IP/95/167

Brussels, 23 February 1995

"ECHO is one of the most practical expressions of the European Union's presence on the international scene, the most tangible aspect of the Fifteen's commitment to solidarity". These words were spoken by Emma Bonino, the Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid, on the occasion of the presentation of the 1994 annual report on the activities of ECHO, the European Community Humanitarian Office. "When crises arise and political rationale fails to make its mark, the Union's humanitarian action provides the sole image visible to recipients and European citizens alike", said Mrs Bonino.

The ECHO report offers a review of the second full year of the organization's activities, highlighting three considerable achievements by the European Union in 1994. First, the volume of aid of various kinds (food, health care, shelter, fuel, etc.) which amounted to a total of ECU 760 million (ECU 605 million in 1993). Secondly, the extreme efficiency of operations involving 150 non-governmental organizations and international institutions. Lastly, and significantly, ECHO operations covered 63 countries and four continents. "This demonstrates once more respect for the principles of neutrality and non-politicization of humanitarian aid" Mrs Bonino stressed.

42% of aid from ECHO was distributed to the ACP (African, Caribbean, Pacific) countries, with the lion's share going to Rwanda and Burundi. The former Yugoslav republics received 35.3% and the former Soviet republics 11.9%. Approximately 85% of aid is distributed by NGOs and UN agencies which have signed Framework Partnership Agreements with ECHO.

"We must continue to show our solidarity and explain to the citizens of Europe what our humanitarian action involves. One of our aims is to raise the political profile of the European Union's activity in this area. This is an important point as it concerns accountability vis-à-vis European citizens and taxpayers. They must participate willingly in the solidarity effort. But they must also be aware of the value of the humanitarian action to which they are contributing", Mrs Bonino continued.

"The data provided by Eurobarometer reassure us because the statistics show that people are ready to extend a helping hand to victims of disasters whether natural or otherwise", Commissioner Bonino added. But the same poll reveals a sad fact: the people of Europe are unaware of what ECHO has achieved: "I am afraid of an outbreak of donor fatigue", said Mme Bonino, "I am afraid that taxpayers will decide to tighten the purse-strings of humanitarian aid if they do not see any results. We must avoid that danger by presenting them with some positive results".

Summary of the report

1994 was the second full year of operations for ECHO. Faced with the multiplication and aggravation of international humanitarian crises the Community increased resources for humanitarian relief from the 605 MECU spent in 1993 to well over 760 MECU in 1994. This effort of international solidarity went to relief of victims in 63 countries around the world in the following regions: African Caribbean and Pacific Countries (ACP) (42.4 per cent), the former Yugoslavia (35.3 per cent), Eastern Europe ( 0.4 per cent), the former Soviet Union (11.9 per cent), the rest of Asia including North Iraq (6.3 per cent), Latin America (2.8 per cent) and North Africa (0.5 per cent).

Around 85 per cent of the Commission's humanitarian aid is directly implemented through partners (41.9 per cent through NGOs, 32.7 per cent through the UN agencies, and 8.2 per cent through other international organisations). 150 partners have signed the Framework Partnership Agreement (FPA) which became operational in September 1993. After the first trial year the FPA has been generally acclaimed as successfully streamlining relations with partners and has raised operational efficiency. Following a fruitful dialogue with partners in 1994 on the lessons learned with the FPA, it is expected that the system will be further improved in 1995.

Within the institutional framework for humanitarian operations two important changes took place. Firstly, in July 1994 the Commission sent a Communication to the budget authority in which it commits itself to propose a legal basis for budget lines used for humanitarian actions by ECHO. A proposal will be made in the first half of 1995 and will define the scope of humanitarian actions, coordination and means of doing so with Member States, International Organisations and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs). Secondly, 50 MECU worth of food aid programmes of a humanitarian character have been identified within the food aid programme of the Directorate General for Development (DG VIII). The Commission has decided that with effect from the beginning of 1995 these short-term actions will be administered by ECHO. Massive onset food crises will be the subject of closer cooperation between the two services.

The Commission has also decided to reinforce inter-service coordination in another area of major importance to humanitarian assistance. As from the beginning of 1995 all Commission actions in favour of refugees, internally displaced persons and returnees in Third countries worth a total of 455 MECU will be coordinated by a permanent inter-service group, currently chaired by ECHO, with representatives from the Directorates-General for External Affairs (DG I and DG IA), Directorate General for Development (DG VIII) and the Secretariat General (SG). This group is mandated to prepare all Commission decisions on assistance to refugees, internally displaced persons and returnees in third countries in a coherent manner that considers all aspects of the continuum from relief to resettlement/development. The group will also help the Commission to define a common refugee strategy. Finally, in accordance with the agreement to boost EU-UNHCR coordination in refugee matters reached by Vice President Marin and Mrs Oga

ta, the High Commissioner for Refugees in December 1993, the group will also prepare the common platform for negotiations with UNHCR.

Contacts between the European Parliament and the humanitarian aid services of the Commission have grown during 1994. There has been a high level of attention within the European Parliament and its committees to all issues related to relief, follow-up and prevention of humanitarian crises.

The closer dialogue in the field of humanitarian aid between Member States and the Commission, instigated by the Council in 1993, has continued in 1994 to promote mutual understanding of operational and non-operational matters. In addition to country and regional issues, discussions between the Member States and ECHO have covered other relevant issues of humanitarian action, for example disaster preparedness, humanitarian degree qualifications, evaluation, relations with international organisations, transport and logistics. Further steps are in hand to strengthen the mutual exchange of information on humanitarian aid in third countries as a first step towards more operational cooperation in the future. The three new Member States - Austria, Finland and Sweden - participated in the mechanism for dialogue for the first time in 1994.

In addition to UNHCR, the Commission has also continued efforts during the reporting year to cooperate more closely with other UN agencies. Following an agreement at the end of 1994 on the so-called "audit agreement", the way has been paved for other UN agencies to sign the Framework Partnership Agreement along with UNHCR. For as non-operational matters, the Commission has maintained close relations with various parts of the UN system, especially the Department of Humanitarian Affairs (DHA). Exchange of disaster information, consolidated humanitarian appeals, disaster preparedness have been among the most important horizontal areas for cooperation.

The humanitarian service of the Commission continues to strengthen relations with its counterparts within the US Government, the other major donor of humanitarian assistance on the international scene. The two parties now exchange information at all levels and meet regularly to discuss regional or global issues related to humanitarian aid operations.

Apart from improved coordination and efficiency ECHO has been mandated to give the Community's humanitarian aid a higher profile. It is part of ECHO's strategy to create such visibility jointly with its regular partners, the NGOs and international organisations. In most cases this cooperation has worked well although certain organisations must be regularly reminded about their contractual obligations with regard to visibility. A number of publications have been produced in 1994 which have attracted public interest in the work of ECHO. In close cooperation with Member States, humanitarian media events to project the humanitarian dimension of the EU have so far been organised in Madrid, Berlin, and Zagreb.

During 1994, a Disaster Preparedness Programme was launched by the Commission. The programme seeks to enable a selection of disaster-prone countries to cope better when a disaster strikes. Human resource development, management and institutional strengthening and community-based programmes using low-cost technology are all part of the programme. 15 projects (totalling 2.2 MECU) have been selected for funding. At the multilateral level, 1.1 MECU have been allocated to the UN Department of Humanitarian affairs for the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR) as well as for studies concerning the use of military and civil defence assets in humanitarian operations (MCDA).

In order to learn from past experience ECHO has carried out 33 evaluations of a wide selection of humanitarian actions since November 1993. On the whole, evaluations have been received positively by humanitarian partners who consider them as an instrument that can help all parties to improve their performance. Most evaluations have resulted in positive reviews of partners; where problems have occurred these have been discussed in the spirit of partnership. To further streamline evaluation work, an evaluation manual is being drawn up in ECHO.

ECHO cannot predict or programme in any meaningful way humanitarian actions. But improvements in the efficiency of the Office have created a higher degree of readiness to assist in future crises. Unfortunately, this strategy has its limits. During the past four years Community humanitarian aid has increased sevenfold. A continuous and open-ended growth in funding is neither a realistic nor a satisfactory strategy; there is no acceptable alternative but a preventive strategy.

At Community level preventive strategy first requires that all aspects of 'humanitarian continuum' are considered (i.e. prevention, preparedness and if necessary relief and rehabilitation and their links with long-term development) and become a natural part of all foreign policy initiatives when dealing with disaster-prone regions of the world. Preventive strategies should also include carefully designed efforts to protect victims of conflicts and develop anticipated action through access to key decision makers.