EUROPEAN COMMISSION Brussels, 13.11.2017 COM(2017) 662 final REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL Annual report on the European Union's humanitarian aid policies and their implementation in 2016



Contents Introduction Introduction Overview of the main humanitarian aid operations supported in 2016 Overview of the main humanitarian aid operations supported in 2016 Additional information and sources Additional information and sources Introduction This report presents the Union's main activities and policy outcomes in 2016 in the field of humanitarian aid, as carried out through the Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO) of the European Commission. The report is prepared pursuant to Article 19 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/96 of 20 June 1996 concerning humanitarian aid, which requires the Commission to submit an annual report to the European Parliament and to the Council with a summary of the operations financed in the course of the preceding year. Overview of the main humanitarian aid operations supported in 2016 In 2016, humanitarian crises increased in number, complexity and severity. There were over 50 armed conflicts, with little or no improvement in the most severe large-scale crises such as those in Syria, Yemen, South Sudan or the Lake Chad region. Natural disasters – linked to mega-trends such as climate change, urbanisation and demographic pressures – have in recent years created humanitarian needs for an estimated 26 million people every year. Overall, more than 95 million people in 40 countries were in need of humanitarian assistance in 2016, and almost 65 million people (half of them children) were forcibly displaced – more than ever before. Against this dramatic background, the EU's humanitarian aid budget in 2016 was the highest ever, at EUR 1.8 billion. Responding to the Syria crisis A significant proportion of the EU's humanitarian budget in 2016 went on supporting refugees in the countries most directly affected by the crisis in Syria, as well as people inside Syria in need of humanitarian assistance. The Commission thus allocated EUR 454 million to humanitarian operations in Syria and neighbouring countries, in line with the pledges made at the London conference of February 2016. Inside Syria, almost half of the Commission's humanitarian assistance went to immediate life-saving and emergency humanitarian operations. In addition, the assistance included the provision of safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene, provision of food, child protection and emergency items. In Jordan and Lebanon, EU humanitarian funding has contributed to cash assistance for the most vulnerable refugees, lifesaving secondary healthcare, non-formal education, shelter as well as water, hygiene and sanitation. Efforts also focused on strong advocacy at international level for unhindered humanitarian access, protection of refugees and respect for international humanitarian law. In 2016 the EU also put in place the Facility for Refugees in Turkey, to help respond to the needs of the three million refugees hosted by Turkey. The EUR 1.4 billion humanitarian leg of the Facility for 2016 and 2017 is focused on supporting mainly out-of-camp refugees (who make up the vast majority of refugees in Turkey, and are also the most vulnerable). To this end, the Commission – working through the World Food Programme and the Turkish Red Crescent – launched the EU's biggest-ever humanitarian project, the Emergency Social Safety Net (ESSN), aiming to provide monthly cash transfers to one million of the most vulnerable refugees via debit cards. Responding to humanitarian needs in Africa

As in previous years, the response to humanitarian crises in Africa was another significant part of the EU's humanitarian assistance, with particular focus on the complex emergencies across the Sahel and Horn of Africa as well as the Lake Chad region, where food security crises were overlaid with a number of protracted conflicts. Overall, the Commission allocated EUR 747 million to crises in sub-Saharan Africa. Within this, the largest allocations went to Sudan and South Sudan

(EUR 192 million) and to the Horn of Africa (EUR 203 million), as well as West Africa (EUR 140 million). In both the Horn and in the Sahel, a central plank of the Commission's strategy was to ensure close linkages with the EU's development aid, with a view to supporting the resilience of affected communities. In the Central African Republic (CAR), the EU remained a very active humanitarian donor, in line with the EU's consistent high-profile engagement for CAR, providing short- and longer-term assistance and supporting resilience-building for the victims of the conflict in the country itself as well as for refugees in neighbouring countries. Iraq, the wider Middle East and North Africa The EU played a key role in providing assistance to the victims of the conflict in Iraq (EUR 159 million) and was at the forefront of international advocacy efforts (inter alia through a high-level event at the UN General Assembly hosted by Commissioner Stylianides). The EU also helped deploy and coordinate in-kind assistance from EU Member States through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism in the context of the conflict around Mosul. Furthermore, the EU continued to provide significant support to humanitarian operations in Yemen (EUR 70 million), where the situation kept deteriorating both as regards basic humanitarian needs and respect for International Humanitarian Law, as well as in Palestine (EUR 25 million). In North Africa, continued support was provided to help meet the humanitarian needs of the Sahrawi refugees as well as the conflict-affected population in Libya. Ukraine The EU remained one of the largest humanitarian donors in the Ukraine crisis, providing food, shelter, health services and psychological support to the most vulnerable people suffering from the conflict in eastern Ukraine. In total,

EUR 28.4 million was mobilized for the EU's humanitarian response to the crisis. Natural disaster response Responding rapidly and effectively to natural disasters was a key priority for the Commission also in 2016. This draws both on humanitarian aid provided through partner organizations and on the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, which facilitates and coordinates Member States' in-kind assistance through the Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC). In 2016, response to the 2016 El Niño phenomenon – one of the worst on record – was a key priority. The Commission allocated EUR 298 million in emergency humanitarian assistance to people affected by El Niño. The Commission stood ready also to provide support in the case of sudden-onset disasters. In particular, the EU provided funding to support the victims of tropical cyclone Winston in Fiji and drought in Papua New Guinea, as well as helping people affected by the earthquake that hit Ecuador in 2016 with both humanitarian aid and the mobilization of European civil protection assistance. Cross-cutting issues Education in emergencies Boosting education in emergencies has been a major priority for the Commission in recent years. In 2016 the Commission allocated more than 4% of its initial humanitarian aid budget to education programmes in humanitarian crises, in line with the commitments made by Commissioner Stylianides at the beginning of his mandate. World Humanitarian Summit The Commission participated actively in the World Humanitarian Summit (WHS), which took place on 23-24 May 2016 in Istanbul. The EU made around 100 commitments. These included a new, development-led policy on forced displacement; new guidelines on humanitarian protection; active engagement and signing up to the "Grand Bargain" with the aim of improving aid effectiveness and efficiency; continued funding for education in emergencies from the humanitarian budget; as well as signing up to the Charter on the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action and the Charter on Urban Crises . The Grand Bargain The Commission played a leading role in the negotiation of the Grand Bargain in the run-up to the World Humanitarian Summit as well as in the first year of implementation of its commitments. With the Grand Bargain, donors and implementing agencies have committed to a package of actions to increase the efficiency of humanitarian action in a spirit of joint action and mutual commitment. In addition to its role as facilitator for the Grand Bargain as a whole, the Commission is co-convening the work stream on impartial and comprehensive assessments of humanitarian needs. This work stream is deemed crucial as it lays the foundation for strategic planning and funding as well as for a targeted and efficient humanitarian response. The humanitarian–development nexus The importance of the nexus between humanitarian aid and development was at the forefront of discussion in both a number of key multilateral events and at the European level. 2016 saw progress in this regard both at policy level (e.g. the renewed European Consensus for Development, WHS and Grand Bargain) and at the operational level.

Commission services worked closely together in Haiti on the response to Hurricane Matthew, notably with a view to reinforcing food security and rural resilience and on improving urban resilience. In Nigeria, a joint resilience approach was developed to address the complex crisis in the North East. Preliminary steps were taken by Commission services to jointly identify pilot countries to further enhance and showcase humanitarian-development cooperation. In forced displacement contexts, Commission services, in collaboration with the European External Action Service (EEAS), are collaborating closely on supporting operations in the field to roll out the comprehensive, development-led approach to forced displacement. This is also a follow-up to the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, adopted by the UN General Assembly on 19 September 2016. It contributes, moreover, to taking forward the implementation of the European Union's Global Strategy as published in 2016. Humanitarian and development cooperation has been strengthened to respond to the educational needs of children affected by crisis and conflict and to build more sustainable education systems in fragile and crisis-affected contexts with the "Education Cannot Wait" fund, launched at the WHS. The Commission also continued to apply the "nexus approach" to improve food and nutrition security in the Sahel through the "Global Alliance on Resilience Initiative" (AGIR). In this context, the EU committed EUR 1.5 billion in development assistance to support resilience-building activities in Western Africa for the period 2014-2020. The 2015/2016 El Niño crisis was another good example of joint action between humanitarian and development actors as well as between the international community and national and local governments; total EU funding amounted to

EUR 539 million. Throughout its work in crisis-affected countries, the EU has continued to apply the "do no harm" principle, and has sought to ensure a conflict-sensitive approach in the actions its supports. Cash as an aid modality In line with its "Grand Bargain" commitments, the Commission further developed the use of cash-based assistance whenever the context has been appropriate. Cash as an aid modality has increasingly been used in the form of unrestricted multi-purpose transfers, which offer dignity, choice and flexibility to the targeted population. Other advantages for using cash as an aid modality include greater efficiency, value for money and ultimately improved effectiveness for donors and taxpayers, with more assistance reaching the most vulnerable population. Where possible and appropriate, there were also attempts to seek alignment with local and national mechanisms, such as social protection systems. Forced displacement Given the dramatic growth in the number of people displaced by conflict around the world, and the worrying trend towards ever more protracted situations of displacement, the Commission formally adopted a new development-led policy approach to forced displacement. The policy aims to prevent forced displacement from becoming protracted and to gradually end dependence on humanitarian assistance in existing displacement situations. The focus of the new approach is on fostering self-reliance and enabling the displaced to live in dignity as contributors to their host societies, until voluntary return or resettlement is possible. Furthermore, in order to enhance the knowledge base on protracted displacement situations and drivers, the European Commission's Knowledge Centre on Migration and Demography (KCMD) was launched in June 2016. Forgotten crises The EU continued to put particular emphasis on supporting the victims of "forgotten crises", to whom at least 15% of the initial humanitarian aid budget is generally devoted. The EU notably continued its humanitarian support to Sahrawi refugees in Algeria, internally displaced people in Myanmar and Sudan, conflict-affected populations in Pakistan, and Darfur refugees in Chad. Emergency Toolbox The EU's Emergency Toolbox for humanitarian aid is designed to respond rapidly to sudden-onset emergencies. It is composed of three funding mechanisms: for epidemics; for small-scale response; and for support to the Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. The financial allocation amounted to a total of EUR 11.5 million, of which EUR 3.5 million for epidemics; EUR 5 million for small-scale response and

EUR 3 million for the DREF. ECHO Flight and other humanitarian transport and logistics operations In certain crisis contexts, humanitarian air services are the only way to access remote areas and reach people in need owing to security constrains or lack of adequate infrastructure. Humanitarian air services are also used for medical and security evacuations. To address these needs for access in insecure or other difficult contexts, the Commission funds specific transport and logistics programmes, notably through the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service and through the Logistics Cluster (for a total of EUR 20.97 million). The Commission also has its own ECHO Flight service for the benefit of humanitarian aid workers in crisis-affected areas in Sub-Saharan Africa (with a budget of just under EUR 14 million).

Evaluation of humanitarian aid operations DG ECHO’s evaluation programme runs over five years and aims at providing full coverage of DG ECHO's activities over this period. For humanitarian aid, this is ensured by carrying out a set of geographic and thematic evaluations that cover all important aspects of DG ECHO's humanitarian interventions. Furthermore, one comprehensive evaluation is carried out during each five-year period, which builds on 30 existing evaluations and additional research as appropriate. A comprehensive exercise of this kind is being carried out in 2017, covering 2012-2016. This evaluation examines the overall implementation of the EU's humanitarian aid policy.

2016 budget 1. List of funding agreements concluded by DG ECHO: