Danish relief organisations like others in Europe should do more to defend humanitarian principles in the EU, says the president of a European NGO network, VOICE.
The European Unions humanitarian aid department ECHO needs support. The office, which administrates emergency aid, food aid and aid to refugees and displaced persons for more than 500 million euros every year, needs support from European NGOs if the department is to continue giving humanitarian aid on the basis of the principles of independence, impartiality and neutrality. Principles which the assistance of NGOs is built upon.
– One of the biggest challenges we face today are governments who want complete control of humanitarian affaires. They want to use their own structures, and they want the UN to implement their humanitarian aid, says Paul Grossrieder, president of the Brussels based network VOICE, Voluntary Organisations in Cooperation in Emergencies.
VOICE, who recently held a meeting in Copenhagen, represents 90 European NGOs active in humanitarian aid worldwide, including DanChurchAid. 91 percent of VOICE members have a framework partnership agreement with ECHO, which mean that they can apply for emergency funds.
VOICE is currently trying to mobilize national NGOs to advocate with their governments and parliaments of the importance of the principled approach. The president fears that if humanitarian aid is not independent from politics many victims will be forgotten, and NGOs could loose their weight.
Paul Grossrieder urges especially Denmark and the other Nordic countries to advocate with their respective governments.
– ECHOs political weight is not increasing so we should give all the support we can to ECHO. They are the ones who believe the most in NGOs and is supporting the line of the humanitarian principles approach. ECHO will loose political weight if it is not visibly supported by NGOs, says Paul Grossrieder,
Many actors in the humanitarian field
Today there are many actors doing humanitarian aid. Military, civil protection actors and private companies have increasingly become aid providers. In Paul Grossrieders opinion it’s useless to try to unify all the humanitarian actors. The diversity should be seen as richness not as an obstacle.
– But the problem is that civil protection is getting an increasing role – state structures are becoming prominent. Governments decide where and when to provide assistance, says the president.
He has also observed that the European states generally prefer the UN from the NGOs to implement humanitarian aid because they feel it is politically less risky. This is also problematic since the UN also represents states.
– This means that if governments have a political interest and see visibility opportunities in intervening in a humanitarian crisis, they will do it, adds Paul Grossrieder, which again will have consequences for the less popular humanitarian emergencies.
Paul Grossrieder does not see the trend of less money to the NGOs as the biggest concern but what kind of money it is, and who they are intended for and why.
Can the military be independent?
The militarys role in Afghanistan and Iraq are good examples of how roles and mandates are becoming more fluid. In both countries the military is fighting and at the same time they are mandated to provide humanitarian assistance.
In Grossrieders view this is not compatible (forenelig) with the humanitarian principles approach. -The military cannot become a humanitarian body simply because of its nature, he says.
He thinks that NGOs should only cooperate with military actors when it comes to coordination and planning.
– As long as it is a question of material cooperation like logistics it is okay but when it becomes cooperation on a humanitarian action like food distribution the NGO’s have to be understood totally independent, he notes.
The military should only do humanitarian work if there is nobody else to do it. – It should always be the last resort, Grossrieder says.
The role of VOICE
– To be an authority vis-à-vis the European institutions and the wider humanitarian community
– To monitor humanitarian policies and procedures
– To support its member organisations
Kilde: www.noedhjaelp.dk
