Brussels, 17 February 2025
EU Commissioner Lahbib’s Speech at Egmont Institute & International Rescue Committee High-Level Discussion on Fragility:
It is a pleasure to be with you today. A special thanks to the International Rescue Committee and the Egmont Institute for organising this important event.
Allow me to start on a personal note…
I recently visited Ukraine, Syria, Jordan, and Türkiye, where I met women, children, grandmothers and refugees. I sat with them and heard their stories — each one personal, unique, and heart-breaking in its own way. Stories of fear, suffering, and uncertainty about their future. But they all had one thing in common — need. The need for basic assistance just to survive — a hot meal, fresh water, a bed, a roof, a school.
But in this dark tsunami of need, I also saw the bright spark of hope in their eyes. I also saw what the European Union is doing to keep this flame alive. I have come back to Brussels energised to do more because they will need more.
Today over 300 million people need humanitarian assistance. If this was the EU, it would be two out of three people. Yet never before have we faced so many challenges to helping these people: restricting access, targeting humanitarian workers, attacking children and schools, blowing up hospitals, and other blatant violations of International Humanitarian Law. As the needs grow and the funding gap increases — and with fragility at an all-time high — the EU will continue to build on our track record as a leader in humanitarian action.
Dear David, I would like to thank you and your team for your important work at the International Rescue Committee. You shine a light in the darkest corners of the world. The IRC Emergency Watchlist 2025, launched today, highlights where the needs are greatest and where we need to focus to have the greatest impact.
The global humanitarian landscape is changing before our eyes. Donor policies can change, but humanitarian needs remain. The European Union is staying the course with strong and committed humanitarian assistance. This year, the European Union has increased its initial humanitarian aid budget to €1.9 billion. We provide roughly one-third of global assistance. We are responding to the best of our abilities to all the crises on the IRC Watchlist, including in Sudan, Palestine, Myanmar, Syria, South Sudan, and Haiti.
This year, Sudan tops the IRC Watchlist. Sudan is also a top priority for the EU. This year, we have allocated the highest envelope in Africa for the humanitarian response in Sudan. This crisis may not capture the headlines, but we cannot turn a blind eye to this bloody civil war that has killed tens of thousands, displaced millions, where famine has been declared, and with blatant violations of International Humanitarian Law. We are working with our partners for greater access — to get aid to people in need. Access must never be used as a weapon of war. I would like to thank partners, like IRC, for their efforts to deliver assistance despite the challenges.
Let me now turn to Fragility and why we need to address it. Global fragility is at an all-time high — wars, political instability, economic hardship, and climate change are driving communities to the brink. Our EU assistance makes a real difference in peoples’ lives. But there is no humanitarian solution to a humanitarian crisis.
Humanitarian aid is crucial and life-saving. Yet we all know humanitarian aid alone cannot bring lasting solutions. If we want to support people in need — and communities where they live — we need to do it in a comprehensive and more sustainable manner. Beyond the immediate humanitarian aid, they require other types of assistance to stand on their own two feet. This is how we can best support people in need and reinforce global stability. In fact, it is the only way.
We need a comprehensive and integrated approach to tackling fragility. When we build stability, support livelihoods, strengthen resilience to climate related challenges, and keep children in school today, we prevent larger crises tomorrow. This must be our top priority. When we help others build resilience, we strengthen our own resilience.
Fragile countries and communities get less private investment and less climate finance. They also have problems in accessing development funding. This has a long-term cost. It creates more instability and more extreme poverty, as you point out in your report, and in some cases, the rise of extremist groups and criminal networks.
Politically isolated countries or regions, and those with protracted crises, are often left to humanitarian organisations alone. This is neither sustainable nor effective. It is not the best use of our limited and already overstretched funds. We therefore need strong EU cooperation, coupled with a long-term vision, to be truly effective in tackling fragility. More united, more strategic, and more systematic — across all our policies, instruments, and funding. We also need our Member States on board, working as one Team Europe, including the involvement of European and international financial institutions and the private sector.
We have already seen how good coordination under the humanitarian-development-peace nexus has led to good results. We have a lot of experience over the last decade, and we have good Nexus examples. Now we should replicate this and make this approach more systematic. The time for experimenting with pilot cases is over. Fragile countries and contexts are growing by the day and becoming a new normal. We have no time to lose.
Compassion, humanity, solidarity — these must be our guiding lights. In today’s increasingly polarised, antagonistic, and inward-looking world, the European Union will always be a trusted and reliable partner — to save lives and to build a safer, more prosperous world. This is in the interest of the people we serve, as well as in our own interest. We cannot build a safer, more prosperous, more peaceful, and just world unless we leave no one behind. You can count on me. You can count on the EU.
Source – EU Commission