for humanitarian aid
in 2013. In 2014, the Commission will roll out a Gender-Age Marker
for humanitarian aid operations. The Commission will also continue
to support education in emergencies for children affected by conflict,
in particular through the EU Children of Peace Initiative."
13.18 Turning to Operational priorities,
the Minister says that, as well as operational priorities and
funding allocations for 2014 now being based on the Integrated
Analysis Framework (IAF):
"the Commission also produces
the Global Vulnerability and Crisis Assessment (GVCA) and the
Forgotten Crisis Assessment (FCA). The FCA 2013-14 exercise identified
11 forgotten crises including in Bangladesh, India, Colombia,
Algeria, Yemen, Central African Republic and Pakistan. 15% of
ECHO's planned geographical humanitarian aid budget allocation
is being earmarked for these forgotten crises.
"EUR 896 million (£746
million) of the general budget is earmarked for humanitarian aid/food
assistance and disaster preparedness (DIPECHO). The Commission
will continue to have global reach, with its relief and resilience
work in around 80 countries. ECHO plans to programme 46% of its
aid to sub-Saharan Africa, 22% to the Middle East and Mediterranean,
16% to Asia Pacific, 5% to Latin American and Caribbean and the
remaining 11% to worldwide disasters and complementary operations."
13.19 With regard to Delivery, coordination
and control of humanitarian aid, the Minister notes that:
"ECHO will continue to manage
its humanitarian activities from its headquarters in Brussels
and via a network of more than 40 field offices. It funds projects
through around 200 partners including European NGOs, UN agencies
and other international organisations such as the International
Committee of the Red Cross. Grants and contributions are decided
on the basis of the best proposals covering the needs of the most
vulnerable.
"Coordination will continue
through the Council Working Party on Humanitarian Aid and Food
Aid (COHAFA) and through the dissemination of crisis reports,
exchanges with partners at headquarters and in the field and in
international coordination fora. The Commission will continue
to use a range of internal and external tools in order to ensure
the correct implementation of EU-funded operations."
The Government's view
13.20 The Minister says that the Government
continues to see ECHO as a key humanitarian partner, and as uniquely
placed to reach crises across the globe with its extensive network
of field-based experts.
13.21 ECHO's focus on under-funded emergencies
is also regarded as very important for meeting humanitarian needs
worldwide, with ECHO being sometimes the only donor present in
some countries. The Minister also describes the information and
analysis generated through ECHO's field network as very valuable
for the UK, other EU Member States, and for the wider humanitarian
community. The UK has, she says, been particularly appreciative
of the information, analysis and support received from ECHO in
the Central African Republic (CAR) where there is no DFID country
office, and ECHO's leading role in CAR in terms of funding and
advocacy.
13.22 With regard to determining its
operational priorities, the Minister says that ECHO's "robust
tools" are used frequently by other donors and decision-makers.
She also notes that the European Consensus on Humanitarian Aid
— the primary policy document for EU humanitarian action
— is very closely aligned with the UK's own humanitarian
policy; the UK has participated in the evaluation of the impact
of the European Consensus and will take note of the outcome of
this assessment in 2014.
13.23 Recalling her statement of a year
ago on the conclusion in DFID's 2011 MAR that ECHO provided very
good value for money and was a high performer, the Minister says:
"The 2013 MAR Update assessed
ECHO's direction of travel against the three reform areas identified
including the inclusion of cross-cutting issues such as gender
and climate change and environment, and better working between
ECHO, DG DEVCO and the EEAS. The MAR Update concluded that ECHO
had made some progress against all these reform areas, including
adopting its new gender and gender-based violence policy, as described
in the guidelines. The UK strongly welcomes the adoption of this
policy and was engaged in providing comments on early drafts.
The UK will engage with ECHO on the implementation of its policy
in 2014 and roll-out of the gender and age marker.
13.24 The Minister then continues as
follows:
"ECHO has also been involved
in more productive joint programming between ECHO and DG DEVCO
in, for example, the Sahel. The UK works closely with DGs ECHO
and DEVCO in the Sahel and this engagement is likely to increase
in 2014. This has also helped the Commission to better integrate
the resilience agenda in its work. The UK welcomes ECHO's focus
on resilience and its commitment to the Resilience Action Plan.
The Commission is a strong partner for the UK in driving this
agenda forwards globally and translating it into better programmes
on the ground.
"The UK welcomes ECHO's engagement
in driving forward the IASC Transformative Agenda which aims to
improve the effectiveness of the international humanitarian system.
As two of the largest donors to the humanitarian system, the UK
and ECHO work closely together in Geneva, New York, in field offices
and in headquarters to push for changes to increase the effectiveness
and efficiency of humanitarian response. We will also engage closely
with ECHO in the build up to the World Humanitarian Summit in
2016. The UK also recognises that ECHO is particularly well placed
to improve cooperation with other regional organisations, including
non-DAC donors such as ASEAN.
"Through negotiations in the
Council Working Party on Humanitarian Aid and Food Aid (COHAFA),
the UK and other Member States secured significant improvements
to the draft EU Aid Volunteers Regulation in 2013. With final
adoption by the European Parliament and Council scheduled for
March 2014, the Commission, as laid out in the guidelines, will
work on preparing for implementation. Since the Council pushed
for 'implementing acts' for adopting additional protocols for
the regulation, the UK will continue to ensure that this initiative
is as effective and results-driven as possible. "
Conclusion
13.25 DG ECHO is plainly a major
force for good in dealing with the many, and growing, humanitarian
crises, and in many respects a global leader.
13.26 It is gratifying that the Minister
is able to report favourably on the areas in which DFID had wanted
to see further progress, including adopting its new gender and
gender-based violence policy. But, as she implies, policy is
one thing, implementation is another: in this regard, we recall
the recent report on the GAP programme, which showed how slow
progress had been in actually implementing, especially in EU delegations
on the ground, a policy on gender mainstreaming that was agreed
as long ago as 2010, and which we have recommended for debate
in European Committee B.[63]
13.27 We have reported extensively
on the draft Council Regulation establishing the European Voluntary
Humanitarian Aid Corps (EVHAC). Under this proposal, the Commission
would develop standards for recruitment, preparation, deployment
and management of volunteers, and manage a Register of EU Aid
Volunteers Organisations to select, prepare and deploy them, who
would have to be certified for compliance with these standards;
a certification mechanism would also be established for organisations
eligible to receive volunteers; the proposed 2014-2020 budget
is €239.1 million. During the "trilogue" process
between the Presidency, Commission and European Parliament, the
latter has made determined efforts to shift the management process
away from Implementing to Delegated Acts (which latter would allow
the EP into the management process that at present is in the hands
of the Commission and Member States through the comitology process).
The Council Regulation currently remains under scrutiny, pending
a further report from the Minister about the final compromise
to which she refers above. In any event, as she says, the challenge,
as always, will be in implementation. [64]
13.28 The Minister notes the centrality
in the process of the European Consensus on Humanitarian Aid,
and an evaluation that is to be assessed in mid-2014. She does
not say if this evaluation is to be in the form of a depositable
document. If not, we would be grateful if she would write to
us before the summer recess about the findings of the evaluation
and of the assessment thereof.
13.29 Beyond that, we ask her, when
she submits the 2015 guidelines for scrutiny, to report on the
extent to which the Commission has been able to follow and implement
the 2014 priorities and approach, particularly with regard to
the gender and resilience components (c.f. paragraph 13.17 above).
13.30 In the meantime, we clear this
Commission Staff Working Document from scrutiny.
13.31 We are also drawing this chapter
of our Report to the attention of the International Development
Committee.
54 For full information on DG ECHO, see http://ec.europa.eu/echo/index_en.htm. Back
55
The EU Civil Protection Mechanism (CPM) is made up of 32 states
(27 EU Member States plus Croatia, former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) which cooperate
in the field of civil protection. The assistance can take the
form of in-kind assistance, equipment and teams, or involve sending
experts to carry out assessments. It relies on government resources
and, if assistance is required in third countries, usually works
in parallel with or hands over to humanitarian aid. The operational
heart of CPM is the European Emergency Response Centre (ERC -
formerly MIC - Monitoring and Information Centre) accessible 24
hours a day, seven days a week. Any country inside or outside
the EU affected by a disaster and overwhelmed by its magnitude
can make an appeal for assistance through the MIC/ERC. Back
56
See Annual Report on the European Union's Humanitarian Aid and
Civil Protection Policies and their Implementation in 2012 at
http://ec.europa.eu/echo/files/media/publications/annual_report/2012/COM_2013_658_en.pdf. Back
57
See (34519) 16959/12: HC 86-xxix (2102-13), chapter 15 (23 January
2013) for further information about the 2012 guidelines. Back
58
According to its website, the aim of the Multilateral Aid Review
(MAR) which was published in March 2011 was to ensure that the
UK gets maximum value for money for UK aid through its contributions
to multilateral organisations. See http://www.dfid.gov.uk/What-we-do/How-UK-aid-is-spent/a-new-direction-for-uk-aid/Multilateral-Aid-Review/
for full information on the MAR. The MAR is available at http://www.dfid.gov.uk/Documents/publications1/mar/multilateral_aid_review.pdf. Back
59
The "transformative agenda" is the current terminology
being used to define the processes underway within the Inter-Agency
Standing Committee (IASC) to address the operational challenges
related to the 2005 "humanitarian reform" process.
It also is meant to improve coordinated responses that meet the
needs of, and are accountable to, affected populations. The process,
initiated at the IASC heads of agency ("Principals")
level in December 2010, was in response to the well-documented
failings of the international community in response to the Pakistan
floods and Haiti earthquake. See https://icvanetwork.org/system/files/versions/doc00005268.pdf. Back
60
See headnote: (34519) 16959/12: HC 86-xxix (2102-13), chapter
15 (23 January 2013). Back
61
In December 2006, the Commission launched a wide-ranging consultation
of Member States and humanitarian organisations on a proposed
EU consensus on humanitarian aid that would deal with the main
issues confronting donor and implementing organisations. The
outcome was a joint statement entitled "The European Consensus
on Humanitarian Aid" signed in December 2007 by the three
European Institutions (Council, Parliament and Commission). The
Consensus sets out the values, guiding principles and policy scope
of EU humanitarian aid, and seeks to strengthen the EU's capacity
to help people suffering in crisis zones across the globe. For
full information, see http://ec.europa.eu/echo/policies/consensus_en.htm. Back
62
See http://www.humanitarianinfo.org/iasc/pageloader.aspx?page=content-template-default&bd=87
for full information on the IASC Principals Transformative Agenda. Back
63
See our Report at (35635) 17432/13: HC 83-xxvi (2013-14), chapter
1 (8 January 2014). Back
64
For the Committee's consideration of the EVHAC proposal, see (34256)
14150/12: HC 83-xxvi (2013-14), chapter 5 (8 January 2014) and
the Reports referred to therein. Back
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