JOINT STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT EU resilience policy framework for cooperation with partner countries and evaluation of related implementation actions Accompanying the document Joint Communication to the European Parliament and the Council A Strategic Approach to Resilience in the EU's external action
Date: 2017-06-07
Institutions: European Commission, European External Action Service
Subjects: EU action, EU financing, European neighbourhood policy, climate change policy, common foreign and security policy, humanitarian aid, migration policy, participatory democracy, political cooperation, sustainable development

EUROPEAN 
COMMISSION 

HIGH REPRESENTATIVE
OF THE UNION FOR
FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND
SECURITY POLICY

Brussels, 7.6.2017  
SWD(2017) 227 final 

JOINT STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT 

EU resilience policy framework for cooperation with partner countries and evaluation of 
related implementation actions 

Accompanying the document 

Joint Communication to the European Parliament and the Council 

A Strategic Approach to Resilience in the EU's external action 

{JOIN(2017) 21 final} 
{SWD(2017) 226 final} 

EN 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
  
 
 
1.  Introduction – Purpose of this Staff Working Document 

This  staff  working  document  gives  an  overview  of  how  resilience  is  addressed  in  the  EU's 
development, humanitarian and neighbourhood policies and takes stock of the implementation 
of  initiatives  to  promote  and  strengthen  resilience.  It  highlights  lessons  learnt  and  draws 
conclusions that are relevant to accompany the new Joint Communication on "A Strategic 
approach to Resilience in the EU's external action." 

The  EU  approach  to  resilience  in  development  and  humanitarian  policy  emerged  from 
recurrent food crises in the Sahel and Horn of Africa. For the latter, the 2011 crisis illustrated 
the failures of the international community in effectively addressing "predictable" crises. With 
the resulting 2012 Commission Communication, "The EU approach to resilience: learning 
from food security crises"1, the EU  took a prominent  role in placing resilience as a central 
aim for humanitarian aid and development cooperation to reduce humanitarian needs and to 
achieve durable development outcomes. The Communication defines resilience as "the ability 
of an individual, a household, a community, a country or a region to withstand, to adapt, and 
to quickly recover from stresses and shocks"; and set the basis, through the 2013 subsequent 
"Action Plan for Resilience in Crisis Prone Countries 2013-2020"2 , to widen the scope of 
the  EU  responses  to  other  contexts  of  fragility,  including  insecurity,  weak  governance, 
economic shocks, natural hazards and the increasing impact of climate change. 

This new Joint Communication benefits from, and builds on, lessons from the implementation 
of the 2013 EU Resilience Action Plan and is complemented by the experiences of DG NEAR 
with European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP).3  

The  findings  of  this  assessment  presented  here  are  informed  by  monitoring  of  performance 
against the EU Resilience Action Plan, recent assessments such as the evaluation of the EU 
approach  to  resilience  to  withstand  food  crises  in  African  dry  lands  (2007-2015),  and  DG 
ECHO's evaluation of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and resilience in Latin America and the 
Caribbean.  

2. EU policy framework on resilience  

2.1. An expanding development-humanitarian resilience policy framework 

The  EU  resilience  approach,  set  out  in  the  2012  Communication,  subsequent  2013  Action 
Plan  and  Council  conclusions  on  EU  approach  to  resilience4,  has  a  clear  purpose: 
increasing resilience of the most vulnerable so that development gains can be preserved and 
humanitarian  needs  reduced  and  the  cycle  of  poverty,  crises  and  fragility  broken.  This 
intention is underpinned by two guiding but linked objectives to:    

1 COM(2012) 586 final 
http://ec.europa.eu/echo/files/policies/resilience/com_2012_586_resilience_en.pdf 
2 SWD(2013) 227 final 
http://ec.europa.eu/echo/files/policies/resilience/com_2013_227_ap_crisis_prone_countries_en.pdf 
3 The ENP was designed in 2003-2004 to develop closer relations between the EU and its neighbouring 
countries with the principal objective of strengthening the prosperity, stability and security and preventing the 
emergence of new dividing lines between the EU and its neighbours. See more at: 
https://ec.europa.eu/neighbourhood-enlargement/neighbourhood/overview_en  
4 3241st FOREIGN AFFAIRS Council meeting, Brussels, 28 May 2013 
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_Data/docs/pressdata/EN/foraff/137319.pdf 

2 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
•  Address the root causes of people's vulnerability, fragility and their susceptibility to 
be  affected  by  these  (multiple)  shocks  and  stresses,  through  more  equitable  and 
inclusive  social,  economic  and  political  processes  that  build  coping  capacities.  This 
requires co-ordinated action towards people-centred recovery and greater self-reliance, 
adaptability, learning and better preparation of individuals for future stress. 

•  Accompanying these initiatives to address underlying diverse causes of fragility with 
risk  management  measures  to  protect  populations  from  shocks  and  stresses,  limit 
their impact through early response and assist a quick recovery.  

As such, the EU agenda promotes the benefits of pre-emptive risk reduction and early action 
that  minimises  damage,  loss  and  deterioration,  instead  of  costly  and  too  often  avoidable 
response after the fact. A key aspect of this EU resilience approach is to address a diversity of 
risk,  the  shocks  and  stresses  that  people  face  or  are  affected  by,  be  they  large  or  more 
localised events, or the result of natural, economic, or political processes. Ecosystems' goods 
and  services  underpin  food,  water,  energy  and  health  security,  and  are  the  foundation  for 
resilient communities to natural disasters and conflict.  

The  2013  Council  conclusions  on  resilience  gave  unequivocal  guidance  to  how  resilience 
should  be  organised,  stating,  inter  alia,  that:  (i)  It  is  national  government’s  primarily 
responsibility to build resilience including conflict sensitive approaches across humanitarian, 
development  and  political  dialogue  and  engagement;  (ii)    analysis  and  solutions  must  be 
rooted in local ownership and the experience of affected communities, countries and regions. 
This requires working closely with local communities, civil society and local authorities; (iii)  
the EU’s commitment to build long-term resilience in partner countries through inclusive and 
sustainable  management  of  natural  resources  and  economic  growth  for  human  development 
should be re-iterated; and (iv) there should be a focus on the most vulnerable households and 
marginalised  groups  through  comprehensive  rights-based  approaches  and  facilitating  their 
access to basic social services. 

Since  then,  the  resilience  policy  framework  has  expanded.  The  concept  of  resilience  is 
included in the following Communications and Staff Working Documents: 

•  2015  Commission  Communication:  Towards  the  World  Humanitarian  Summit:  A 
global partnership for principled and effective humanitarian (COM(2015) 419 final) 
and accompanying Staff Working Document (SWD(2015) 166 final) 

•  2016  Commission  Communication:  Lives  in  Dignity:  from  Aid-dependence  to  Self-
reliance  –  Forced  Displacement  and  Development  (COM(2016)  234  final)  and 
accompanying Staff Working Document (SWD(2016) 142 final)  

•  2016 Commission Staff Working Document Action Plan on the Sendai Framework for 

Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 (SWD(2016) 205 final/2) 

•  2016 Commission Communication on a proposal for a renewed European Consensus 

• 

on Development: Our World, our Dignity, our Future  (COM (2016) 740 final) 
International  agenda  2030:  Commission  Communication  on  Next  steps  for  a 
sustainable European future (COM(2016) 739 final) 

•  Communication (COM(2016) 110 final) and ratification of the Paris Agreement by the 

European Parliament (04/10/2016). 

Last but not least, the EU Global Strategy for the EU's Foreign and Security Policy identifies 
“State and Societal Resilience" as one of the five priorities for the EU’s external action. 

3 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2.2. A new European neighbourhood resilience policy framework  

A Joint Communication "Review of the European Neighbourhood Policy"5 was adopted in 
2015, which prioritises four sectors with the overall aim of stabilising the neighbourhood and 
strengthening the resilience of the EU's partners: 

1. Good governance, democracy, rule of law and human rights 
2. Economic development for stabilisation 
3. Security 
4. Migration and mobility 

To achieve results under these priorities, the following tools were put forward in the review: 

•  Differentiation of partner countries based on their needs and preferences;   
•  Ownership  of  the  policy  by  both  Member  States  (through  Joint  Programming  and 
ongoing  consultations)  and  partner  countries  (through  new,  refocused  political 
association and economic integration, such as jointly-agreed Partnership Priorities and 
revised Association Agendas); 

•  The  regional  dimension  both  enhancing  cooperation  within  the  Eastern  Partnership 
and Union for the Mediterranean, and bringing on board regional partners beyond the 
neighbourhood  for  cooperation  on  shared  challenges  such  as  migration,  energy  and 
security;  

•  Flexibility  in  financial  assistance,  enabling  the  EU  to  deliver  on  short-term  needs 

whilst balancing these with the long-term reform objectives of the policy; 

•  Visibility  and  better  communication  with  an  emphasis  on  working  with  youth  and 

increasing people-to-people contacts.  

3.  State of play of implementation of the resilience policy framework 

3.1. Resilience Action Plan 2013-2020 review 

Overview 

EU  resilience  policies  are  supported  by  evidence  of  good  practice  from  the  Sahel  (AGIR 
initiative)  and  Horn  of  Africa  (SHARE  programme),  from  earlier    action  on  linking  relief, 
rehabilitation  and  development  (LRRD),  country  and  thematic  programmes  (e.g.  food  and 
nutrition  security  and  sustainable  agriculture,  social  protection,  environment,  climate 
adaptation  and  mitigation,  DRR,  forest,  land,  water  and  energy).  At  the  institutional  level, 
closer working relationships between DGs ECHO, DEVCO or NEAR have led to a number of 
collaborative initiatives on the ground, such as the first EU Trust Fund ("Bêkou") for Central 
African  Republic  (CAR)  focussing  on  resilience,  and  Joint  Humanitarian  Development 
Frameworks (JHDF) in countries like Haiti, Jordan, Lebanon, Nigeria and Syria.  

Resilience  approaches  are  becoming  more  widely  used,  as  evidenced  by  the  2015/2016 
response  to  El  Niño  through  complementary  actions  to  the  EU  Resilience  Building 
Programme  in  Ethiopia  (RESET  Plus)  and  the  flexibilities  that  in  2016  allowed  an  early 
response  to  crises  in  Haiti  and  Nigeria.  The  2016  EU  policy  to  address  protracted  forced 

5 http://eeas.europa.eu/archives/docs/enp/documents/2015/151118_joint-communication_review-of-the-
enp_en.pdf 

4 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
displacement,  "Lives  in  Dignity"  is  organised  around  strengthening  the  resilience  and  self-
reliance of displaced and host communities.   

Reporting on the three priorities of the 2013 Resilience Action Plan 

The Action Plan covers 18 actions to be implemented by EC services with a lead from DGs 
DEVCO and/or  ECHO, and  as far as possible with MS involvement. It  is  organised around 
three implementation priorities. 

Overall,  progress  has  been  especially  positive  where  objectives  were  part  of,  and  strongly 
aligned to, existing programmes. There has been considerable advancement since 2013 in the 
thematic areas of Food and Nutrition Security and Sustainable Agriculture, DRR and Climate 
Change. There are also numerous examples where practice has gone beyond the targets set in 
the  Action  Plan  –  for  example  the  more  widespread  use  of  crisis  modifiers,  i.e  flexible 
financing,  in  humanitarian  programmes  for  protracted  crises.  There  are  other  areas,  such  as 
urban  resilience,  forced  displacement,  predictable  and  flexible  financing,  and  social 
protection,  where  significant  changes  are  underway.  They  do  not  have  clear  targets  in  the 
Action  Plan  but  support  the  achievement  of  resilience  objectives  by  addressing  underlying 
causes of vulnerability, protecting people and programmes from shocks, stresses and change. 
Not captured in the Action Plan is the change in policies and in practice that the Action Plan 
has contributed to, aspects that it meant to catalyse, such as the closer collaboration between 
DGs  DEVCO  and  ECHO,  as  demonstrated  by  the  EU  Trust  Funds  and  in  the  EU 
commitments on the "Grand Bargain" at the World Humanitarian Summit (WHS)6.  

Implementation  priority  1:  EU  support  to  the  development  and  implementation  of 
national and regional resilience approaches, capacities and partnerships 

Progress includes:  

•  an increased co-operation of the EU, MS, other donors and stakeholders in support of 
national resilience strategies in the Sahel (AGIR) and  Horn of Africa (SHARE). For 
instance,  11  out  of  17  West  African  countries  have  adopted  national  resilience 
priorities  under  AGIR  and  another  four  others  have  drafted  country  resilience 
priorities under SHARE; 
the  implementation  of  EU  strategic  resilience  approach  in  a  number  of  countries 
including  Bangladesh,  Ethiopia,  Haiti,  Jordan,  Lebanon,  Mali,  Nepal,  Niger,  Sudan 
and Zimbabwe, with very close cooperation between DGs ECHO and DEVCO in their 
respective programming; 

• 

•  a  better  co-ordination  of  food  security,  nutrition,  sustainable  agriculture,  DRR  and 
climate  change  sectors  with  other  development/humanitarian  objectives  including 
mainstreaming across other sectors. For example, the GCCA initiative has supported 
57 projects in Africa, Asia, Caribbean and Pacific regions, of which 34 are ongoing; 
•  a  reinforcement  of  resilience  in  food  and  nutrition  security  and  in  sustainable 

• 

agriculture within 60 development cooperation programmes; 
the EU Sendai Action plan, in support of SDG/Agenda 2030 requirements to address 
poverty, vulnerability, risk and crisis together in crisis prone and fragile contexts, calls 
for: "a disaster risk-informed approach to policy-making, offering a coherent agenda 
across different EU policies to strengthen resilience to risks and shocks"; 

6 http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-16-1847_en.htm 

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• 

resilience  is  a  core  objective  of  the  EU  Trust  funds.  DGs  DEVCO,  ECHO  and  the 
EEAS are working closely together for the implementation of the Trust Fund in CAR 
("Bêkou"), and with DG NEAR as well for the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa 
and the EU Trust Fund for Syria ("Madad"); 

•  collaboration, shared analyses and partnership and co-ordinated programming as core 
components  of  the  EU  Facility  for  Refugees  in  Turkey  as  well  as  DGs  NEAR  and 
ECHO  programming  in  Syria,  Lebanon,  Jordan  and  Ukraine  through  the  JHDFs 
(similar  work  between  ECHO,  DEVCO  and  Madad  trust  fund  has  been  initiated 
through a comprehensive action plan.    

•  environment  and  climate  change  are  more  systematically 

integrated  across 
development  policies  and  assistance  programmes  and  contribute  to  improving 
resilience  (e.g.  regular  social  transfers  combined  with  community-based  land 
restoration  and reforestation works in   Ethiopia's Productive Safety Net Programme 
benefitting 7.8 million people). 

Priority intervention 2: Innovation, learning and advocacy 

The EU is a major funder for supporting and investigating innovative risk financing solutions 
developed at regional, national and local levels. In addition, since the inception of the Action 
Plan a significant change is the expansion of social protection systems to address risks and/or 
meet  people  needs.  Experiences  from  Ethiopia,  Kenya,  the  Philippines,  and  Turkey 
demonstrate it is possible to establish shock responsive safety net systems able to assist large 
populations  in  need.  Where  appropriate,  DG  ECHO  use  of  cash  transfer  has  increased, 
allowing for more direct funding and a regain of dignity for the recipients7. In most cases, this 
more widespread use of cash has maintained or has established local markets.  

The EU continues to make a valid contribution to developing good practice, learning such as 
through the EC resilience compendium and the EC contribution to INFORM8; and sharing 
experiences  including  through  the  Capacity4dev  platform.  With  INFORM,  the  EU  is  now 
investing in analysis of risks, taking a closer look at global risks and imbalances. According 
to  the  evaluation  of  EU’s  resilience-building  strategy  to  withstand  food  crises  in  Africa 
Drylands,  the EU has  played a critical role  in strengthening Early Warning  Systems  (EWS) 
for  conflict  prevention  notably  via  capacity  building  of  relevant  local  organisations,  hereby 
enhancing  the  availability,  regularity  and  quality  of  information  on  the  incidence  of  food 
insecurity and malnutrition.  

On  advocacy  for  resilience,  major  successes  include  EU  contribution  to  coherence  and 
integration  of  resilience  principles  into  the  SDGs,  Sendai,  the  Grand  Bargain  and  the  WHS 
objectives, and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change to promote low-carbon and resilient 
development.  

Implementation priority 3:  Methodologies and tools to support resilience 

7 An evaluation of the use of transfer modalities in DG ECHO found that cash transfers are particularly effective 
in flexibly and simultaneously meeting a range of beneficiary defined needs. See more at: 
http://ec.europa.eu/echo/sites/echo-site/files/evaluation_transfer_modalities_final_report_012016_en.pdf  
8 http://www.inform-index.org/ 

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Resilience factored in EC, EEAS and partners' guidance: Resilience is incorporated into 
all  DG  ECHO  Humanitarian  Implementation  Plans  (HIPs)  as  recommended  by  the  2012 
Resilience  Communication.  This  was  practically  introduced  via  a  resilience  marker  for 
emergency  projects.  Developing  tools,  for  example  JHDFs  and  INFORM,  to  assist  joint 
humanitarian and development analyses is a priority and is ongoing.   

Improved  methodologies  and  tools:  Since  2016,  the  European  Commission,  FAO  and  the 
World  Food  Programme  (joined  by  further  partners  in  2017)  have  jointly  conducted  an 
analysis  of  threats  to  food  security.  As  a  result  of  this  joint  venture,  the  "Global  Network 
against  Food  Crises"9  was  launched  during  the  WHS.  The  Global  Network  is  designed  to 
combat food insecurity from both humanitarian and development perspectives and tackles the 
root causes of these crises. 

In 2015, the EU published the second edition of its staff handbook on "Operating in situations 
of  conflict  and  fragility",  which  provides  practical  guidance  on  conflict  sensitivity  analysis, 
promoting resilience, programming flexibly and other relevant topics in situations of conflict 
and fragility10. 

Since  2013,  numerous  learning  events  directly  linked  to  resilience  have  been  organised 
including: workshops on resilience conducted twice in Brussels (July 2013 and June 2014), as 
well  as  for  EU  Delegations  and  ECHO  staff  at  a  country  (Bangladesh,  CAR,  Yemen)  and 
regional level  (Caribbean, Central America, Latin America, South Asia). DGs DEVCO and 
ECHO  also  jointly  developed  material  on  DRR  for  training  courses  on  climate  change  and 
environment  mainstreaming;  DG  DEVCO  and  the  EEAS  co-delivered  training  courses  on 
fragility and conflict sensitivity; DG DEVCO developed a conflict sensitivity on-line training 
course.    DEVCO  and  ECHO  co-hosted  two  "resilience forum" events in Brussels with high 
level representation from EC, the donor community and civil society.  

In  early  2016,  the  JRC  and  the  EPSC  founded  a  Commission-wide  Research  Network  on 
Measuring  Resilience  (resil.net).  In  2016,  it  worked  towards  a  common  framework  for 
resilience  in  the  EU  policymaking  context.  Within  its  work,  the  JRC  has  published  a 
conceptual framework of resilience in 2017.11 

Flexible  financing  instruments  and  contingencies:  The  advantages  of  flexible  financing, 
and contingency funds are being realised and acted on. New mechanisms were developed by 
DG  DEVCO  (e.g.  PRO-ACT  and  the  EU  Trust  Funds).  There  is  also  better  use  of  existing 
mechanisms with increased use of flexible financing procedures.   

Adapting  budget  support  to  fragile  contexts:  In  2012,  the  Commission  introduced  State 
Building  Contracts  (SBC),  a  flexible  instrument  which  provides  rapid  support  to  maintain 
vital state functions, to contribute to macroeconomic stability and to ensure essential service 
delivery to the most vulnerable part of the population, often complemented with a longer term 
focus  on  the  causes  of  structural  fragility  and  on  the  transition  towards  sustainable 
development and democratic governance12. 

9 Global Report on Food Crises 2017 at:  https://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/global-report-food-crises-2017_en 
10 https://europa.eu/capacity4dev/public-fragility/minisite/support-and-guidance 
11 Manca, Benczur and Giovannini, Building a scientific narrative towards a more resilient EU society, Part 1: a 
conceptual framework, doi: 10.2760/635528 
12 At the end of 2016, SBCs were under implementation in 21 countries, of which more than half in West- and 
Central Africa, for a total commitment of € 2.4 billion. The study EU State Building Contracts: early lessons from 
the EU's new budget support instrument for fragile states by M. Bernardi, T.Hart and G. Rabinowitz (Overseas 

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The Action plan and the EU approach has established resilience priorities 

The recent evaluation of EU’s resilience-building strategy to withstand food crises in African 
Drylands  (Sahel  and  Horn  of  Africa)  concluded  that  the  EU  strategic  approach  to  building 
resilience  to  food  crises  has  prompted  a  strategic  shift  and  commitment  to  a  humanitarian-
development common vision and shared responsibility in prioritising resilience to food crises 
at  global,  regional  and  country  levels.  It  confirms  the  importance  of  causal  analyses  of  the 
root  causes  of  food  insecurity  and  impact  assessments  as  a  basis  for  designing  EU  country 
strategies to build resilience to food crises. More generally it found that, despite the diversity 
of projects and programmes and lack of proper resilience instrument, at different scales across 
the  horn  of  African  and  the  Sahel,  the  resilience  agenda  has  changed  the  way  development 
operations and humanitarian aid are delivered.   

Another evaluation, on "DG ECHO's action on building resilience in the Latin America and 
Caribbean  region  (LAC)"  between  2012  and  2016,  also  highlights  that  the  EU  resilience 
approach  has  been  an  opportunity  to  strengthen  the  ties  between  DG  ECHO  and  other  EU 
delegations including a considerable improvement in LAC dialogue between DG ECHO, DG 
DEVCO at headquarters and in partner countries.  

A clear indication of the change in place is the implementation of the EU resilience approach 
through  the  EU  Trust  Funds.  For  example,  the  2015  Valletta  Summit  on  Migration  in 
launching  the  EU  Emergency  Trust  Fund  for  Africa  aims  at  tackling  the  root  causes  of 
irregular  migration  and  forced  displacement.  One  of  the  EU  Trust  Fund  objectives  is  to 
strengthen "the resilience of communities and in particularly the most vulnerable, as well as 
refugees and displaced." 

Further  dynamism  to  resilience  has  been  provided  by  other  stakeholders'  approaches  to 
resilience  (e.g.  DFID,  INGOs,  SIDA,  USAID,  UN  System,)  but  also  from  international 
processes, for example the strong resilience emphasis of the 17 SDGs behind Agenda 2030,  
the  resilience  approach  set  out  in  the  Sendai  framework  for  DRR    (a  multi-hazard,  all  of 
society  approach  to  risk  management)  and  the  WHS  priorities  for  effective  humanitarian 
action, partnerships between development and humanitarian actors and the urgency of finding 
long term solutions to protracted crises.  

Practice  is  changing.  In  many  instances  Governments  are  taking  more  responsibility  to 
address chronic needs and predictable crises, and to build their competencies to manage risks, 
for  example  with  investments  in  social  protection  systems  and  enhanced  national  disaster 
management capabilities.  In response to the on-going drought (2017) Kenya and Ethiopia can 
be  singled  out  as  having  functional  structures  in  place  to  combat  vulnerability  and  build 
resilience to drought.  

The  UN  is  reforming  its  development  and  humanitarian  system  to  meet  the  demands  of  the 
SDGS, working more deliberately together towards longer term programmes and "collective 
outcomes," the World Bank is increasing their support to fragile countries and finance is more 
available to middle income countries hosting large scale population displacement. Collective 
action, at different levels and according to added value, is becoming the norm. 

Development Institute, February 2015) shows that SBCs have delivered very positive results in terms of 
macroeconomic and fiscal management, poverty reduction and improvements in health and education 
indicators. 

8 

 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                                                                                                                      
Consolidating progress while recognising challenges 

Despite practical progress, more concerted efforts are required to apply and expand resilience 
approaches.  The recent reviews and evaluations point out a number of areas where the added 
value of resilience approaches can be promoted by the new communication for better practice 
and results.  

Humanitarian  funds  are  increasingly  being  used  for  longer  term  recovery  and  to  meet  basic 
needs for extended periods. In 2015 two-thirds (66%) of humanitarian assistance from DAC 
donors alone continues to go to long-term-recipient countries – due to protracted or recurrent 
crises. Although total humanitarian funding is increasing, it is insufficient to meet exponential 
humanitarian  needs  worldwide  and  is  absorbing  funds  that  could  be  used  to  address  longer 
term development and stability issues. Hence the need to implement fully-fledged resilience 
approaches. 

Additionally,  notwithstanding  progress  and  momentum,  there  is  still  uncertainty  and  risk 
determining  how  humanitarians  and  development  actors  (local  and  international)  can  work 
together  in  situations  of  conflict  and  insecurity.  There  is  a  lack  of  integrating  conflict 
sensitivity  and  "do  no  harm"  principles  into  programming  and  not  enough  active 
consideration of how EU could contribute to conflict reduction. 

Considerable  efforts  have  been  made  in  the  field  of  joint  analysis,  but  a  major  hurdle  is  to 
determine how different mandates, priorities and instruments can be reconciled for coherent, 
context-based actions whilst maintaining core humanitarian principles. This challenge has not 
been  sufficiently  addressed  by  frameworks  intended  to  guide  implementation  and  monitor 
progress and results, leading to a lack of clarity over the division of labour. This is linked to 
an additional concern of DGs ECHO and DEVCO staff interviewed for resilience evaluations, 
that  EU  resilience  direction  placed  an  added  burden  on  already  stretched  staffing  at 
delegations  and  that  the  EU  resilience  agenda  has  not  been  sufficiently  backed  up 
implementation  frameworks  and  guidance.  The  importance  of  causal  analyses  of  the  root 
causes  of  crises  and  vulnerability  for  designing  EU  country  strategies  is  increasingly 
recognised, though in practice these analyses were not systematically conducted and were of 
variable  quality.  Political  Economy  Analysis  (PEA)13  is  one  of  the  key  analytical  tools  to 
inform policy and political dialogue and to adjust EU projects and programmes so our actions 
remain  relevant  and  effective  over  time.  However,  PEA  and  conflict  analyses  are  not 
systematically conducted. 

A recurrent demand from practitioners in fragile and conflict operations is for the awareness 
and  assistance  with  applying  methodologies  to  identify  and  address  such  risks  within  EU 
analysis and assistance programmes. 

EU  programming  instruments  were  progressively  improved  over  time  (since  2012)  with  the 
introduction  of  notably  with  the  introduction  of  flexible  financial  procedures  that  improved 
the timeliness of the support in times of crisis.  Moreover, the EU introduced new financing 
mechanisms  more  specifically  devoted  to  financing  resilience  activities,  such  as  PRO-ACT, 
SHARE  and  the  EU  Emergency  Trust  Fund  for  Africa.  However,  in  some  instances, 

13 13 OECD DAC has defined 'Political Economy Analysis' as relating to "the interaction of political and economic 
processes in a society: the distribution of power and wealth between different groups and individuals, and the 
processes that create, sustain and transform these relationships over time". 

9 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
 
noteworthy resilience intentions, e.g. those in the Emergency Trust Fund for Africa, have not 
received the same attention as other priorities.   

3.2 European Neighbourhood Policy actions to strengthen state and societal resilience   

The  reviewed  ENP  focuses  on  the  need  to  stabilise  the  neighbourhood  and  strengthen  the 
resilience  of  the  EU’s  partners.  This  strengthening  of  both  state  and  societal  resilience 
highlights the importance of addressing sources of instability across all four priority sectors of 
the ENP review, not just in the security domain but also in the areas of governance and rule of 
law, economic development, energy and connectivity and in migration policy.  

Good governance, democracy, rule of law and human rights 

A vibrant civil society and public debate are essential to build up consent for socio-economic 
and  political  reform  and  to  build  up  trust  in  governmental  institutions  and  their  ability  to 
manage  crises.  Thus,  support  for  civil  society  organisations  and  the  promotion  of  human 
rights are core elements of the EU's relationships with all its neighbours. 

The  ENP  review  also  emphasises  the  importance  of  independent,  effective  and  transparent 
justice systems and accountable public administrations. The EU works extensively on public 
policy  analysis,  good  governance,  public  administration  reform,  anti-corruption  and  rule  of 
law issues in the neighbourhood.  

Economic development for stabilisation 

Economic development for stabilisation has a particular focus on better economic governance, 
strengthening  fiscal  stability  and  supporting  structural  reforms.  Encouraging  trade  between 
the neighbourhood and the EU and between neighbours themselves will lead to approximation 
with EU and international standards and the gradual economic integration of partners in the 
EU internal market.  

Commission  proposals  for  an  External  Investment  Plan  will  support  investment  in  partner 
countries  in  the  European  Neighbourhood  and  throughout  Africa.  The  goal  is  to  harness 
private sector participation in investment in the region contributing to the achievement of the 
SDGs and addressing the root causes of migration. A Joint Communication on Tunisia14 was 
adopted  in  September  2016  to  promote  resilience  and  stability,  with  EUR  300  million 
committed  in  2017  to  socio-economic  development,  good  governance  and  cooperation  on 
security.   

Ensuring  that  the  EU's  neighbours  have  reliable  and  more  diverse  energy  supplies  and 
increasing  cooperation  with  them  on  energy  efficiency,  renewable  energy  sources,  demand 
management and climate change adaptation and mitigation will help to build up both partners’ 
resilience and the EU's. These efforts should focus not just on the neighbourhood itself, but 
also on building up wider regional partnerships into Central Asia and the Middle East.  

The security dimension 

The  EU  is  developing  and  enforcing  security  strategies  in  the  Neighbourhood  region  by 
supporting  Security  Sector  Reforms  (SSR);  working  on  the  prevention  of  radicalisation 
leading to violent extremism; introducing hybrid threats and bolstering cybersecurity.  

14 Strengthening EU support to Tunisia, JOIN(2016) 47 final 

10 

 
 
                                                 
EU  support  to  SSR  in  all  partner  countries  is now  framed  by  the  recently  adopted  EU  SSR 
policy15. Effectiveness and good governance of the security apparatus are essential assets for 
more  resilient  societies.  As  announced  in  the  EU  Joint  Framework  on  Countering  Hybrid 
Threats16, country-specific hybrid risk surveys are being launched in the Neighbourhood. The 
framework also calls for a closer EU-NATO cooperation. The EU has been supporting cyber 
capacity building in partner countries based on the Convention on Cybercrime of the Council 
of Europe (the Budapest Convention).  

Factors  such  as  discrimination  and  lack  of  educational  and  economic  opportunities  act  as 
specific  drivers  in  the  radicalisation  of  young  people.  The  EU  is  addressing  this  through 
targeted social and educational development and  by  increasing  partner countries' abilities to 
work with European agencies on counter-terrorism measures and combatting organised crime.      

Migration and mobility, Forced displacement 

Europe's  neighbourhood  is  a  source,  a  transit  point  and  a  destination  for  migrants.  Europe's 
neighbourhood also includes both countries hosting refugees as well as countries of origin of 
refugees.  The  EU  approach  aims  at  improving  international  protection  of  refugees.  It  also 
aims at reducing irregular migration; promoting legal migration and mobility; maximising the 
development  impact  of  migration  and  effectively  managing  borders.  An  illustration  of  this 
approach is the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa.  

Following  on  from  the  Syria  Conference  in  London  in  February  2016,  compacts  were 
developed with Lebanon and Jordan to address the needs and promote the resilience and self-
reliance  of  refugees  and  vulnerable  host  communities  by  providing  education  and 
employment opportunities.  

The  January  2017  Communication  on  Migration  on  the  Central  Mediterranean  Route17 
focussed  efforts  on  cooperation  with  Libya  and  other  North  African  countries  to  tackle 
migration  issues.  EUR  200  million  will  be  provided  from  the  EU  Trust  Fund  for  Africa  in 
2017 with an emphasis on tackling migration issues in Libya.   

Through regional projects, the EU has been assisting all Neighbourhood countries to enhance 
their ability to prevent, get prepared and respond to natural and man-made disasters, based on 
the principles and approach of the Union Civil Protection Mechanism. 

4. Conclusions and way forward 

4.1 Validity of concept and meaning 
The current global situation of fragility and crises, linked to a more coherent global agenda, as 
indicated  by  the  SDGs  and  the  call  to  leave  "no  –one  behind",  ,  and  the  realisation  that 
change,  uncertainty  and  risk  is  a  normative  part  of  societal  functioning,  has  led  broad 
agreement that resilience is relevant, and a pre-requisite for societal progress and stability.  

4.2 Context analysis for better programming and implementation 
In  support  of  the  collective  approaches  demanded  by  these  above  mentioned  opportunities, 
further development of EU analytical and programming tools is recommended.   

15JOIN(2016) 31 final of 5 July 2016 
16 JOIN(2016) 18 final of 6 April 2016 
17 Migration on the Central Mediterranean Route, managing flows, saving lives, JOIN(2017) 4 final 

11 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
Joint and shared analysis – comprehensive and systematic 
Work still needs to be done for various services of the EU to intervene according to mandate 
and  added  value;  this  would  allow  greater  efficiency  and  impact.  A  differentiated  level  of 
engagement  in  joint  programming  may  be  required.    One  option  is  for  the  EU,  with  the 
engagement of MS, to establish requirements for systematic risk and resilience analyses that 
identify  differing  drivers  of  vulnerability  along  with  transparent  linkages  between  these 
analytical processes, programme objectives and EU country strategies.  

According to the Evaluation on building resilience in the LAC region, EU staff request further 
guidance on operationalising the resilience approach, including a division of responsibilities 
and programming tools.  The EU possesses a wide ranging number of tools to assist with 360 
degree  analysis.  The  next  step  is  now  to  ensure  capacity  building  and  guidance  to 
systematically apply and share the relevant tools across programmes and services.  Reaching 
an  understanding  of  the  local  political,  development  and  institutional  context  is  a  necessary 
prerequisite for developing appropriate resilience strategies and programmes and to broaden 
our  analysis  of  risk.  PEA18  is  one  of  the  key  analytical  tools  to  inform  policy  and  political 
dialogue.  Context  analysis  including  the  PEA  tool  should  be  regularly  used  to  adjust  EU 
projects and programmes ensuring that our actions remain relevant and effective over time.   

Integrating conflict sensitivity into planning and programmes 
In fragile environments, existing conflict sensitivity tools should be more systematically used, 
to assist the prevention of potential conflicts, avoiding negative impacts and doing harm.  

Integrating environmental resilience into programming and project design  
Environment, climate change and DRR should be systematically integrated into programming 
and project design. 

Increasing multiyear, flexible programming  
Working towards mutually agreed medium and longer term objectives necessitates multi-year 
programming,  also  in  humanitarian  assistance.  Longer-term  programmes  should  be  risk 
informed, incorporating flexibility and contingencies.  

Social protection and cash-based responses 
Extensive  evidence  demonstrates  that  social  protection  helps  reduce  poverty  and  inequality, 
enhances  livelihoods,  and  has  long-term  positive  impacts  on  human  capital  development. 
While  establishing  effective  social  protection  in  the  context  of  protracted  instability  and 
displaced  populations  is  more  complex,  responsive  long-term  systems  that  bridge  the 
humanitarian-developmental  divide  are  needed  to  reach  affected  vulnerable  populations 
consistently.  

18 18 OECD DAC has defined 'Political Economy Analysis' as relating to "the interaction of political and economic 
processes in a society: the distribution of power and wealth between different groups and individuals, and the 
processes that create, sustain and transform these relationships over time". 

12 

 
 
 
 
 
 
  
                                                 
 
More widespread use of cash as a humanitarian response mechanism to allow beneficiaries to 
meet  basis  needs,  can  be  distributed  using  local  systems,  and  can  be  used  to  maintain  or 
establish local markets. If the conditions are right, cash is more efficient and flexible. 

4.3 Risk management, early action and early response 
The  EU  Sendai  Action  plan,  in  support  of  SDG/Agenda  2030,  calls  for  a  disaster  risk-
informed approach across EU policies to strengthen resilience to risks and shocks. 

Strengthening national and local competencies for risk management 
Integrating contingencies and crisis modifiers is part of a deliberate process to promote early 
action  and  response  within  EU  programming  but  also  to  strengthen  the  local  and  national 
capacities to do so.  DG ECHO is one of the first donors to support an "anticipation fund" for 
crisis response. In  more stable environments, Governments, with  support  from  development 
partners, should be encouraged and assisted to take more responsibility for chronic vulnerably 
and strengthen local capabilities for risk management and an earlier, local response.  
Environmental, climate and disaster risk assessments should be more systematically required 
and applied to identify potential impacts of catastrophic sudden and slow onset risks, as well 
as  to  identify  and  prioritise  preventive  and/or  adaptive  measures  for  risk  informed 
investments. More operational risk informed programming is needed to ensure effective joint 
approaches  to  build  the  resilience  of  people  and  ecosystems  for  adaptation  and  DRR,  in 
to  strengthen  capacities  of  community-based  organisations,  civil  society 
particular 
organisations and local authorities. 

Advocacy and media outreach for resilience 
The 2016 Communication for a new European Consensus on Development recommends joint 
analysis of risk and vulnerabilities for an increased use of EU single response strategies and, 
where  appropriate,  joint  indicative  programmes,  recognising  the  EU's  unique  ability  to 
influence  change,  from  a  political  perspective,  through  operational  programmes  and  as  a 
convenor of MS in support of complementary outcomes.  

Investing  in  risk  management,  promoting  more  inclusive  societies  and  overall  attaining 
resilience  objectives  requires  widespread  public  and  political  support.  The  EU  should 
continue  to  take  the  lead  demonstrated  in  2012  in  building  international  and  local  support 
through  well  organised  initiatives  such  as  the  Political  Champions  for  Resilience,  the  2014 
and  2016  Resilience  Forums  and  the  third  World  Reconstruction  Conference  (2017).  The 
New  resilience  commitments  should  be  backed  up  by  a  robust  communication  strategy  that 
advocates and assists media awareness of critical resilience issues; for example, recurring low 
level forced displacement that does not hit the headlines, or the value of risk management as 
compared to the spectacle of response. Local and international media can be powerful agents 
for  change  starting  with  asking  questions  on  the  root  causes  before  a  next  recurrent, 
predicable and protracted crisis hit populations. 

Monitoring tools for resilience 
As  recommended  in  evaluations,  DG  DEVCO,  DG  ECHO  and  EEAS  (in  relation  to 
Instrument  contributing  to  Stability  and  Peace  –  IcSP)  to  develop  common  monitoring  and 

13 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
evaluation tools, including the similar markers to that used by ECHO for monitoring progress 
in integrating resilience perspectives into programming whilst, at the same time DG DEVCO, 
DG  ECHO  and  EEAS  could  implement  a  common  learning  strategy.  Options  include 
introducing  shared  accountability  frameworks,  into  programmes  and  country  strategies  that 
define  monitoring  and  reporting  indicators  across  EU  services  and  Member  States  that 
incorporate key elements of a strategic resilience approach.  

Within the context of the Research Network on the Measurement of Resilience, the JRC has 

just started working on creating a dashboard of resilience characteristics (observable, “usual” 

statistical  variables  that  prove  to  be  meaningful  and  significant  drivers/determinants  of  the 

resilience of entities such as cities, regions, countries or individuals) for EU MS, regions and 

cities. Lessons from this activity could be drawn also for the external dimension of the EU. 

4.4 Delivering on international commitments, taking opportunities 

In addition to the global commitments listed previously, further momentum is provided by the 
international  context  and  EU  operational  commitments  to  deliver  on  policy  priorities  to 
address protracted crises and protracted forced displacement, including: 

•  The  elaboration,  across  EU  institutions,  of  medium  to  longer  term  strategies  for 
protracted  crisis  (notably  Syria  and  neighbouring  countries)  –  with  clarity  of  roles, 
expectations and matching budgetary commitments.  

•  The delivery of the explicit resilience objectives in the EU Trust Funds.  
•  DGs  DEVCO,  ECHO  and  EU  delegations  collaboration  in  nexus/LRRD  pilot 
countries19 as well as forced displacement focus countries for joint programming, for 
better collective outcomes.  

•  Marked  attention  to  forced  displacement  as  a  joint  responsibility  of  political, 
economic,  developmental  and  humanitarian  actors,  calling  for  a  new  development-
oriented  approach,  supporting  access  to  education,  housing,  land  and  productive 
assets, livelihoods, services and community interaction.  

•  Strengthening  resilience  must  be  locally  owned  and  driven  by  national  and  local 
actors.  Policies and programmes for state and societal resilience should be developed 
and  implemented  in  partnership  with  local  communities,  civil  society,  national  and 
local authorities, research institutions and the private sector.  

The  processes  and  approaches  promoted  by  the  Resilience  Action  Plan  provide  valuable 
experiences  and  lessons  that  will  contribute  to  meeting  these  objectives  and  by  doing  so, 
further  advancing  the  practicalities  and  benefits  of  integrating  resilience  principles  into 
normative planning processes. 

19 Kenya, Somalia, Uganda, Sudan, Tanzania, Ethiopia, South-Sudan, Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Afghanistan, 
Myanmar, Iraq, Yemen 

14