Europe Africa

The Commission announces initial humanitarian aid of €1.8 billion for 2024

€111.6 million will be allocated to Central and South America and the Caribbean, where we will continue supporting the response to the impact of the crisis in Venezuela, the humanitarian consequences of the armed conflicts in Colombia, a multi-layered crisis in Haiti, as well as pervasive violence in Central America, Mexico, and Ecuador. In addition to this, the region is exposed to frequent natural hazards.

Around €315 million are reserved for responding to sudden-onset emergencies and unforeseen humanitarian crises that may arise throughout the year.

More than €98 million will be committed to horizontal activities, innovative projects and policy initiatives, for example, the multi-year programmatic partnerships, and the enhanced response capacity.

Background

The European Commission has been providing humanitarian aid since 1992 in over 110 countries, reaching millions of people across the globe each year. Its assistance is delivered through humanitarian partner organisations, such as European humanitarian non-governmental organisations, international organisations (including UN agencies), and specialised agencies in the Member States.

The European Commission tracks closely the use of EU funds via its global network of humanitarian experts and has firm rules in place to ensure funding is well spent.

In 2021 the European Commission published a Communication proposing to strengthen the European Union's global humanitarian impact in order to meet the substantially rising humanitarian needs exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Communication proposes a series of key actions to expedite the provision of humanitarian aid by expanding the resource base, supporting a better enabling environment for humanitarian partners and addressing the root causes of crises through a collective European approach. It highlights a renewed focus on advocating for and ensuring the respect of international humanitarian law (IHL) and sets out to step up the cross-sectorial collaboration to invest in community resilience, especially in the face of the rising absence of basic services and the dramatic humanitarian impacts of climate change on the most vulnerable.

Copyright European Union, 1995-2024

SOURCE European Commission