Brussels, 17/06/2011 (Agence Europe) - A further step has been taken towards creating the European Voluntary Humanitarian Aid Corps. On Friday 17 June, the pilot phase of the new volunteer corps introduced by the Lisbon Treaty (Article 214.5) was launched in Budapest. A conference organised by the European Commission and the Hungarian Presidency of the European Union Council provided a fitting opportunity for this. The aim of the future volunteer corps is to strengthen EU humanitarian action and improve its visibility by giving citizens the possibility to cooperate in operations to assist the victims of conflict and disaster throughout the world, and avoiding all duplication with existing voluntary schemes.
By selecting, training and deploying the first volunteer team, the Commission moves to the stage of implementation of the initiative announced in a communication last November (see EUROPE 10261). During this experimental phase, the first European humanitarian aid volunteers will receive in-depth training allowing them to acquire the necessary skills to effectively assist communities exposed to humanitarian risk, while fostering local capacities among aid-receiving communities. Later in the year, volunteers will be deployed in third countries as part of three pilot schemes.
“The pilot projects will give us a clear blueprint to move forward. We have two goals - first, to create an exciting opportunity for Europeans to make a difference in the world, and second, to bring collective value to individuals' willingness to volunteer in the humanitarian area”, said Kristalina Georgieva, European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response.
Security has been the top priority in the design of pilot projects and the choice of settings in which to deploy volunteers. Security is also the underlying principle for the future fully-fledged European Humanitarian Corps, which will not be operational before 2012. Prior to this, the Commission will present a legislative proposal based on input from humanitarian professionals and stakeholders within the framework of public consultation. (A.N./transl.jl)