Members of the European Parliament's Development Committee and the Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič, were alarmed at the scale of humanitarian aid needs worldwide linked to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on vulnerable populations in developing countries and countries in crisis, on Thursday 29 October, during an exchange on the EU's humanitarian response to the pandemic.
While all welcomed the efforts made so far to respond, they unanimously deplored the inadequacy of the proposed budget dedicated to humanitarian aid.
The Commissioner regretted that the €5 billion increase proposed by the Commission is no longer on the table in the negotiations on the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2021-2027.
The €9.7 billion represents an increase over the current MFF, “which was acceptable in the pre-Covid period, but the pandemic has created challenges for the international community that we could not have imagined”, according to the Commissioner.
This impact is threefold and major - on nutrition/food security, education and the security of vulnerable populations, he noted.
He also added: “I am asking for access to the emergency assistance reserve, which has been essential to our work to date. Any funding, no matter how small, will help enormously.”
The Commissioner thanked the committee for deciding, on the basis of the report by Charles Goerens (Renew Europe, Luxembourg), that humanitarian aid is one of the priority programmes deserving increased funding.
Udo Bullmann (S&D, Germany) said: “We are a long way from avoiding famine in the coming weeks and months”.
The commissioner assured members that every effort is being made to increase aid effectiveness. “The EU will set the political priorities for strengthening the effectiveness of our aid for the future, with safety nets, with initiatives such as the humanitarian air bridge, innovative partnerships”, he said, announcing a Commission communication in the first quarter of next year which will be included in the Commission's 2021 work programme.
The EU is the world's second largest donor. Since last April, 'Team Europe' (European Commission, Member States and EU financial institutions) has mobilised almost €37 billion to deal with the first impacts of the pandemic, including €500 million for emergency humanitarian response, said the Commissioner.
In this framework, the EU and the Member States have provided €660 million to support the most vulnerable populations. “This makes us the second largest donor in the world”.
Of the 40 requests for assistance from outside the EU to the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, 28 have already been met.
The Commissioner also referred to the EU Humanitarian Airlift, which over the last 7 months has brought 1,100 tonnes of humanitarian and medical supplies on 70 flights to 20 countries sometimes facing major humanitarian crises. Nearly 120 NGOs have benefited. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)