Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-01-17-Speech-1-227-000"
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"en.20110117.20.1-227-000"2
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"Mr President, I very much welcome Mrs Striffler’s report, as well as Parliament’s involvement in and continued strong advocacy for effective European humanitarian action.
Thirdly, we need to ensure coherence which means working, together with the External Action Service, with military actors to make sure that a principled humanitarian approach is safeguarded and is also promoted in Europe.
Let me finish by once again thanking Mrs Striffler for her work on this issue and calling upon Parliament to continue the discussion on this topic. The world has changed. Unfortunately, there will be more and more natural and man-made disasters. Whatever action we take will determine not only the lives of the people affected, but also the moral standing and the capacity of the EU to lead in the world.
The consensus was adopted in 2007. It provides an essential common policy framework for the EU – a common vision accompanied by an action plan. Both the Member States and the Commission have a shared responsibility to make sure that the consensus is well implemented.
I want to stress that what comes very clearly out of the report is the message that humanitarian principles, international humanitarian law and protection of the humanitarian space have to be at the centre of our action on the consensus. Four-fifths of our humanitarian aid goes to people in need in conflict-related, man-made emergencies. For us to be able to reach these people, it is critical that our aid is independent and neutral and that it is perceived in this way.
I would like to give you one example of this. I have just come back from Yemen where, together with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Gutierrez, we engaged on the humanitarian access issue with high-level government officials and representatives of the al-Houthi rebel movement. For the first time, we obtained a commitment on their part to facilitate humanitarian access and respect delivery of aid to all Yemeni people in need, in line with the humanitarian principles of neutrality and independence. Having spent a number of hours with men with Kalashnikovs, I would like to observe that we in Europe do bring this value of neutrality that is a bridge to people in need. In the Yemeni case, there are 300 000 internally displaced people and many more hundred thousands affected by six wars in six years in the north of Yemen.
Of course, for a long-lasting impact, humanitarian aid is not the right instrument. It is development that can lay the foundation for lasting peace. We in the Commission have completed a year-long review process of the European consensus action plan, in close liaison with our Member State and humanitarian partners. On 8 December, the Commission adopted a Communication on this. The review shows that over the past three years, we have made significant contributions to strengthening the humanitarian response in terms of advocacy and humanitarian action, as well as by bringing humanitarian aid and civil protection together.
We also concluded that there is scope for further improvement in three areas.
Firstly, we need to promote the quality and effectiveness of aid by good assessment, a well-coordinated response and investment in disaster risk reduction and local capacity. At a time when needs are growing and budgets are constrained, this is critical.
Let me just respond here to the question of accountability. Obviously, we need to stretch every euro to the full and deliver it with the highest possible quality and in the most effective way. In order to ensure that our partners – UN agencies and NGOs – are accountable, we review one-third of all partners and one-third of all projects every year. We have our own humanitarian aid offices in all the hotspot areas of the planet to be the ears and the eyes of our taxpayers, including in Yemen, because of increasing humanitarian needs. I recently cut the ribbon of our humanitarian aid office there.
The second issue concerning which we can see room for improvement is the strengthening of the European voice. We are the largest donor and have to make sure that we speak very clearly with one voice. We must also reach out to other donors so that we play our leadership role, vis-à-vis traditional donors, but also by engaging new donors."@en1
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