Development policy: EP Statements by EU Commissioners Urpilainen and Lenarčič

Honourable Members,

I am pleased to be here today.

This may be my final appearance in front of this Committee with which we have enjoyed excellent cooperation throughout my mandate.

And this is extremely important. Because this mandate was one of unprecedented challenges. Including in the area of humanitarian aid.

This cooperation started with the pandemic, which had enormous humanitarian impact. And it continued with the proliferation and intensification of new and existing conflicts, including in Ukraine and more recently in Gaza, Sudan and elsewhere.

Meanwhile, we have seen the increased humanitarian impact of the worsening climate breakdown.

Each year we have met, the global humanitarian situation has worsened. And this year is no exception. With humanitarian crises continuing to spiral out of control.

This has been driven by the global rise of conflict levels and growing disrespect for international humanitarian law. By the worsening realities of climate breakdown. And by new, unexpected emergencies such as the coronavirus pandemic.

Looking around, we can see the human consequences of these engines of suffering all too clearly. From Gaza and Ukraine to Sudan and Afghanistan.

As you know, today over 310 million people need humanitarian assistance. An increase of over 135% compared to the beginning of my mandate. If this number constituted a country, it would be the fourth most populous in the world.

Yet at the very moment when humanitarian needs are at their highest, the global response is nowhere near enough. Global humanitarian funding requirements currently amount to over 40 billion euros. This is more than double what it was five years ago. So far until July this year, these needs have been funded at only 25%.

Even more worryingly, calls for support continue to rely heavily on a disturbingly narrow international donor base. Last year, nearly 80% of total global humanitarian aid came from just 10 countries. With the European Commission listed among the top three.

We predicted much of this in 2021, when we tried to address upcoming problems in our Commission’s Communication on EU humanitarian action.

And I believe that we have made much progress since then in addressing these challenges.

Let me share with you some of these achievements during my mandate.

As well as thank you for the continued support of this committee.

I will address this in three broad topics:

• Funding;
• Respect for international humanitarian law;
• And the Nexus or joined-up action.

First: throughout my mandate, we have worked to close the funding gap between humanitarian needs and available resources.

We can all be proud that the EU together with its Member States continue to figure among the leading humanitarian donors globally.

And, of course, this is only possible thanks to the support of the European Parliament when it comes to financial resources.

With have been able, with the help of the European Parliament, to preserve the EU’s status as a principled and global humanitarian donor.

Since 2021, the EU’s humanitarian aid budget has been reinforced by nearly a quarter.

And within our budget we have taken steps to ensure we are ready to help people in need wherever they are anywhere in the world – as pertains to the status of the EU as a global humanitarian donor.

In addition, we have kept our political position of allocating at least 15% of our budget to forgotten crises. As well as allocating at least 10% of our budget to education in emergencies.

And we have gone even further in working to close the global funding gap. In particular, by advocating for a meaningful and realistic funding target.

This is why we were happy to see that during the Swedish Presidency of the EU Council in May last year, the Council agreed on a voluntary target of 0.07% of each Member State’s Gross National Income to humanitarian Aid.

By the way, if all OECD Member States allocated that proportion of their GNI to aid, there would be no funding gap.

Finally, we are making progress towards more efficient funding mechanisms. We have been increasing multi-year funding. We have been piloting programmatic partnerships. And we have been working on giving greater support to local humanitarian organisations, including by issuing guidance on localisation last year.

Beyond all this innovation, we have taken every opportunity to voice this urgent call for more funding.

This includes using the annual European Humanitarian Forum, an event we launched in 2022, as a place where Member States are invited to attend at a high political level and pledge their annual humanitarian funding.

Since the first edition in 2022, I can say that the Forum has become a signature event and a fixture in the international humanitarian calendar. It brings together all stakeholders, including humanitarian workers, development and private sector actors, politicians from Member States, Members of the European Parliament, beneficiaries and others, to discuss global humanitarian challenges.

But we did not stop there. Under my mandate, we have tried to move  the Commission beyond being a humanitarian donor to become a humanitarian actor.

We built on our successful initiative implemented during the pandemic of humanitarian air bridges, by launching the European Humanitarian Response Capacity.

This response capacity is designed to fill operational gaps in humanitarian response and ensure rapid delivery of aid. So far organising over 200 EU humanitarian air bridges across 20 crises.

And we have established stockpiles of humanitarian aid items strategically pre-positioned in four different regions around the world.

My second point relates to the respect of international humanitarian law.

It is no secret that there has been a steady erosion of respect for international humanitarian law globally. It is crucial for us not to look away from this terrible trend.

We have taken every opportunity over the past five years to demand more action from international actors, more respect for international humanitarian law and, above all, accountability for perpetrators of this law.

This year we established a mechanism called Protect Aid Workers. This is supposed to be a safety net to help local aid workers who have fallen victim to critical incidents.

We have also supported at the latest European Humanitarian Forum the new independent initiative ‘IHL in Focus’, which keeps track of violations worldwide. In addition, we have persuaded the Council to introduce humanitarian exemptions into over 35 EU sanctions regimes.

But the Commission understands that aid and advocacy alone will not reverse the rising tide of global suffering.

This leads me to my third point.

Over my mandate, we have pushed for more Nexus – more joined-up action among humanitarian, development and peace efforts.

So that we can address not just emergency needs but also the root causes of humanitarian needs as well as provide mid-term and long-term solutions.

However, this remains a challenge. Funding is in short supply, whilst there are tendencies to shift this funding into other areas like infrastructure.

This is fine, so long as we do not forget and neglect the provision of basic services and livelihoods at the community level in order to improve the human development situation – in particular in fragile settings.

In summary: funding. Respect for international humanitarian law. And Nexus.

I think we have been able to make some progress in these areas over the last five years. But there is still so much more to do.

Thank you for inviting me to share a few thoughts on the path ahead, which I am very glad to do.

As the global humanitarian situation worsens, I think that the EU must continue scaling up its efforts to help people in need. To do this, the Commission will continue to need your support in all these areas I have discussed. In particular, on the issue of funding.

There are currently ongoing negotiations for the EU budget 2025. I would encourage you to call for more budget reinforcements.

I would also invite you to start looking further ahead to the upcoming negotiations for the next Multiannual Financial Framework beyond 2027, where  I appeal to you speak up for a strong humanitarian aid budget for the next decade.

I would also encourage you to call on Member States to meet their voluntary target of allocating at least 0.07% of their national GNI to humanitarian aid. At the moment, only four Member States are at or above that level. And this is visible in our annual report which we shared with your Committee last June.

The Commission will also need your continued support in advocating for respect of international humanitarian law and in calling for accountability.

And it will need your support in calling for a stronger Nexus link between humanitarian, development and peace actions.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The challenge ahead of us is larger than ever.

But I have faith that, together, we can ensure Europe continues to be there for people in need around the world.

We know that European citizens want the EU to act. Over 90% of the public think that it is important that the EU funds humanitarian activities.

So let us work together to make European citizens’ expectations a reality.

Thank you.

Source – EU Commission