Disaster relief - Commission and UN OCHA to strengthen co-operation

FR - DE

The European Commission and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) today agreed to reinforce their cooperation in the area of disaster relief to better serve the needs of the victims. The agreement aims to ensure efficient co-operation when both organisations provide or facilitate assistance to a country hit by man-made or natural disasters. The goals are to maximise use of the available resources and to avoid duplication of efforts. The Commission has two main instruments to help victims of disasters: its Humanitarian Aid Department (ECHO), which provides emergency assistance and relief, and its Civil Protection Mechanism, which mainly coordinates assistance to third countries, in and outside the EU, during civil protection emergencies. UN OCHA has a central role in providing leadership and coordinating efforts of the international community in delivering relief assistance in accordance with the global mandate entrusted by the UN General Assembly. To this end, UN OCHA operates an integrated emergency response system aimed at monitoring, responding and coordinating international assistance following natural disasters and complex emergencies.

Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid Poul Nielson said: "I welcome this strengthening of the already close relationship which exists between the Commission (ECHO) and UN OCHA in the area of response to humanitarian disasters. It is also further proof of the EU's commitment to working in co-operation with and in support of the UN".

Environment Commissioner Wallström said: "Our Civil Protection Mechanism has proven very valuable. It has coordinated assistance to the victims of more than 60 disasters worldwide since January 2002. The closer co-operation with UN OCHA will further increase its effectiveness to the benefit of the victims, who need our help."

UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland said: "UN OCHA has unique experience in disaster relief, matured over more than 30 years, and it has developed a capacity to deal with more than 100 emergencies per year. I believe that effective cooperation between UN OCHA and the European Commission will best serve the victims of any disaster."

The agreement between the Commission and the UN OCHA provides for regular exchanges of information and a framework for cooperation aimed at ensuring effective field coordination and delivery of assistance; participation in each other's training activities, exercises and planning, and meetings organized after each intervention to take stock of lessons learnt.

This agreement is part of converging UN and EU policies to establish a stronger relationship and closer cooperation between the two organisations [1] in the spirit of the Fribourg Process. The agreement will strengthen both organisations' capability of helping the millions of victims of conflicts and natural disasters that are relying on humanitarian aid every year.

For further information, see:

ECHO:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/echo/index_en.htm

Civil Protection Mechanism:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/civil/prote/cp01_en.htm

UN OCHA:
http://ochaonline.un.org/


[1] See COM (2003) 526: "The EU and the UN: the Choice of Multilateralism", and COM (2001) 231: "Building an Effective Partnership with the UN" and the UN policy document "A vision of Partnership: The United Nations and the European Union in Humanitarian Affairs and Development", New York, December 2001, as well as the Communiqué and Framework for Action of the Fribourg forum, Switzerland, 15-16 June 2000

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