30.6.2022
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
C 251/85 Wednesday 15 December 2021
11.
Stresses that in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, localisation helps to deliver a health response that is adapted to the context of developing countries in order to avoid European bias, particularly with regard to containment protocols and prevention campaigns; calls for the prevalence of a Eurocentric perspective over emergency situations to be adequately challenged through the further localisation of humanitarian action;
12.
Highlights the challenges posed by climate change and welcomes the commitments to further mainstream climate change impacts and environmental factors into humanitarian action, to strengthen the climate resilience of vulnerable regions and to build the resilience of vulnerable communities to climate change through disaster preparedness and anticipatory action via a triple nexus approach involving indigenous people and local communities, in view of the specific assistance and protection needs of populations affected by disasters and the adverse effects of climate change, in particular displaced persons and host communities; welcomes, in addition, the commitments to make the EU’s humanitarian aid more environmentally sustainable and to track climate-related spending; calls on the Commission to provide the necessary resources for climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction through the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument — Global Europe, among other tools, and to accelerate the implementation of the Sendai commitments in the EU’s external action;
13.
Welcomes the concrete achievements of the EU Humanitarian Air Bridge and the idea of creating a European Humanitarian Response Capacity to plug the gaps in the EU’s humanitarian response; calls for the Member States and humanitarian partners to be regularly consulted on any new Commission initiatives, which should build on — not duplicate — existing capacities of humanitarian actors and EU mechanisms such as the Civil Protection Mechanism;
14.
Underlines the fact that while humanitarian aid seeks to tackle immediate, life-threatening situations, crises are caused by drivers that require long-term solutions, as underlying fragility is a significant precursor to humanitarian crises; calls on the Commission and the European External Action Service to adopt a communication developing a clear policy on a humanitarian-development-peace nexus in order to bridge the gaps between the individual policy areas, while ensuring that the distinct legal character and principles of humanitarian aid are respected; stresses that this nexus approach should strengthen resilience and promote sustainable responses, while the SDGs should be used as a framework for such an approach, as the 2030 Agenda provides a unique opportunity to address the root causes of fragility and conflict, building on the practical experience of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), among others; calls for the EU and the Member States to swiftly implement this nexus approach, with a particular focus on tackling fragility, preventing conflicts, tackling hunger, addressing displacement related to disasters and the adverse effects of climate change, providing education and livelihood opportunities, supporting early recovery, enhancing response capacity, and forging self-reliance and resilience; calls on the Commission to publish an assessment of the operationalisation of the humanitarian-development nexus in the six pilot countries identified in 2017;
15.
Calls on the Commission to assess past experiences and programmes on gender-related issues, as there is a growing need to address these given the prominent role of women as victims of conflicts and disasters; calls for more tangible elements of gender mainstreaming to be implemented in future humanitarian action, including context-specific, gender-sensitive analyses, while protecting the rights of vulnerable groups, including women, girls and persons from the LGBTIQ+ community; supports the provision of unhindered access to free public health services and efforts to reduce mortality and morbidity, and highlights the need to strengthen preparedness for pandemics and epidemics;
16.
Calls for the EU and its Member States to implement and promote the Nansen Initiative Agenda for the Protection of Cross-Border Displaced Persons in the Context of Disasters and Climate Change; highlights the importance of cooperation between humanitarian, development, disaster risk reduction and climate change actors to reduce the risk of displacement in the context of disasters and the adverse effects of climate change and to address assistance and protection needs;
17.
Calls for particular emphasis to be devoted to nutrition, as a fundamental right for all, in order to ensure food security and bolster the resilience of food systems to economic, climate and human shocks; calls for the EU action plan on nutrition to be revised to address all forms of malnutrition in humanitarian and development contexts in line with the Council conclusions of November 2018;