HUMANITARIAN AID

HUMANITARIAN AID

OBJECTIVES

The general aim of humanitarian aid is to help people in third world countries, particularly the most vulnerable among them, and as a priority those in developing countries. The principal objectives of such aid shall be:

to save life during emergencies and their immedeiate aftermath and natural disasters;
to provide the necessary assistance and relief to people affected by longer-lasting crises arising, in particular, from outbreaks of armed conflict;
to help finance the transport of aid and efforts to ensure that it is accessible to those for whom it is intended;
to carry out short-term rehabilitation and reconstruction work, especially on infrasture and equipment, with a view to facilitating the arrival of relif;
to cope with the consequence of population movement (refugees, displaced people and returnees) caused by natural and man-made disasters;
to ensure preparedness for risks of natural disasters or comparable exceptional circumstances and use a suitable rapid early-warning and intervention system;
to support civil operations to protect the victims of fighting or comparable emergencies, in accordance with current international agreements.

ACHIEVEMENTS

The community has been involved in humanitarian aid operation since the end of the 1960s. The significant amount of aid supplied since the late 1980s has made it a key element of the Community's international policy. The European Union has now become the world's largest provider of humanitarian aid. A Council Regulation concerning humanitarian aid entered into force on 5 July 1996. It defines the scope of humanitarian aid action, coordination arrangements and the ways in which the Union, Member States, international organisations and non-governmental organisations can cooperate.