In view of the number of major humanitarian crises in the world, both those in the headlines and forgotten, and the glaring shortfall in funding, on Thursday 23 November the European Parliament recommended that the European Commission and the Member States substantially increase their humanitarian aid budgets as a matter of urgency, without cutting back on funds earmarked for development.
By 432 votes to 33 with 98 abstentions, they adopted the own-initiative report by Carlos Zorrinho (S&D, Portuguese) as voted in the Committee on Development on ‘how to build an innovative humanitarian aid strategy’, which also calls for a substantial increase in humanitarian funding during the mid-term revision of the EU budget (see EUROPE 13102/20).
The report also calls on the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy to advocate against the diversion and reduction of humanitarian aid by the Member States. At the same time, Parliament advocates expanding the donor base worldwide.
The European Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) are invited to ensure that all humanitarian operations financed through the blending of public and private funds are consistent with the objectives of EU external action, including the respect and promotion of human rights, the eradication of poverty and the management of environmental risks. See the own-initiative resolution: https://aeur.eu/f/9pd (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)