Dear UN Under-Secretary General and Emergency Relief Coordinator Griffiths,

Dear members of the Panel,

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.

Let me start by underscoring that the EU is fully supportive of the UN-centred global humanitarian system, in terms of financial and political commitment. The operating principles of this system, set up in 1991 under UNGA Resolution 46/182, remain closely aligned with the EU’s values and interests.

As emergencies grow in frequency and scale, the call on the international community for solidarity and collective action to save lives and alleviate human suffering resonates stronger than ever. The explosion of humanitarian needs, as exemplified by the 2023 Global Humanitarian Overview (GHO) presented today, is unprecedented in its scale, severity and suddenness.

Alarmingly, humanitarian needs in existing crises, already at an all-time high, are massively exacerbated by the food crisis. Global hunger has been on the rise since 2016, but the Russian was of aggression against Ukraine has further deteriorated global food security in 2022. The war has had its ripple effects on the global economy, most notably on the international prices of food, energy and fertilisers, as well as on supply chains.

In addressing the challenges ahead, the EU and its Member States are committed to do our part. In 2022, the EU’s humanitarian budget was of EUR 2.6 billion, the highest ever. The EU and its Member States have collectively made available USD 7.96 billion for humanitarian aid in 2022 as ‘Team Europe’. We are also responding to the current food crisis in a Team Europe approach, addressing both emergency and longer-term needs. The level of EU humanitarian funding for food assistance has been considerably upscaled, reaching EUR 950 million so far in 2022. The Team Europe Global Food Security Response, adopted earlier this year, is backed by a substantial financial commitment of around EUR 8 billion for the period 2021-2024.

 In delivering on our commitments, the EU humanitarian action will continue to be guided by the principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality, and independence. Protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure and ensuring respect for International Humanitarian Law (IHL) remain the foundations of the EU’s response to emergencies. Maintaining IHL at the heart of the EU’s external action constitutes an overarching priority. The EU and its Member States will continue to advocate for a better monitoring of IHL violations and insist on accountability in case of IHL violations, such as attacks against civilians, humanitarian and health care workers, or the use of starvation as a weapon of war.

Our strong policy stance on safeguarding the humanitarian space and addressing impediments to access people in need remains unchanged. Facing longer and more complex crises, humanitarians need stronger support and enhanced capacities to stay and deliver in a principled and efficient way.

Furthermore, we will maintain the integrity of our actions. EU-funded humanitarian aid is gender- and age sensitive, and integrates disability inclusion. The EU and its Member States will continue supporting efforts to prevent, mitigate and respond to sexual and gender-based violence in humanitarian crises, and to apply a zero tolerance approach to any form of sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment. Provision of comprehensive, quality and human-rights-based mental health and psychosocial support remains our priority. We also remain fully seized with the imperative of better integration of the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation into the design and delivery of our funding. The recent COP27 has underscored the fundamental challenge of climate change, which is also a major and increasing driver of humanitarian needs.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

In today’s humanitarian landscape the needs far outpace available resources. This calls for renewed efforts to ensure better use of available resources in parallel to efforts to expand and diversify the donor base.

Making the international humanitarian response to emergencies more effective and efficient, in line with the Grand Bargain commitments, is without alternative. Advancing on the twin priority of localisation and accountability to affected populations is an integral part of this equation. This is a common endeavour of donors, the UN, and international and local NGOs alike.  

Equally important, it is imperative to step up efforts to expand and diversify the humanitarian donor base, which remains disturbingly narrow. The ten biggest humanitarian donors account for more than 80% of humanitarian funding. It is thus essential to reflect collectively on how to promote a better and fairer responsibility sharing, encouraging potential donors to contribute at a level consistent with their weight in the world economy. All the more so nowadays, given the uneven distribution of global wealth, concentrating in certain regions due to spikes in the price of energy and energy supplies. In the same vein, there is merit in exploring the most viable ways to ensure that climate adaptation investments reach communities in need, build resilience and improve the coherence between humanitarian, development and peacebuilding actions.  

These and other topics will be at the centre of the forthcoming second edition of the European Humanitarian Forum that the Commission is co-hosting together with Sweden. This high-level event, scheduled to take place on 20-21 March 2023, will be held under the overarching theme of “New global realities: shaping humanitarian action together”.

I would like to conclude by reaffirming the strong support of the EU and its Member States of the leadership role of the UN Secretary General and the critically important mandate of USG/ERC Griffiths in coordinating the international response to emergencies. It is in the common interest of both donors and partners - UN and NGOs – to step up and jointly work towards safeguarding principled humanitarian action as a vital public good in the global system. Guided by the EU’s strategic commitment to rules-based and effective multilateralism, we remain a credible and engaged partner to the UN system and OCHA. Thank you.