In 1997, its grants covered emergency aid, food aid and aid to refugees and displaced persons worth a total of almost ECU 442 million. An NGO or an international organisation or a government or ECHO itself submits an application for aid. ECHO examines the application and consults the desk officers for the country concerned, the budget authority, the European Commission delegation on the spot and other Directorates-General. If the application is rejected, the organisation is informed immediately. The organisation is informed and the contract is signed.
Operations start up on the ground.
An advance is therefore paid out upon receipt of the signed contract. The programme is completed and a description of the operation and the accounts are sent to ECHO within three months. Projects generally last six months or less. The agencies' common aim is to achieve a degree of decentralisation in Community activities and to develop scientific or technical know-how in their particular fields. Its mission is to cooperate technically with the Member Countries and to stimulate cooperation among them in order that, while maintaining a healthy environment and charting a course to sustainable human development, the peoples of the Americas may achieve Health for All and by All.