Brussels, 18/02/2016 (Agence Europe) - Meeting ahead of the European Council, members of the European Parliament's development committee, chaired by Linda McAvan (S&D, UK), called on the EU not to be taken unawares by the flow of migrants to be expected in the spring - especially as regards financing education for children in emergencies.
In the hope that the heads of state might take commitments, this message was relayed at a meeting in Brussels on Thursday 18 February between the leader of the Parliament's S&D Group Gianni Pittella and European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides before the opening of the summit.
The need for adequate financing for humanitarian aid and the urgency to improve humanitarian access in respect of international law were repeated like a mantra by MEPs in Brussels on Wednesday 17 February when they subscribed to the priorities of the Dutch Presidency for the world humanitarian summit (Istanbul, 23-24 May) and for its six-month mandate that Dutch External Trade and Development Cooperation Minister Lilianne Ploumen presented to them (see EUROPE 11463).
As wide-scale humanitarian crises multiply, with their flagrant violations of the principles of humanitarian law (the bombing schools and hospitals bear witness to this), and given the unprecedented migration crisis linked to the Syrian conflict, the Parliament's development committee and Dutch Presidency are on the same wavelength.
“Two weeks ago the London conference took commitments for humanitarian aid, but also for investing in the nearby neighbourhood so that refugees might have access to jobs and education. Turkey is lacking opportunities for young people who, without any perspective, are easy prey for extremist recruiters, but there is also the conflict in Yemen, South Sudan, the DRC and Nigeria”, McAvan stated, calling on Ploumen to work on obtaining new commitments at the world summit in Istanbul. The message was received loud and clear.
Ploumen gave reassurances that the Dutch Presidency very much intended to be the voice of the voiceless - these “125 million people in the world needing humanitarian aid and who, if they were a country, would be the 11th country in the world” in terms of population. “All they have is us”, she stated, giving assurances that in Istanbul, “multilateralism can bring something tangible”. She assured the MEPs who are concerned that funding for humanitarian aid may be drastically cut just as needs are increasing that the Parliament's report for a global action plan, with contributions over five years and a specific financial effort for educating children in emergencies in the refugee camps, will be duly taken into account.
For 'humanitarian consensus', pragmatism will guide the horizontal issues dear to the Dutch Presidency: - humanitarian innovation: involving civil society and local communities, starting new mechanisms enabling supplies to be obtained on local markets, “concentrating on rational solutions”; - gender equality: fighting against sexual violence against women and young girls, helping them have access to basic hygiene products, developing concrete policies on the ground; - long-term forced displacements of “people who don't have the choice”. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)