EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 78/608

(2004/C 78 E/0643)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3604/03

by José Ribeiro e Castro (UEN) to the Commission

(5 December 2003)

Subject: East Timor — Emergency aid

The Commission has announced its intention to grant EUR 2 million in humanitarian aid to the population of East Timor to help combat drought and the food shortage.

According to the Commission, although the reconstruction effort is now under way, 110 000 people will need emergency food aid between November 2003 and March 2004.

Can the Commission answer the following:

— for what specific measures will this humanitarian aid be used;

— has any timetable been approved for the operation;

— in what regions will the operation be carried out;

— who in the Timorese Government will be chiefly responsible for implementation of the aid;

— how will the Commission oversee delivery and use of the aid;

— will it agree to increase the aid if it proves insufficient?

Answer given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission

(29 January 2004)

The objective of the approved humanitarian aid is to enable affected families of East Timor to meet their most immediate food security needs following the floods and drought of 2003.

The main components of the aid are the following:

— Food aid distribution to 110 000 victims in the highland areas in Alieu, Ainaro, Ermera, Bobonaro, Covalima, Baucau, and in the remote and more isolated areas such as Oecussi, Lautem and Atauro Island.

— Emergency agricultural assistance (well-adapted certified quality seed, fertilizer and simple hand tools) for 8 200 drought- and flood-affected farming households to restart crop production in the forthcoming planting season.

— Therapeutic and supplementary feeding for an acute by malnourished population and seed distribution in the Districts of Bobonaro, Cova Lima and Liquica.

The operations started in October 2003 (agricultural assistance) and November 2003 (food and nutritional aid). Each operation will last six months.

According to the European Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO) regulations, only ECHO partners can be responsible for the implementation of aid approved by ECHO. National Governments are not eligible as ECHO partners.

In the current case, the organisations responsible for the implementation of the aid are:

— World Food Programme: Food aid;

— Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO): Agricultural assistance; and

— CARE Austria: Nutritional care and seed distribution.

In addition, World Vision Germany is finalizing a project proposal for food aid, which is likely to be approved in January 2004.

Although not directly responsible for implementation, the Government of East Timor is fully involved. The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the Ministry of Labour and Solidarity, the Territorial Administration and Local Development (ALDG), the Ministry of State Administration and the National Management Disaster Office will oversee the implementation and participate to different degrees. To this end, various agreements between the Government and ECHO partners have been signed or are in the process of being signed.

ECHO will monitor the implementation of the project through its Technical Assistant in charge of Laos, Indonesia and East Timor, who is based in Bangkok but will undertake several field monitoring visits during project implementation. A mission of the Desk Officer in charge in Brussels is also foreseen for the first quarter of 2004.

The allocation of ECHO funds is based on existing humanitarian needs. Should urgent humanitarian needs persist at the end of the implementation of the ongoing projects, ECHO could consider increasing the aid allocated to East Timor. However, this is unlikely at this stage.