On Wednesday 18 June, the European Court of Auditors published a report criticising the remote management of humanitarian aid funded by the European Union, estimated at €918 million between 2019 and 2023 for projects in ten countries, including Somalia, Syria and Ukraine. This remote management, used when access on the ground is compromised by security risks or political constraints, has a number of shortcomings, according to the auditors.
Project monitoring. The auditors noted that the current definition of remote management, as formulated in the European Commission’s guidelines, was obsolete. As a result, some actions funded by Europeans and managed in this way are not properly reported, which hinders their monitoring and transparency. And the Commission is not taking sufficient account of the specific associated risks.
Certification of local partners. Another weakness is that the ability of partners designated by EU-funded NGOs to implement European funds is not certified. “Humanitarian workers are often denied access to populations in need”, said Bettina Jakobsen, the Court member responsible for the audit. Certified NGOs often delegate the implementation of actions to affiliated organisations established in third countries. According to the auditors, a certification process should ensure that NGOs can effectively supervise their local partners.
Communication of information. Finally, the auditors noted that the quality of the reports submitted by humanitarian partners was inadequate, as some documents were deemed incomplete or inaccurate.
The Court of Auditors is calling for improved transparency and monitoring in order to make this method of intervention by the European Commission’s services more secure.
See the report : https://aeur.eu/f/her (Original version in French by Bernard Denuit)