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Self Report 2018

The self-report on WHS Commitments below is organized according to the 24 transformations of the Agenda for Humanity. It is based on commitments pledged at the time of report submission. Click on the 'Expand' symbol to expand each section and read the reporting inputs by transformation.

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  • 1B
    Act early

    Individual Commitments (5)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility
    • The EU will continue to intensify its partnership on conflict prevention with the UN and commit to work with regional organisations to increase their prevention and mediation capacities, where relevant in partnership with the UN.
    • Partnership
    • Political Leadership to Prevent and End Conflicts
    • The EU will actively use its Early Warning System for Conflict to identify and anticipate risks of conflict or escalation of existing conflict in order to inform decisions on the prioritisation of resources.
    • Operational
    • Political Leadership to Prevent and End Conflicts
    • The EU will continue to deploy its Special Representatives and Special Envoys, also with conflict prevention mandates, where they can provide added value to its Member States and wider international efforts.
    • Operational
    • Political Leadership to Prevent and End Conflicts
    • The EU will implement its comprehensive approach to preventing conflicts and resolving crises. It will increase the use of conflict analysis, including jointly with international partners, to inform its strategy development and programming, and to assess the impact on addressing conflict causes, as well as consequences.
    • Operational
    • Political Leadership to Prevent and End Conflicts
    • The EU will more systematically capture, share and reflect on good practices and lessons learned on prevention within EU institutions, with EU Member States and with international partners, including with the UN, building on the now-established annual conflict prevention dialogue.
    • Operational
    • Political Leadership to Prevent and End Conflicts

    Core Commitments (2)

    • Commitment
    • Core Responsibility
    • Commit to act early upon potential conflict situations based on early warning findings and shared conflict analysis, in accordance with international law.
    • Political Leadership to Prevent and End Conflicts
    • Commit to make successful conflict prevention visible by capturing, consolidating and sharing good practices and lessons learnt.
    • Political Leadership to Prevent and End Conflicts
    1. Highlight the concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2017 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures.

    The European Union (EU) has made important steps to enhance attention on conflict prevention. On 22 January 2018, Council Conclusions were adopted on the EU's Integrated Approach to external conflicts and crises, in which EU Member Sates, among others, commit to address conflict prevention at ministerial level. These Council Conclusions also emphasise the need and commitment to increase the use of assessments and conflict analysis, including jointly with international partners and civil society.

    The EU has intensified its partnerships on conflict prevention with the UN, including through regular high level dialogues where concrete conflict prevention cases are discussed. There is close interaction with the UN on mediation, conflict prevention and stabilisation. For example, the EU has captured lessons learned in the field of the Early Warning System (EWS) and it has shared methodological tools with the UN. The EU also strengthened partnerships with the World Bank on conflict prevention.

    The EU conflict EWS regularly identifies and anticipates risks of conflict or escalation of existing conflicts in order to inform decisions on prioritisation of resources.  In 2017, eight countries identified as early warning priorities received additional attention and specific conflict prevention actions were formulated. The interest of and dialogue with EU Member States on the EWS has been lifted to a higher level with the creation of the EU Early Warning/Early Action Forum (a Dutch-German initiative).
     

    2. A. How are you measuring progress toward achieving your commitments? Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Through existing, internal systems or frameworks for monitoring, reporting and/or evaluation.
    B. How are you assessing whether progress on commitments is leading toward change in the direction of the transformation?

    The EWS has been streamlined and simplified, more focus on implementation and follow-up, more inclusive and in line with the EU Integrated Approach. A lessons learnt/best practices mapping has been launched to enhance overall effectiveness of EWS actors.

    3. A. Please select no more than 3 key challenges faced in implementing the commitments related to this transformation. Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Buy-in
    • Institutional/Internal constraints
    • Multi-stakeholder coordination
    B. How are these challenges impacting achievement of this transformation?

    Such challenges impact EU's achievement of its commitments to the extent that they make the EU conflict EWS dependent on stakeholder willingness to implement. Conflict prevention activities are always sensitive for third party supporters.

    4. Highlight actions planned for 2018 to advance implementation of your commitments in order to achieve this transformation.

    The EU plans to continue the implementation of the World Humanitarian Summit commitments by elevating the attention on conflict prevention and by creating a larger pool of experts working on conflict prevention issues. The EU will more systematically reflect on lessons learned within EU institutions, with EU Member States and with international partners.

    5. What steps or actions are needed to make collective progress to achieve this transformation?

    Conflict prevention requires political willingness at the highest level. The UN and the EU have both identified conflict prevention as a key priority. Collective progress requires technical, methodological and strategic alignment among all key partners. A cultural mindset change is necessary.

    6. List any good practice or examples of innovation undertaken individually or in cooperation with others to advance this transformation.

    The EU - UN Conflict Prevention Dialogue is a good example which offers opportunities for enhanced cooperation. Internally the EU is enhancing its expertise pool e.g. with the creation of the “Conflict Prevention Lead Persons” (CPLP) platform.

  • 1C
    Remain engaged and invest in stability

    Individual Commitments (1)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility
    • The EU will increase expert capacity in its delegations on conflict-affected and fragile states. It will establish a professional career development stream including of cross-cutting advisers who can work across the political-security-development fields.
    • Capacity
    • Political Leadership to Prevent and End Conflicts

    Core Commitments (3)

    • Commitment
    • Core Responsibility
    • Commit to improve prevention and peaceful resolution capacities at the national, regional and international level improving the ability to work on multiple crises simultaneously.
    • Political Leadership to Prevent and End Conflicts
    • Commit to sustain political leadership and engagement through all stages of a crisis to prevent the emergence or relapse into conflict.
    • Political Leadership to Prevent and End Conflicts
    • Commit to address root causes of conflict and work to reduce fragility by investing in the development of inclusive, peaceful societies.
    • Political Leadership to Prevent and End Conflicts
    1. Highlight the concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2017 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures.

    The Joint Communication and the Council Conclusions on the Strategic Approach to Resilience in the EU's external action, adopted in June and November 2017 respectively, recognise the need to move away from crisis containment to a more structural, long-term, non-linear approach to vulnerabilities, with an emphasis on anticipation, prevention and preparedness. Both documents confirm the EU's commitment to invest in the abilities of societies to withstand shocks and propose principles and working methods that need to be put in place to support the strategy. The EU also drafted a Stabilisation Concept which provides a shared definition of stabilisation and ensures rapid and coordinated actions in complex and politically difficult situations where the ability to act swiftly is of utmost importance. On the operational level, a Stabilisation Action in Mopti and Ségou (Mali) under Article 28 TEU is on its way – the first of its kind. The EU Council Decision was adopted on 4 August 2017 and the deployment of the expert team started in autumn 2017. This type of action responds to identified needs in direct support of national authorities and/or local communities and can be seen as a flexible bridging tool towards longer term development projects. Finally, the network of EU Conflict Prevention Lead Persons will enhance the EU's ability to address more crisis situations, using an integrated approach. 
     

    2. A. How are you measuring progress toward achieving your commitments? Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Through existing, internal systems or frameworks for monitoring, reporting and/or evaluation.
    B. How are you assessing whether progress on commitments is leading toward change in the direction of the transformation?

    The EU is currently putting in place monitoring mechanisms to assess the impact of its new initiatives, such as the Stabilisation Action in Mali.

    3. A. Please select no more than 3 key challenges faced in implementing the commitments related to this transformation. Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Buy-in
    • Human resources/capacity
    • Multi-stakeholder coordination
    B. How are these challenges impacting achievement of this transformation?

    The Joint Communication and the Stabilisation document are new concepts that need proper resourcing and capacities to be implemented.

    4. Highlight actions planned for 2018 to advance implementation of your commitments in order to achieve this transformation.

    Planned actions include: enhance the network of conflict prevention and mediation practitioners; translate the communication on resilience into concrete actions, e.g. by using the resilience lens in programming of resources; take the Stabilisation concept further by concrete actions on the ground.
     

    5. What steps or actions are needed to make collective progress to achieve this transformation?

    In order to make collective progress it is necessary to promote inter-service and inter-institutional alignment as well as to keep working across political-security-development fields.

    6. List any good practice or examples of innovation undertaken individually or in cooperation with others to advance this transformation.

    The EU is piloting a number of new concepts and instruments; it is too early to share good practices.

    Keywords

    Community resilience, Humanitarian-development nexus

  • 2A
    Respect and protect civilians and civilian objects in the conduct of hostilities

    Individual Commitments (1)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility
    • The EU will propose new Protection Guidelines that will provide guidance on programming, monitoring and evaluation of protection in humanitarian crises. They will also set the framework for building the capacities of the international humanitarian system with respect to protection in humanitarian crises.
    • Policy
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity

    Core Commitments (1)

    • Commitment
    • Core Responsibility
    • Commit to promote and enhance the protection of civilians and civilian objects, especially in the conduct of hostilities, for instance by working to prevent civilian harm resulting from the use of wide-area explosive weapons in populated areas, and by sparing civilian infrastructure from military use in the conduct of military operations.
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
    1. Highlight the concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2017 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures.

    In 2017,protection remained a key priority in policy and operational terms for the EU. The EU continued to disseminate its policy guidelines "Humanitarian Protection: Improving protection outcomes to reduce risks for people in humanitarian crises" (developed in May 2016). This was done, among others, through dedicated workshops for its partners and staff, as well as through advocacy for the protection of civilians in various fora. In addition, protection remained one of the largest funded sectors (over €240 million in 2017).

    2. A. How are you measuring progress toward achieving your commitments? Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Through existing, internal systems or frameworks for monitoring, reporting and/or evaluation.
    3. A. Please select no more than 3 key challenges faced in implementing the commitments related to this transformation. Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Field conditions, including insecurity and access
    • Human resources/capacity
    • IHL and IHRL compliance and accountability
    B. How are these challenges impacting achievement of this transformation?

    Violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and restrictions on access heavily impact the protection of civilians and hamper efforts in meeting needs of affected populations.

    4. Highlight actions planned for 2018 to advance implementation of your commitments in order to achieve this transformation.

    The EU will continue the roll-out and dissemination of its policy guidelines on protection, including through dedicated trainings and awareness raising. The EU will also continue to explore possibilities for strategic and systematic funding of relevant protection activities. In 2018, the EU will strengthen its advocacy on protection of civilians.

    5. What steps or actions are needed to make collective progress to achieve this transformation?

    Continued need to ensure that the centrality of protection remains at the heart of humanitarian action.

    6. List any good practice or examples of innovation undertaken individually or in cooperation with others to advance this transformation.

    The EU is supporting efforts to enhance the centrality of protection across the humanitarian sector through its financial support to the Global Protection Cluster.

    Keywords

    IHL compliance and accountability, Protection

  • 2B
    Ensure full access to and protection of the humanitarian and medical missions

    Individual Commitments (7)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility
    • The EU commits to support awareness-raising and trust building activities to ensure respect for the medical mission and the emblems of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent or other identification for health care.
    • Advocacy
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
    • The EU commits to support relevant States and non-state actors implementing or reinforcing context-specific measures to enhance physical safety of health care personnel and infrastructure.
    • Operational
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
    • The EU commits to support training on the rules protecting the provision of health care and the applicable sanctions to armed and security forces, as well as on rights and responsibilities of all health care personnel, including on ethical principles.
    • Training
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
    • The EU commits to uphold and promote the humanitarian principles by increasing the visibility and understanding of the humanitarian mandate and promoting the knowledge and respect for the humanitarian principles through the implementation of the European Consensus on Humanitarian Aid.
    • Policy
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
    • The EU will engage in regular strategic discussions with Member States on principled humanitarian action and IHL in order to increase the understanding and respect of the humanitarian mandate.
    • Operational
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
    • The EU will promote the knowledge and respect for IHL and the humanitarian principles, notably by strengthening the knowledge of Member State and EU staff active in humanitarian contexts and promoting initiatives that disseminate and provide training on IHL and the humanitarian principles, with a view to enhancing protection efforts.
    • Training
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
    • The EU will promote the understanding of the humanitarian mandate at the political level and strengthen humanitarian advocacy in particular by targeting non-humanitarian actors at the international, EU and national level.
    • Advocacy
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity

    Core Commitments (2)

    • Commitment
    • Core Responsibility
    • Commit to ensure all populations in need receive rapid and unimpeded humanitarian assistance.
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
    • Commit to promote and enhance efforts to respect and protect medical personnel, transports and facilities, as well as humanitarian relief personnel and assets against attacks, threats or other violent acts.
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
    1. Highlight the concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2017 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures.

    The European Union (EU) promoted respect for International Humanitarian Law (IHL) through political bilateral dialogues, multilateral fora (e.g. follow-up of United Nations Security Council resolution (UNSCR) 2286, negotiations of the annual UN General Assembly (GA) resolution on safety and security of humanitarian personnel, Switzerland-ICRC IHL compliance process, and discussions in the Humanitarian Liaison Working Group), field missions (e.g. of Commissioner Stylianides, where he advocates with authorities for IHL respect), and public statements (e.g. of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (HRVP) Mogherini and Commissioner Stylianides on 15 February 2017 on deadly attacks on hospitals and schools in Syria). The EU provided humanitarian funding for dissemination of and engagement on IHL with various stakeholders, including armed non-state actors, in particular in contexts where IHL is violated (e.g. Iraq, Syria). The EU organised training courses internally (e.g. IHL course for the European External Action Service (EEAS) Crisis Management Structures) and to Member States (e.g. EU Crisis Management and Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) pre-deployment courses) to sensitise civilian and military actors to the importance of IHL, including in the context of CSDP. The EU engaged in strategic discussions with Member States on principled humanitarian action and IHL. To mark 10 years of the adoption of the European Consensus on Humanitarian Aid, the EU reaffirmed its commitment to continue working in line with its principles (October 2017).

    2. A. How are you measuring progress toward achieving your commitments? Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Through existing, internal systems or frameworks for monitoring, reporting and/or evaluation.
    • Other: Follow-up and implementation of the EU Guidelines on International Humanitarian Law by EU institutions.
    B. How are you assessing whether progress on commitments is leading toward change in the direction of the transformation?

    Follow-up and implementation of the EU Guidelines on International Humanitarian Law by EU institutions.

    3. A. Please select no more than 3 key challenges faced in implementing the commitments related to this transformation. Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Adherence to standards and/or humanitarian principles
    • Field conditions, including insecurity and access
    • IHL and IHRL compliance and accountability
    B. How are these challenges impacting achievement of this transformation?

    Over the last decade systematic violations of IHL have been on the rise. Violations of IHL heavily impact and hamper efforts in meeting the needs of affected populations and imperil the security of humanitarian workers.

    4. Highlight actions planned for 2018 to advance implementation of your commitments in order to achieve this transformation.

    The EU will continue to implement the 'EU Guidelines on International Humanitarian Law', including by reporting on the actions undertaken pursuant to the guidelines. The EU will continue to advocate and reach out to all relevant stakeholders on compliance with IHL as well as to actively support the follow-up of UNSC Resolution 2286 to ensure enhanced protection of medical and humanitarian missions.

    5. What steps or actions are needed to make collective progress to achieve this transformation?

    Given today's predominance of non-international armed conflicts, the humanitarian consequences of the lack of IHL compliance by both states and armed non-state actors need to be addressed. In addition, collective advocacy for political solutions to conflicts is equally needed.

    6. List any good practice or examples of innovation undertaken individually or in cooperation with others to advance this transformation.

    Given the emergence of armed non-state actors in the last decades as one of the driving forces of conflicts, the EU supported projects on dissemination of and engagement on IHL with these actors.

    Keywords

    Humanitarian principles, IHL compliance and accountability

  • 2D
    Take concrete steps to improve compliance and accountability

    Individual Commitments (5)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility
    • The EU underlines that those who have committed serious crimes of concern to the international community, including war crimes, crimes against humanity or the crime of genocide must be brought to justice. In line with its efforts to fight impunity, the EU commits to continue to promote the universality and preserve the integrity of the Rome Statute; include the fight against impunity for the most serious crimes of international concern as one of the shared values of the EU and its partners through the insertion of provisions concerning the ICC and international justice into its agreements with candidate countries and third parties; to continue its support to the Court, civil society and to the third States interested in receiving assistance in order to become party to the Rome Statute or to implement it.
    • Advocacy
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
    • The EU will continue its efforts in promoting dissemination and training in international humanitarian law in third countries, including in peacetime, in particular to national authorities, armed non-state actors and humanitarian actors.
    • Training
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
    • The EU will contribute to preventing and responding to all forms of violence against girls and women, including sexual and gender-based violence in conflict. It will support political, legislative and judicial action to protect girls and women, and to prosecute perpetrators; will ensure the regular collection of reliable and comparable prevalence data as well as administrative data on violence against women and girls; will invest in governmental and non-governmental services and institutional capacity building; and will promote behavioural change through public and media campaigns.
    • Operational
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity

    • The EU will provide policy support and expertise to help host governments put in place legislation giving displaced people access to the formal labour market and decent work and protecting them from labour exploitation.


    • Operational
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity Leave No One Behind
    • The EU will work towards eradicating all forms of sexual and gender-based violence, to ensure that survivors are treated with dignity and receive necessary support to help rebuild their lives, and to hold perpetrators accountable for their crimes.
    • Operational
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity

    Core Commitments (4)

    • Commitment
    • Core Responsibility
    • Commit to promote and enhance respect for international humanitarian law, international human rights law, and refugee law, where applicable.
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
    • Commit to speak out and systematically condemn serious violations of international humanitarian law and serious violations and abuses of international human rights law and to take concrete steps to ensure accountability of perpetrators when these acts amount to crimes under international law.
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
    • Implement a coordinated global approach to prevent and respond to gender-based violence in crisis contexts, including through the Call to Action on Protection from Gender-based Violence in Emergencies.
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
    • Fully comply with humanitarian policies, frameworks and legally binding documents related to gender equality, women's empowerment, and women's rights.
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity Leave No One Behind
    1. Highlight the concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2017 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures.

    Gender-based violence prevention and response

    The EU continued implementing the 'EU Guide to Practical Actions for Ending Sexual Violence in Conflict'. It funded projects on violence against women. The EU adopted a new Code of Conduct and Discipline for EU civilian (Common Security and Defence Policy) CSDP missions. In 2017, the EU allocated nearly €22 million of humanitarian aid to actions to prevent and respond to gender-based violence (GBV).  In June 2017, the EU took the lead of the Call to Action on Protection from Gender-Based Violence in Emergencies. The EU also allocated €975,000 to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) under the Enhanced Response Capacity programme to operationalise the Call to Action at field level.

    IHL and IHRL compliance and accountability

    The European Union (EU) supported the International Criminal Court (ICC) in multilateral fora, through financial assistance, bi-annual demarche campaigns, and public statements, notably on the notifications of withdrawal by South Africa, Burundi and The Gambia.

    2. A. How are you measuring progress toward achieving your commitments? Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Through existing, internal systems or frameworks for monitoring, reporting and/or evaluation.
    • By reporting to, or using reports prepared for, UN principal organs, UN governing boards, or other international bodies
    • Through multi-stakeholder processes or initiatives (e.g. IASC, Grand Bargain, Charter for Change, etc).
    B. How are you assessing whether progress on commitments is leading toward change in the direction of the transformation?

    Progress is measured through: regular reporting on implementation of the 2011 EU Action Plan on support to the ICC; EU Gender-Age Marker (assesses how well gender and age are integrated in EU-funded humanitarian actions); reporting on GBV via Call to Action.

    3. A. Please select no more than 3 key challenges faced in implementing the commitments related to this transformation. Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Adherence to standards and/or humanitarian principles
    • Field conditions, including insecurity and access
    • Gender and/or vulnerable group inclusion
    B. How are these challenges impacting achievement of this transformation?

    Capacity on the ground can be a challenge to implement GBV-related projects. It should be noted that some elements can actually help: multi-stakeholder coordination and dedicated human resources (not only internally, but also with partners).

    4. Highlight actions planned for 2018 to advance implementation of your commitments in order to achieve this transformation.

    The EU will continue political advocacy and outreach to promote the universality principle through high-profile statements, adopting upgraded standards for its missions, supporting relevant projects encouraging pro-ICC African mobilisation and working against withdrawals from the Rome Statute. The EU will lead the Call to Action until end 2018, (co-)organise a series of events and field-based workshops and publish a progress report.

    5. What steps or actions are needed to make collective progress to achieve this transformation?

    It is necessary to match political commitments with concrete and realistic actions, especially at the field level.

    6. List any good practice or examples of innovation undertaken individually or in cooperation with others to advance this transformation.

    The Call to Action on Protection from Gender-Based Violence is a global initiative aimed at driving change and fostering accountability from the humanitarian system to address GBV from the earliest phases of a crisis and promote prevention.

    Keywords

    Gender, IHL compliance and accountability, Protection, Quality and accountability standards

  • 2E
    Uphold the rules: a global campaign to affirm the norms that safeguard humanity

    Individual Commitments (1)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility
    • The EU commits to strongly support the establishment of a regular, voluntary, meeting of states to provide a forum for discussing thematic issues and reports of national implementation of IHL.










    • Advocacy
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity

    Core Commitments (1)

    • Commitment
    • Core Responsibility
    • Commit to promote and enhance respect for international humanitarian law, international human rights law, and refugee law, where applicable.
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
    1. Highlight the concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2017 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures.

    The European Union (EU) continued to strongly promote compliance with International Humanitarian Law (IHL), in particular the Geneva Conventions, including through public statements.  The EU and its Member States continued to implement the EU Guidelines on IHL. In order to improve implementation of international humanitarian law at the national level, the EU offered political and technical support to third countries in their efforts to adopt national legislation pertaining to their international humanitarian law obligations. The EU also funded programmes to help build effective and accountable security and justice sectors.

    2. A. How are you measuring progress toward achieving your commitments? Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Other: Regular reporting on implementation of 'EU Guidelines on IHL' by EU institutions and EU Member States
    3. A. Please select no more than 3 key challenges faced in implementing the commitments related to this transformation. Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Other: Ensuring that the promotion of and respect for International Humanitarian Law is mainstreamed.
    4. Highlight actions planned for 2018 to advance implementation of your commitments in order to achieve this transformation.

    The  EU will continue to implement the 'EU Guidelines on International Humanitarian Law' including by improving the reporting on the implementation by EU institutions and EU Member States

    Keywords

    IHL compliance and accountability

  • 3A
    Reduce and address displacement

    Individual Commitments (12)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility
    • The EU commits to enhance coordination among all the instruments of EU external action to better contribute to stability and resilience as well as to tackle the root causes of humanitarian crises, irregular migration and displacement.
    • Partnership
    • Leave No One Behind

    • The EU commits to help host governments develop integrated approaches to providing services and developing social protection programmes for both the displaced and host communities.


    • Operational
    • Leave No One Behind
    • The EU will assist diaspora and civil society initiatives to increase the self-reliance of the forcibly displaced and their integration into host communities.
    • Operational
    • Leave No One Behind
    • The EU will engage with host governments to provide policy support for legally anchoring the protection and socioeconomic inclusion of forcibly displaced people in local and national development plans. Special regard will be paid to the needs of vulnerable people due to gender, age and disability.
    • Policy
    • Leave No One Behind
    • The EU will ensure that joint analyses and preventive action address risks and consequences of forced displacement. The EU will apply the lessons learned from the resilience approach more consistently to situations of forced displacement. The lessons point to the need for joint analysis of risks and vulnerabilities, joint strategic programme design and humanitarian-development frameworks for addressing the needs of the most vulnerable.
    • Policy
    • Leave No One Behind
    • The EU will promote access to all forms of legal registration for all displaced populations, whilst ensuring protection of personal data in full respect of international standards. This includes registering births to ensure that displaced children are included in the civil registration system of the host country and to prevent the emergence of new stateless populations.
    • Advocacy
    • Leave No One Behind
    • The EU will promote and support the extension of security and justice services to refugees and forcibly displaced people.
    • Operational
    • Leave No One Behind

    • The EU will provide budget support to public services as well as other service providers, including civil society organisations under pressure in order to complement host government actions and address shortcomings, whenever possible.


    • Financial
    • Leave No One Behind Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

    • The EU will provide policy support and expertise to help host governments put in place legislation giving displaced people access to the formal labour market and decent work and protecting them from labour exploitation.


    • Operational
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity Leave No One Behind

    • The EU will provide support to host countries to facilitate access to quality education, at all levels, to all internally displaced and refugee children and youth. The EU will support host countries in analysing educational levels and needs and ensuring a greater continuity between education in emergencies and non-formal education and/or the public education services. The EU will support financially and operationally the good functioning of public education services while promoting equal access to education for displaced children, particularly girls. The EU will facilitate access to universities, also by offering scholarships, and put in place higher education distance learning and certified higher education programmes which provide flexible accreditation.


    • Operational
    • Leave No One Behind
    • The EU will set out a proposal framing its policy on resettlement, providing a common approach to safe and legal arrival in the EU for persons in need of protection.
    • Policy
    • Leave No One Behind

    • The EU will systematically include forcibly displaced persons and their host communities in the programming, design and implementation of international cooperation and assistance interventions.


    • Operational
    • Leave No One Behind Invest in Humanity

    Core Commitments (5)

    • Commitment
    • Core Responsibility
    • Commit to a new approach to addressing forced displacement that not only meets immediate humanitarian needs but reduces vulnerability and improves the resilience, self-reliance and protection of refugees and IDPs. Commit to implementing this new approach through coherent international, regional and national efforts that recognize both the humanitarian and development challenges of displacement. Commit to take the necessary political, policy, legal and financial steps required to address these challenges for the specific context.
    • Leave No One Behind
    • Commit to promote and support safe, dignified and durable solutions for internally displaced persons and refugees. Commit to do so in a coherent and measurable manner through international, regional and national programs and by taking the necessary policy, legal and financial steps required for the specific contexts and in order to work towards a target of 50 percent reduction in internal displacement by 2030.
    • Leave No One Behind
    • Acknowledge the global public good provided by countries and communities which are hosting large numbers of refugees. Commit to providing communities with large numbers of displaced population or receiving large numbers of returnees with the necessary political, policy and financial, support to address the humanitarian and socio-economic impact. To this end, commit to strengthen multilateral financing instruments. Commit to foster host communities' self-reliance and resilience, as part of the comprehensive and integrated approach outlined in core commitment 1.
    • Leave No One Behind
    • Commit to collectively work towards a Global Compact on responsibility-sharing for refugees to safeguard the rights of refugees, while also effectively and predictably supporting States affected by such movements.
    • Leave No One Behind
    • Commit to actively work to uphold the institution of asylum and the principle of non-refoulement. Commit to support further accession to and strengthened implementation of national, regional and international laws and policy frameworks that ensure and improve the protection of refugees and IDPs, such as the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol or the AU Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (Kampala convention) or the Guiding Principles on internal displacement.
    • Leave No One Behind
    1. Highlight the concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2017 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures.

    Refugees

    Through the new European Consensus on Development and building on the Council Conclusions on forced displacement and development, the European Union (EU) continued its strong engagement in support of refugees and host communities. The EU actively contributed to the process leading towards a Global Compact on Refugees. Close coordination between EU humanitarian, development and political actors, for instance through joint missions or response frameworks, enhanced the efficiency and efficacy of interventions. Actions enhance access to life saving assistance (e.g. Bangladesh, Uganda), integrated services (education for Syrian refugees, housing in Niger, water in Uganda), facilitate income generation (Chad, Ethiopia),  improve protection (North Africa) and resilience of refugees and hosts (Lebanon). The EU provides financial and political support to the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF) in Africa. It supports resettlement to the EU and third countries.

    IDPs (due to conflict, violence, and disaster)

    The EU approach to forced displacement and development also applies to internal displacement. EU humanitarian and development action therefore provided targeted assistance to the internally displaced, their host communities and the crisis-affected populations, while also addressing the underlying crises, including through political action. EU engagement ranges from support for monitoring (Ukraine) to life-saving assistance (e.g. DR Congo);  access to services and income generation (Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon), health (DR Congo), housing (Sri Lanka) and facilitating voluntary return (Pakistan). Responses in Afghanistan, Central African Republic and Somalia reflect linkages to refugee return and the importance of social cohesion. Child protection is an important dimension in this regard in Central America. Activities to improve coordination, including with EU Member States, are ongoing, e.g. in Sudan and Iraq.

    Cross-border, disaster and climate related displacement

    The EU is a member of the steering committee of the Platform on Disaster Displacement. The EU supported the MECLEP project (Migration, Environment and Climate Change: Evidence for Policy), and contributed to knowledge generation, notably with regard to migration as an adaptation strategy. EU support for cross-border cooperation increased resilience of populations vulnerable to slow-onset and sudden disaster (e.g. Horn of Africa).  The EU provided significant support to disaster-risk reduction (e.g. flood exposure in Asia) and avoiding slow-onset disaster (e.g. land degradation in Sub-Saharan Africa). The EU also supported the (Migrants in Countries in Crisis) MICIC initiative, which improves assistance to migrants in countries in crisis, including when struck by disaster.

    2. A. How are you measuring progress toward achieving your commitments? Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Through existing, internal systems or frameworks for monitoring, reporting and/or evaluation.
    • By reporting to, or using reports prepared for, UN principal organs, UN governing boards, or other international bodies
    B. How are you assessing whether progress on commitments is leading toward change in the direction of the transformation?

    EU-supported policy changes at the international, national, and local level to achieve more comprehensive, coordinated and integrated responses (e.g. in Consensus on Development, EU and Member States committed to coordinated action to address root causes of displacement).

    3. A. Please select no more than 3 key challenges faced in implementing the commitments related to this transformation. Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Buy-in
    • Data and analysis
    • Multi-stakeholder coordination
    B. How are these challenges impacting achievement of this transformation?

    Knowledge and evidence on impact of displacement is lacking and thereby tensions regarding displacement cannot be addressed in an evidence-based way. A 'Whole-of-society' approach and multi-stakeholder buy-in need to match development timelines (5+ years).

    4. Highlight actions planned for 2018 to advance implementation of your commitments in order to achieve this transformation.

    The EU will continue its significant humanitarian and development support in forced displacement situations in 2018. EU and Member States will also strengthen the humanitarian-development nexus and help build resilience. In six pilot countries this will be done jointly with Member States, bringing together all the tools and opportunities of the Union. Work on establishing a Union Resettlement Framework is on-going.

    5. What steps or actions are needed to make collective progress to achieve this transformation?

    Adoption of the Global Compacts on Refugees and Migration and follow-up of their implementation, by promoting good practices and providing frameworks for better responsibility sharing. Increased attention to comprehensive, development-led responses to internal displacement will be equally necessary, building on international law and the guiding principles. More evidence on the benefits of the socio-economic inclusion of the forcibly displaced.

    6. List any good practice or examples of innovation undertaken individually or in cooperation with others to advance this transformation.

    1 - Compact-approach to solidify mutual commitments.

    2 - Joint missions/workshops to strengthen joint analysis and identification of collective outcomes.

    3 - Trust Funds to provide greater flexibility and better coordination.

    4 - Links to social protection agenda.

    Keywords

    Community resilience, Disaster Risk Reduction, Displacement, Humanitarian-development nexus, Migrants, Protection

  • 3B
    Address the vulnerabilities of migrants and provide more regular and lawful opportunities for migration

    Individual Commitments (1)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility
    • The EU will propose an action plan on integration of third country nationals that will consist of concrete actions to be undertaken at EU level to support Member States in their integration efforts.
    • Operational
    • Leave No One Behind
    1. Highlight the concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2017 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures.

    • Increased resettlement under the European Union (EU) schemes. By the end of the year, over 26,000 people were given refuge via this expanding legal avenue.
    • EU resettlement efforts were given a further boost with the Commission's call for Member States to resettle at least 50,000 persons in need of international protection. By the end of the year, 19 Member States offered almost 40,000 resettlement pledges. These resettlement efforts will be supported with €500 million from the EU budget.
    • Co-legislators (European Parliament and the Council) adopted their negotiating positions on the Permanent Resettlement Framework: trilogues started at the end of the year.
    • In May 2017, the European Commission launched the initiative "Employers together for integration" to give visibility to employers active in the area of integration in Europe, and encourage others to follow their example. The involvement of social and economic actors, including businesses, is particularly important for a successful participation of migrants to the labour market.
    • In December 2017 the Commission signed a European Partnership for Integration with EU-wide employers' organizations and other social and economic partners to work more closely together to promote the integration of refugees into the labour market.
    • A call for proposals under the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) to support transnational projects in the field of integration with €27.5 million budget was launched in December 2017.

    2. A. How are you measuring progress toward achieving your commitments? Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Through existing, internal systems or frameworks for monitoring, reporting and/or evaluation.
    • Through multi-stakeholder processes or initiatives (e.g. IASC, Grand Bargain, Charter for Change, etc).
    B. How are you assessing whether progress on commitments is leading toward change in the direction of the transformation?

    Through regular reporting and discussions with Member States, including in multi-stakeholder fora in cooperation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR (such as UNHCR Core Group on resettlement or the Annual Tripartite Consultations on Resettlement - ATCR).

    3. A. Please select no more than 3 key challenges faced in implementing the commitments related to this transformation. Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Data and analysis
    • Gender and/or vulnerable group inclusion
    • Multi-stakeholder coordination
    4. Highlight actions planned for 2018 to advance implementation of your commitments in order to achieve this transformation.

    • Advancing negotiations to frame the EU's policy on resettlement and provide a common approach to safe and legal arrival in the EU for persons in need of protection.
    • Coordination of pilot projects with third countries, and provision of financial support, where Member States would engage in receiving certain numbers of migrants coming through legal channels, including notably for economic purposes.

    5. What steps or actions are needed to make collective progress to achieve this transformation?

    Multi-stakeholder co-ordination and engagement, strengthening national/local resettlement and integration capacities.
     

    6. List any good practice or examples of innovation undertaken individually or in cooperation with others to advance this transformation.

    Joint agreement on targets and priorities in establishing EU resettlement schemes among the stakeholders (EU, Member States, International Organisations); sufficient funding to support these priorities.

    Keywords

    Displacement, Migrants, Private sector

  • 3D
    Empower and protect women and girls

    Individual Commitments (4)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility
    • The EU commits to adapt its humanitarian assistance to the specific needs of women, girls, boys and men in emergencies through the use of the gender and age marker.
    • Operational
    • Leave No One Behind
    • The EU commits to contribute in a measurable manner an increase in girls' and women's action, voice and participation in social, economic, political and civil life, in particular in crisis situations.
    • Operational
    • Leave No One Behind

    • The EU reconfirms its commitment to UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and its follow-up resolutions, and to fully implement the EU's second Gender Action Plan for the period 2016-2020, which provides a results-oriented framework to advance the agenda for gender equality and women's empowerment in all EU external relations.


    • Operational
    • Leave No One Behind

    • The EU will contribute to reduce under-nutrition and stunting among children, particularly under the age of 2 years, and for pregnant and lactating women. The overall budget planned for this purpose is EUR 3.5 billion in the period 2014-20.


    • Financial Contribution ()
    • Leave No One Behind Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

    Core Commitments (4)

    • Commitment
    • Core Responsibility
    • Empower Women and Girls as change agents and leaders, including by increasing support for local women's groups to participate meaningfully in humanitarian action.
    • Leave No One Behind
    • Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights as agreed in accordance with the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and the Beijing Platform for Action and the Outcome documents of their review conferences for all women and adolescent girls in crisis settings.
    • Leave No One Behind
    • Ensure that humanitarian programming is gender responsive.
    • Leave No One Behind
    • Fully comply with humanitarian policies, frameworks and legally binding documents related to gender equality, women's empowerment, and women's rights.
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity Leave No One Behind
    1. Highlight the concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2017 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures.

    During the first year of implementation of the European Union (EU) Gender Action Plan II, progress has been made towards the aim of transforming the lives of girls and women through ensuring their physical and psychological integrity, promoting their economic and social rights and strengthening girls' and women's voice and participation.

    58.8% (213 out of 362) of new development initiatives adopted in 2016 have been marked as mainly aiming at promoting gender equality and/or women empowerment (Gender Marker 2 or 1). The target being 85% by 2020, and considering that the results were on average 47.3% in 2015, progress is undeniable.

    Since 2014, the EU uses a Gender-Age Marker to assess how well gender and age are integrated in EU-funded humanitarian actions. This continued in 2017. In 2016, the EU allocated €1.8 million of the humanitarian budget to global capacity building projects on gender and gender-based violence (GBV). In the context of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda (WPS), in 2015 the EU pledged concrete actions to promote women's participation and leadership, end GBV in conflict, further integrate the gender dimension into countering emerging threats, and strengthen cooperative frameworks. WPS, gender equality and women's empowerment were included in the EU Global Strategy. The EU adopted indicators to broaden the way of measuring progress in implementing the EU framework policy on WPS. The EU also funded projects on gender equality and women empowerment. The prevalence of stunting in the 40 nutrition focus countries of the European Commission has been reduced by 2% in 4 years.

    2. A. How are you measuring progress toward achieving your commitments? Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Through existing, internal systems or frameworks for monitoring, reporting and/or evaluation.
    • By reporting to, or using reports prepared for, UN principal organs, UN governing boards, or other international bodies
    • Through multi-stakeholder processes or initiatives (e.g. IASC, Grand Bargain, Charter for Change, etc).
    • Other: By preparing updates on implementation and developing annual reports.
    B. How are you assessing whether progress on commitments is leading toward change in the direction of the transformation?

    Both the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Result Framework Indicators are used to measure the progress and impact of programmes. The assessment of the Gender-Age Marker implementation in 2014-2015 is under preparation. The Gender Action Plan also allows for reporting on gender.

    3. A. Please select no more than 3 key challenges faced in implementing the commitments related to this transformation. Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Funding amounts
    • Gender and/or vulnerable group inclusion
    • Other: Matching political commitments with concrete actions; mobilizing male leadership and involvement.
    B. How are these challenges impacting achievement of this transformation?

    Lack of reliable data, difficulty to include vulnerable actors, and institutional constraints hinder measuring results but also carrying out effective and on-point actions. It is difficult to ensure good understanding and use of the Gender-Age Marker (despite progress).

    4. Highlight actions planned for 2018 to advance implementation of your commitments in order to achieve this transformation.

    Follow-up to the EU-UN Spotlight Initiative to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls worldwide: programmes to be supported in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa. Awareness raising, political advocacy, bilateral and multilateral cooperation, capacity building (of staff and implementing partners) on gender in humanitarian aid and WPS. Gender-Age Marker assessment and 2017 Gender Action Plan II Report to be published in 2018.
     

    5. What steps or actions are needed to make collective progress to achieve this transformation?

    Dedicated leadership, management and sufficient resources (including gender experts) to support implementation, deliver and track progress. Focus on commitments that can be measured with clear methodology. Foster partnerships to build national capacity for gender equality. Spread use of and reporting on the upcoming Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Gender-Age Marker. Increase coherence and coordination. Develop a specific area for nutrition.

    6. List any good practice or examples of innovation undertaken individually or in cooperation with others to advance this transformation.

    • EU Gender-Age Marker applied consistently since 2014.
    • Mozambique's participatory process for the gender analysis profile.
    • Nicaragua promoted gender equality through new means of communication-digital technologies, arts and culture.

    Keywords

    Gender

  • 3E
    Eliminate gaps in education for children, adolescents and young people

    Individual Commitments (5)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility
    • The EU will allocate 4% of its humanitarian aid budget to Education in Emergencies.
    • Financial Contribution ()
    • Leave No One Behind
    • The EU will continue its support to the Global Partnership for Education (GPE).
    • Policy
    • Leave No One Behind
    • The EU will continue to support access to quality education in crisis environments for host communities and internally displaced and refugee children and young people.
    • Operational
    • Leave No One Behind
    • The EU will focus on supporting teaching and learning in fragile and protracted crisis situations. This commitment includes support to the start-up/setting-up phase of the new platform 'Education Cannot Wait'.
    • Operational
    • Leave No One Behind

    • The EU will provide support to host countries to facilitate access to quality education, at all levels, to all internally displaced and refugee children and youth. The EU will support host countries in analysing educational levels and needs and ensuring a greater continuity between education in emergencies and non-formal education and/or the public education services. The EU will support financially and operationally the good functioning of public education services while promoting equal access to education for displaced children, particularly girls. The EU will facilitate access to universities, also by offering scholarships, and put in place higher education distance learning and certified higher education programmes which provide flexible accreditation.


    • Operational
    • Leave No One Behind
    1. Highlight the concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2017 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures.

    The European Union (EU) renewed its pledge to the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) with €100 million, in addition to its original pledge of €375 million. The EU increased its pledge to Education Cannot Wait (ECW) with €11 million, bringing the total to €16 million. The EU continues to provide bilateral support to education in countries affected by crises and/or hosting displaced populations. 60% of this bilateral support goes to fragile and crisis affected countries. The EU launched a global call for proposals on education in crisis affected countries. This resulted in support to specific actions in 7 countries (Niger, Somalia, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania and DRC) for a total of €20 million. The supported actions focus on access to quality education and evidence building (research). The EU increased its Education in Emergencies (EiE) funding from the humanitarian aid budget to 6%, way above the global 3.6% and its WHS commitment (4%).  With additional funding to support EiE in Greece and Turkey, the European Commission's humanitarian aid department managed nearly €100 million (preliminary figures) of EiE funding in 2017.

    2. A. How are you measuring progress toward achieving your commitments? Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Through existing, internal systems or frameworks for monitoring, reporting and/or evaluation.
    B. How are you assessing whether progress on commitments is leading toward change in the direction of the transformation?

    The EU assesses progress through its own reporting systems, which include reports from partners that receive EU funding (ECW, GPE, specific projects).

    3. A. Please select no more than 3 key challenges faced in implementing the commitments related to this transformation. Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Data and analysis
    • Multi-stakeholder coordination
    • Strengthening national/local systems
    B. How are these challenges impacting achievement of this transformation?

    The lack of more and better data hinders the assessment of education needs and makes it difficult to report progress, e.g. on learning outcomes. Coordination at all levels and across stakeholders needs to be enhanced in order to strengthen effectiveness.

    4. Highlight actions planned for 2018 to advance implementation of your commitments in order to achieve this transformation.

    Through its new initiative, 'The Education Data Solutions Roundtable', the GPE, supported by the EU, will aim at improving countries' capacity to gather accurate, comprehensive and timely data. In 2018-2019, the EU supports the Global Education Cluster to improve coordination, information management and capacities for education in emergencies at the country, regional and global level.

    5. What steps or actions are needed to make collective progress to achieve this transformation?

    More financial resources need to be mobilized for education, including domestic resource mobilization and external financing. Multilateral initiatives like the GPE and ECW need to be fully financed and bilateral efforts need to become increasingly more coordinated.

    6. List any good practice or examples of innovation undertaken individually or in cooperation with others to advance this transformation.

    ECW strengthens coordination mechanisms for education at country level. For example, this is the case in Syria, where the Education Forum has been set up to improve coordination between different stakeholders and increase complementarity.

    Keywords

    Displacement, Education

  • 3G
    Address other groups or minorities in crisis settings

    Individual Commitments (1)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility
    • The EU endorses the Charter on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action.
    • Policy
    • Leave No One Behind
    1. Highlight the concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2017 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures.

    In 2016, the European Union (EU) endorsed the Charter on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action. In 2017, the European Commission engaged in various advocacy events and met with disabled persons' organisations to discuss additional measures to support this agenda. The EU also provided targeted funding (over €7 million to disability specific NGOs) and supported the development of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Guidelines on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action. For the first time, the EU department for humanitarian aid included in its 2018 Humanitarian Implementation Plans that partners need to ensure inclusiveness of people with disabilities in proposed actions.

    2. A. How are you measuring progress toward achieving your commitments? Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Through existing, internal systems or frameworks for monitoring, reporting and/or evaluation.
    • Other: Specific measures to implement the Charter.
    3. A. Please select no more than 3 key challenges faced in implementing the commitments related to this transformation. Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Data and analysis
    • Gender and/or vulnerable group inclusion
    • Human resources/capacity
    B. How are these challenges impacting achievement of this transformation?

    Capacity building on inclusiveness across the sector is key in order to ensure that commitments are translated into concrete actions in the field.

    4. Highlight actions planned for 2018 to advance implementation of your commitments in order to achieve this transformation.

    The EU will start to elaborate standards on disability inclusiveness that will need to be met in EU-funded projects.  It will also ensure that organisations and partners working with and representing persons with disabilities are consulted on relevant policy initiatives. The EU will also keep up its engagement on advocacy around this agenda and on capacity building across the sector.
     

    5. What steps or actions are needed to make collective progress to achieve this transformation?

    Persons with disabilities face disproportionate risks in crisis situations, therefore it is important to ensure that they are included in all aspects of relief. This requires both mainstreamed and targeted responses, and a collective effort and capacity building of the entire humanitarian sector.

    6. List any good practice or examples of innovation undertaken individually or in cooperation with others to advance this transformation.

    The EU is supporting system-wide change through the funding it provides to the development of the IASC Guidelines on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action.

    Keywords

    Disability

  • 4A
    Reinforce, do not replace, national and local systems

    Individual Commitments (8)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility

    • The EU commits to scaling up cash-based assistance.


    • Operational
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity

    • The EU will boost its engagement with local host authorities to increase their capacity in areas such as urban planning, local area-based economic development and service delivery, including through decentralised cooperation (e.g. city to city cooperation).


    • Capacity
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

    • The EU will facilitate cooperation between the private sector and host governments and local authorities in order to boost complementary actions.


    • Partnership
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • The EU will increase social protection programmes and strengthen national and local systems in order to build resilience in fragile contexts.
    • Operational
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

    • The EU will provide budget support to public services as well as other service providers, including civil society organisations under pressure in order to complement host government actions and address shortcomings, whenever possible.


    • Financial
    • Leave No One Behind Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • The EU will provide international support and coordination with clear assessments of how to complement local and national leadership in order to avoid building parallel international response mechanisms.
    • Operational
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

    • The EU will support greater collaboration between regional organisations, including through the ROHAN network.


    • Partnership
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • Through the EU Aid Volunteers programme, the EU commits to contribute to the strengthening of local capacity and resilience building of disaster-affected communities outside of the EU, by supporting capacity building, including on DRR, of at least 100 humanitarian organisations and local communities working in disaster-affected countries, and by training and deploying approximately 4000 volunteers to strengthen humanitarian aid operations globally by 2020.
    • Capacity
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

    Core Commitments (6)

    • Commitment
    • Core Responsibility
    • Commit to a new way of working that meets people's immediate humanitarian needs, while at the same time reducing risk and vulnerability over multiple years through the achievement of collective outcomes. To achieve this, commit to the following: a) Anticipate, Do Not Wait: to invest in risk analysis and to incentivize early action in order to minimize the impact and frequency of known risks and hazards on people. b) Reinforce, Do Not Replace: to support and invest in local, national and regional leadership, capacity strengthening and response systems, avoiding duplicative international mechanisms wherever possible. c) Preserve and retain emergency capacity: to deliver predictable and flexible urgent and life-saving assistance and protection in accordance with humanitarian principles. d) Transcend Humanitarian-Development Divides: work together, toward collective outcomes that ensure humanitarian needs are met, while at the same time reducing risk and vulnerability over multiple years and based on the comparative advantage of a diverse range of actors. The primacy of humanitarian principles will continue to underpin humanitarian action.
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • Commit to reinforce national and local leadership and capacities in managing disaster and climate-related risks through strengthened preparedness and predictable response and recovery arrangements.
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • Commit to increase investment in building community resilience as a critical first line of response, with the full and effective participation of women.
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • Commit to ensure regional and global humanitarian assistance for natural disasters complements national and local efforts.
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • Commit to increase substantially and diversify global support and share of resources for humanitarian assistance aimed to address the differentiated needs of populations affected by humanitarian crises in fragile situations and complex emergencies, including increasing cash-based programming in situations where relevant.
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity
    • Commit to empower national and local humanitarian action by increasing the share of financing accessible to local and national humanitarian actors and supporting the enhancement of their national delivery systems, capacities and preparedness planning.
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity
    1. Highlight the concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2017 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures.

    Building community resilience

    The European Union Aid Volunteers (EUAV) initiative continued strengthening the capacity of non-EU based organisations to prepare and respond to humanitarian crises and to improve their volunteer management. In 2017, 85 organisations were involved in the implementation of eight capacity building projects worldwide and 44 organisations in seven technical assistance projects to strengthen their management and operational systems. 206 volunteers were deployed to third countries to support the capacity building of local communities and organisations.

    Strengthening national/local leadership and systems

    In 2017, €3.1 million were signed with Global and Regional Associations of Local Authorities. At country level, about €50 million were contracted by EU Delegations to support good governance and improved service delivery to citizens by local authorities. The EU launched the External Investment Plan (EIP) to encourage investment in Africa and EU Neighbourhood region, to strengthen partnerships and contribute to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The EU launched the Sustainable Business for Africa (SB4A) platform, an essential building block of the EIP, which enables structured dialogue with the private sector and new partnerships to foster private sector engagement and alliances for job creation. In 2017, the EU also organised meetings, workshops and events on private sector engagement for development. New projects integrating the role of private sector in fragile/crisis situations were launched under the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa and the European Trust Fund for the Central African Republic (Bêkou Trust Fund).

    2. A. How are you measuring progress toward achieving your commitments? Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Through existing, internal systems or frameworks for monitoring, reporting and/or evaluation.
    • Other: As well as external Result Oriented Monitoring (ROM).
    B. How are you assessing whether progress on commitments is leading toward change in the direction of the transformation?

    Close monitoring and dialogue with the implementation teams at country level; multi-stakeholder policy dialogue at regional and global levels (e.g. Policy Forum on Development); assessment by field experts; missions to the field; and meetings with stakeholders.

    3. A. Please select no more than 3 key challenges faced in implementing the commitments related to this transformation. Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Buy-in
    • Institutional/Internal constraints
    • Other: Lack of coordination by local authorities and insufficient empowering by existing administrative systems.
    B. How are these challenges impacting achievement of this transformation?

    Capacity building of local partners remains in many situations a medium to long term challenge, often compounded by decentralisation and empowerment issues. Challenges also impact an effective structured dialogue and promotion of investment climate in fragile countries.

    4. Highlight actions planned for 2018 to advance implementation of your commitments in order to achieve this transformation.

    Continue to build and strengthen strategic partnerships with global and regional associations of local authorities. Support them to strengthen SDGs in cities: focus on metropolitan areas to promote inclusive growth, local job creation and investment. Twinning will be at the heart of the approach. Continue implementation of ongoing projects and initiatives (incl. EUAV, EIP, SB4A). Organise meetings with private sector at different levels.

    5. What steps or actions are needed to make collective progress to achieve this transformation?

    • Continue investing and supporting local authorities, in line with new EU Consensus on Development.
    • Local authorities need to be taken into account (mainstreamed) where relevant for development.
    • Support civil society in their oversight role.
    • Ensure that the international community focuses on its commitment to reinforce and empower local authorities.
    • International aid agencies to align with Agenda 2030 orientations on private sector role in development.
    • High-level dialogue on Aid Effectiveness Agenda also involving the private sector.

    6. List any good practice or examples of innovation undertaken individually or in cooperation with others to advance this transformation.

    EU's territorial approach to local development leverages contribution of actors at multiple scales and brings value to national development efforts. EIP provides opportunity to expand scope of blended finance and structured dialogue with the private sector.

    Keywords

    Community resilience, Local action, Private sector

  • 4B
    Anticipate, do not wait, for crises

    Individual Commitments (19)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility
    • The EU commits to improve the planning of disaster response operations under the Union Mechanism, including through scenario-building for disaster response, asset mapping and the development of plans for the deployment of response capacities.
    • Operational
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • By the end of 2017, through support from the EU and other INFORM partners, INFORM partners will work with local stakeholders to develop INFORM subnational models in at least 8 priority countries and 3 regions; implement a training programme for staff of INFORM partner organisations, regional organisations and governments to help them use and develop INFORM subnational; improve and increase tools, guidance and capacity to support the rollout of INFORM subnational worldwide. INFORM partners will continue to publish the INFORM global risk index for humanitarian crises and disasters on an annual basis; provide technical support to regional and national actors, including governments, wishing to develop an INFORM subnational model.
    • Operational
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • The EU commits to contribute to the development and better integration of transnational detection and early warning and alert systems in order to enable a rapid response, including through the Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System (GDACS), and to continue providing disaster managers with timely and accurate geo-spatial information, such as satellite-based maps for preparedness, emergency response and recovery monitoring of major disasters through the Copernicus Emergency Management Service.
    • Operational
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • The EU commits to develop and implement an action plan on the Sendai Framework for disaster risk reduction, translating the Sendai Framework priorities across EU policies, and supporting a disaster risk-informed approach of all EU policies.















    • Policy
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

    • The EU commits to enhance preparedness and response capacities for disasters with health consequences, and cooperation between health authorities and other relevant stakeholders, through the Implementation of the European Medical Corps (EMC), aimed at mobilising medical and public health experts and teams for preparedness or response operations.


    • Operational
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • The EU commits to facilitate the sharing of good practices and improvements in disaster risk management policy and operations through mutual learning and expert review, including through voluntary peer reviews implemented in 6 EU neighbouring countries between 2016 and 2018.
    • Operational
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • The EU commits to further support the global and subnational development and use of the Index for Risk Management (INFORM) to enable open and shared analysis for better risk-based decision-making.
    • Financial
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • The EU commits to promote synergies and enhance coherence between risk management and climate change adaptation in its work to implement the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, and in particular in its efforts to contribute to the global goal for adaptation to enhance adaptive capacity, strengthen resilience and reduce vulnerability to climate change and to support the work of the UNFCCC "Warsaw International Mechanism to address loss and damage due to climate change".
    • Operational
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • The EU commits to strengthen coherence between climate change adaptation strategies and risk management plans at national level in third countries, including through the support provided by the 'Global Climate Change Alliance+' ('GCCA+') programme.
    • Operational
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

    • The EU commits to strengthen national and local capacity to prevent and respond to crises and to support the development of local and national disaster risk reduction strategies, with the active engagement of civil society, through EU development assistance in vulnerable countries, in particular Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS), by 2020.


    • Capacity
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

    • The EU commits to support global risk analysis through its online knowledge hub Disaster Risk Management Knowledge Centre (DRMKC) that allows for a strengthened engagement with the research community to better 1) address disaster risk management knowledge and technology gaps, 2) encourage stronger science-policy interface in decision-making and 3) contribute to reducing the information gap in the immediate aftermath of a disaster by providing timely and reliable scientific information for early actions.


    • Operational
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • The EU commits to support improved regional coordination efforts aimed at reducing disaster risks and improving preparedness, including through projects aimed at strengthening the disaster risk management capacities of regional inter-governmental organisations.
    • Partnership
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • The EU commits to support the collection and sharing of disaggregated baseline data on disaster loss and damage through EU development assistance in at least 20 countries (in particular in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific) at the local and national level by 2020.
    • Operational
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • The EU commits to support the development of local and national disaster risk reduction strategies, with active engagement of the civil society, through the EU development assistance in at least 20 most vulnerable countries, mainly Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Islands Developing States (SIDS) until 2020.
    • Policy
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

    • The EU commits to support through EU development assistance by 2020 at least 20 cities in third countries, including crisis-prone cities, to strengthen their capacities in addressing disaster risks at the local level and in developing and implementing national disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation strategies.


    • Capacity
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity
    • The EU commits, through the support system of the online knowledge hub Disaster Risk Management Knowledge Centre (DRMKC), further engagement with the research community to better address disaster risk management knowledge and technology gaps and to encourage stronger science-policy interface in decision-making.
    • Partnership
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

    • The EU will establish and strengthen regular policy and operational exchanges as well as strategic dialogue and sharing of best practices with a view to identifying synergies between humanitarian aid, development cooperation, climate change adaptation and disaster risk management.


    • Partnership
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • The EU will perform joint, multi-hazard risk analysis and multi-year planning, with national, regional and local coordination in order to achieve collective outcomes. Risk will be shared between humanitarian, development, stabilisation and peace-building communities.
    • Operational
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • The EU will prioritise prevention, mitigation and preparedness for early action to anticipate and reduce humanitarian need. Prioritisation will need to be the focus not only of aid organisations and donors but also of national governments at all levels, civil society, and the private sector.
    • Operational
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

    Core Commitments (3)

    • Commitment
    • Core Responsibility
    • Commit to a new way of working that meets people's immediate humanitarian needs, while at the same time reducing risk and vulnerability over multiple years through the achievement of collective outcomes. To achieve this, commit to the following: a) Anticipate, Do Not Wait: to invest in risk analysis and to incentivize early action in order to minimize the impact and frequency of known risks and hazards on people. b) Reinforce, Do Not Replace: to support and invest in local, national and regional leadership, capacity strengthening and response systems, avoiding duplicative international mechanisms wherever possible. c) Preserve and retain emergency capacity: to deliver predictable and flexible urgent and life-saving assistance and protection in accordance with humanitarian principles. d) Transcend Humanitarian-Development Divides: work together, toward collective outcomes that ensure humanitarian needs are met, while at the same time reducing risk and vulnerability over multiple years and based on the comparative advantage of a diverse range of actors. The primacy of humanitarian principles will continue to underpin humanitarian action.
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • Commit to accelerate the reduction of disaster and climate-related risks through the coherent implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, as well as other relevant strategies and programs of action, including the SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action (SAMOA) Pathway.
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity
    • Commit to improve the understanding, anticipation and preparedness for disaster and climate-related risks by investing in data, analysis and early warning, and developing evidence-based decision-making processes that result in early action.
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    1. Highlight the concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2017 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures.

    The European Union (EU) remained engaged in mutual learning on Disaster Risk Management (DRM) through the second programme of voluntary Peer Reviews. The DRM Knowledge Centre (DRMKC) produced its first flagship science report ''Science for Disaster Risk Management 2017 – Knowing better and losing less''. Implementation of EU Action Plan for the Sendai Framework continued; first review was carried out. The EU contributed as co-chair to the work of the Executive Committee of the Warsaw Mechanism for Loss and Damage, and contributed to the organisation of the third Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction. The Index for Risk Management (INFORM) (a multi-stakeholder network to develop shared analysis) was strengthened and the fourth annual report was published. Support to partners to develop INFORM Subnational Risk Indices continued (five regions and six countries covered). Monitoring and early-warning systems were improved to enhance preparedness of the European Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) to natural disasters in and beyond Europe. Pilot project ARISTOTLE (All Risk Integrated System TOwards The hoListic Early-warning) on operational emergency reporting started on 1 February 2017. Satellite mapping via Copernicus Emergency Management Service (EMS) provided reliable information to disaster managers. New components were introduced to improve timeliness of maps delivery and performance on different DRM phases. In the African, Caribbean and Pacific - EU (ACP-EU) Natural Disaster Risk Reduction programme, 10 new projects support disaster forecasting and early warning, risk mapping and assessment, assessment of the impact of disasters on social vulnerability, and DRM integration in development and recovery planning. The program also co-funded the third edition of the World Reconstruction Conference. The European Medical Corps includes 11 response teams committed by nine EU Member States. Training and exercises were provided. Initial deployments took place.

    2. A. How are you measuring progress toward achieving your commitments? Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Through existing, internal systems or frameworks for monitoring, reporting and/or evaluation.
    • By reporting to, or using reports prepared for, UN principal organs, UN governing boards, or other international bodies
    • Through multi-stakeholder processes or initiatives (e.g. IASC, Grand Bargain, Charter for Change, etc).
    B. How are you assessing whether progress on commitments is leading toward change in the direction of the transformation?

    • By reviewing progress in implementation of EU Resilience and Sendai Action plans and monitoring results of the Global Climate Change Alliance (GCCA+).
    • 45 ARISTOTLE activations, 12 of which were linked to a request for international assistance, indicating increased focus on preparedness.
    • Rapid mapping Copernicus activations increased from 42 in 2016 to 70 in 2017.

    3. A. Please select no more than 3 key challenges faced in implementing the commitments related to this transformation. Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Buy-in
    • Data and analysis
    • Funding amounts
    B. How are these challenges impacting achievement of this transformation?

    Lack of robust evidence-base on DRR/prevention cost-benefit hampers action and buy-in. Lack of longer-term multi-donor financial commitments could impact sustainability of specific initiatives, also undermining achievements reached so far. Funding limitations can impede rapid transformation and scope of initiatives.

    4. Highlight actions planned for 2018 to advance implementation of your commitments in order to achieve this transformation.

    Continue implementing Sendai Framework and supporting EU Member States to improve DRR capacity, including via risk assessment, loss-data collection and recording, DRM capability self-assessment, peer reviews. Further improve guidance, training and tools for INFORM sub-national developers & users. Develop improved method to measure Crisis Severity. Support actions to develop local and national resilience strategies, notably in Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and crisis prone countries. Further develop and integrate early warning systems. Copernicus will continue supporting disaster managers in all DRM phases.

    5. What steps or actions are needed to make collective progress to achieve this transformation?

    Collaborate around shared and agreed priorities. Capacity building requires engaging authorities and their political will as well as clear guidance to all relevant stakeholders, including donors and authorities. More buy-in from development actors. Improved coherence, targeting and coordination of financial support from development and humanitarian aid donors. Increased engagement of partners and information sharing to reap benefits of improved readiness. Stronger coherence between various international processes.

    6. List any good practice or examples of innovation undertaken individually or in cooperation with others to advance this transformation.

    • INFORM.
    • European Natural Hazard Scientific Partnership creation (led to ARISTOTLE).
    • Pre-tasking satellites to secure imagery in the peak of a disaster and increase timeliness.
    • More widespread use of crisis modifiers in humanitarian programmes for protracted crises, programme innovations in support to urban resilience, refugees and forced displacement, flexible financing and social protection.

    Keywords

    Disaster Risk Reduction

  • 4C
    Deliver collective outcomes: transcend humanitarian-development divides

    Individual Commitments (19)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility

    • The EU will promote a global response through enhancing coordination and promoting synergies between humanitarian and development actions, including through financial contributions, such as a grant contribution of €539 million to support countries most affected by the current food security crisis caused by El Niño.


    • Financial Contribution ()
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

    • The EU commits to enhance preparedness and response capacities for disasters with health consequences, and cooperation between health authorities and other relevant stakeholders, through the Implementation of the European Medical Corps (EMC), aimed at mobilising medical and public health experts and teams for preparedness or response operations.


    • Operational
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • The EU commits to further develop the availability and quality of emergency medical teams and other related rapid response teams for deployments in emergencies with serious health impacts.
    • Capacity
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • The EU commits to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by preparing a new European Consensus on Development, as an essential element to shape EU policies and cooperation with third countries, and by ensuring coherence between the internal and external EU actions needed to reaching the Sustainable Development Goals.
    • Policy
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • The EU commits to promote a global partnership for joint analysis of food crises through the "Global Network for Food Crisis Response", which focuses on the short and long-term impacts driven by natural disasters and climate change on people vulnerable to food and nutrition insecurity.
    • Partnership
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

    • The EU commits to promote joint analysis of food and nutrition insecurity to enhance response synergy and coherence. This is achieved by involving relevant international partners, including regional organisations, into a global network in charge of analysing the global food insecurity situation, promoting a common understanding, facilitating joint planning and paving the way for joint response.


    • Operational
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

    • The EU commits to promote quality and best practice in humanitarian health responses and improved global humanitarian and health governance for disease outbreak response.


    • Advocacy
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

    • The EU commits to the principles set out in the Urban Crisis Charter and to become a member of the Global Alliance for Urban Crises.


    • Policy
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • The EU commits to work across institutional divides and mandates and in multi-year frameworks to achieve clear outcomes and develop required policy, financial and operational tools by 2016 to that effect.
    • Operational
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

    • The EU will contribute to reduce under-nutrition and stunting among children, particularly under the age of 2 years, and for pregnant and lactating women. The overall budget planned for this purpose is EUR 3.5 billion in the period 2014-20.


    • Financial Contribution ()
    • Leave No One Behind Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

    • The EU will engage strategically with non-DAC donors, regional organisations and the private sector with a view to enhancing the more effective involvement of a wider variety of actors active in humanitarian contexts.


    • Partnership
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity
    • The EU will ensure early engagement and close coordination of political and development actors at the outset of any crisis, to complement and build on the humanitarian actors' emergency and early recovery interventions.
    • Operational
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

    • The EU will establish and strengthen regular policy and operational exchanges as well as strategic dialogue and sharing of best practices with a view to identifying synergies between humanitarian aid, development cooperation, climate change adaptation and disaster risk management.


    • Partnership
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • The EU will fully implement the Resilience Action Plan aiming at reducing future humanitarian needs by enhancing strategic complementarity between humanitarian and development action for reducing risks and vulnerabilities of people affected by crisis.



    • Operational
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

    • The EU will launch the Global Assessment and Global Network for Food Insecurity, Risk Reduction and Food Crises Response to enhance impact, improve coordination and promote joint planning and joint response.


    • Operational
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • The EU will reduce the vulnerability of affected people in situations of fragility and protracted crises and improve coordination at global and country levels between humanitarian and development programmes.
    • Operational
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • The EU will strengthen existing coordination efforts to share analysis of needs and risks between the humanitarian and development sectors, to better align humanitarian and development planning tools and interventions while respecting the principles of both.
    • Partnership
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • The EU will support partner countries in implementing the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development and other relevant global agreements through a new European Consensus on Development.
    • Operational
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

    • The EU will work on ways to attract and support innovative entrepreneurs.


    • Policy
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

    Core Commitments (1)

    • Commitment
    • Core Responsibility
    • Commit to a new way of working that meets people's immediate humanitarian needs, while at the same time reducing risk and vulnerability over multiple years through the achievement of collective outcomes. To achieve this, commit to the following: a) Anticipate, Do Not Wait: to invest in risk analysis and to incentivize early action in order to minimize the impact and frequency of known risks and hazards on people. b) Reinforce, Do Not Replace: to support and invest in local, national and regional leadership, capacity strengthening and response systems, avoiding duplicative international mechanisms wherever possible. c) Preserve and retain emergency capacity: to deliver predictable and flexible urgent and life-saving assistance and protection in accordance with humanitarian principles. d) Transcend Humanitarian-Development Divides: work together, toward collective outcomes that ensure humanitarian needs are met, while at the same time reducing risk and vulnerability over multiple years and based on the comparative advantage of a diverse range of actors. The primacy of humanitarian principles will continue to underpin humanitarian action.
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    1. Highlight the concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2017 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures.

    Other-4C

    The European Union (EU) continued to implement the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and to promote disaster resilience as an integral element of the strategies to implement the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, in the EU and in partner countries. The EU actively participated in the negotiations at UN level on a set of common indicators and terminology, endorsed by the UN General Assembly in February 2017, to measure global progress under the Sendai Framework and support the achievement of the Sendai targets, including supporting the case for better investment in prevention and risk reduction at global, national and local levels. The EU actively supported the organisation and delivery of the 2017 Global Platform for DRR in Mexico. The EU typology of Emergency Medical Teams (EMTs) was aligned with the WHO. The EU co-finances the development of a training methodology for EMTs.

    Joined-up humanitarian-development analysis and planning towards collective outcomes

    The EU promoted enhanced coordination and the humanitarian-development nexus through the "Global network against food crises". Membership of the network grew in 2017. The EU contribution to the overall response to the four famines in 2017 amounted to €750 million. In June 2017, the European Consensus on Development was signed, helping to promote closer cooperation and complementary action between development and humanitarian actors and shared analysis of risks and vulnerabilities. The EU identified six pilot countries (Sudan, Chad, Nigeria, Uganda, Iraq and Myanmar) with the aim to use its full range of political/diplomatic, development and humanitarian tools, together with its Member States, to support the countries' efforts to become more resilient.

    2. A. How are you measuring progress toward achieving your commitments? Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Through existing, internal systems or frameworks for monitoring, reporting and/or evaluation.
    • By reporting to, or using reports prepared for, UN principal organs, UN governing boards, or other international bodies
    B. How are you assessing whether progress on commitments is leading toward change in the direction of the transformation?

    Through evaluations and monitoring on the ground and through consultations with partners. Clear benchmarks and roadmaps established by the Global Network against food crises. Progress measured based on uptake and use of data and analyses within and beyond the network.

    3. A. Please select no more than 3 key challenges faced in implementing the commitments related to this transformation. Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Funding modalities (earmarking, priorities, yearly agreements, risk aversion measures)
    • Joined-up humanitarian-development analysis, planning, funding and/or response
    • Multi-stakeholder coordination
    B. How are these challenges impacting achievement of this transformation?

    New ways of working require initial investments in time and analysis. Different tools, funding modalities and programme cycles, access to comparable data and variety of stakeholders imply complex coordination to avoid duplications and better harness resources.

    4. Highlight actions planned for 2018 to advance implementation of your commitments in order to achieve this transformation.

    • Advance implementation of humanitarian-development nexus pilots jointly with EU Member States, through joint analysis, joint planning and joint action.
    • Add new components to global assessment of food crises beyond magnitude and severity: nutrition, early warning, forecasting. Expand membership of technical network producing the assessment.
    • Promote strategic networking with relevant global fora for joint analysis and coordinated response.

    5. What steps or actions are needed to make collective progress to achieve this transformation?

    Continue efforts towards evidence-based decision making processes, while reinforcing coordination between actors (both humanitarian and development). Early involvement of all stakeholders (diplomatic, humanitarian, development, EU delegations, and EU Member States) is key to ensure synergies and complementarities.

    6. List any good practice or examples of innovation undertaken individually or in cooperation with others to advance this transformation.

    Preparation of EU Strategies (wide-ranging consultation, cooperation EU-MS-stakeholders, reinforcing nexus approach). Workshops in pilot country Sudan with all involved actors. Within Global Network, linking strategic action for increased coordination in response to food crises with robust information system anchored in shared methodology.  

    Keywords

    Disaster Risk Reduction, Humanitarian-development nexus

  • 5A
    Invest in local capacities

    Individual Commitments (1)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility
    • The EU will build and strengthen the institutional and operational preparedness and response capacities of local and national responders over longer periods of time by increasing and supporting investment, including through collaboration with development partners.
    • Financial
    • Invest in Humanity

    Core Commitments (1)

    • Commitment
    • Core Responsibility
    • Commit to empower national and local humanitarian action by increasing the share of financing accessible to local and national humanitarian actors and supporting the enhancement of their national delivery systems, capacities and preparedness planning.
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity
    1. Highlight the concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2017 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures.

    Other-5A

    In 2017, the European Union (EU) funded two flagship projects with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and Christian Aid to support the Grand Bargain (GB) localisation work-stream activities. These projects will ensure sector-wide coordination of localisation initiatives.  They will look into existing and unidentified challenges and put forward solutions to inform GB signatories' strategies for implementing localisation. Moreover, EU policy initiatives, including the Joint Communication on resilience (June 2017) and the ongoing work on the humanitarian development nexus, provide strong policy support to enhance support to local capacities.

    2. A. How are you measuring progress toward achieving your commitments? Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Through existing, internal systems or frameworks for monitoring, reporting and/or evaluation.
    • Through multi-stakeholder processes or initiatives (e.g. IASC, Grand Bargain, Charter for Change, etc).
    3. A. Please select no more than 3 key challenges faced in implementing the commitments related to this transformation. Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Funding modalities (earmarking, priorities, yearly agreements, risk aversion measures)
    • Institutional/Internal constraints
    B. How are these challenges impacting achievement of this transformation?

    Investing in local capacities is a long term process that requires a step-by-step approach also bearing in mind internal constraints.

    4. Highlight actions planned for 2018 to advance implementation of your commitments in order to achieve this transformation.

    Work on improving the enabling environment, in particular via dialogue, advocacy, and collaboration with relevant stakeholders, including development partners.

    5. What steps or actions are needed to make collective progress to achieve this transformation?

    Investment in local capacities does not occur overnight. It needs to be accompanied by actions and reforms at local level (including, where appropriate, decentralisation, empowerment, fiscal measures, etc.) Staff turnover is a specific issue.

    Keywords

    Community resilience, Humanitarian-development nexus, Local action

  • 5B
    Invest according to risk

    Individual Commitments (2)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility
    • The EU commits to support effective risk financing and insurance solutions for vulnerable people and critical public assets at risk, including through the ACP-EU DRR IntraACP programmes funded by the European Development Fund (EDF).
    • Financial
    • Invest in Humanity

    • The EU commits to support through EU development assistance by 2020 at least 20 cities in third countries, including crisis-prone cities, to strengthen their capacities in addressing disaster risks at the local level and in developing and implementing national disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation strategies.


    • Capacity
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity

    Core Commitments (2)

    • Commitment
    • Core Responsibility
    • Commit to accelerate the reduction of disaster and climate-related risks through the coherent implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, as well as other relevant strategies and programs of action, including the SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action (SAMOA) Pathway.
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity
    • Commit to invest in risk management, preparedness and crisis prevention capacity to build the resilience of vulnerable and affected people.
    • Invest in Humanity
    1. Highlight the concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2017 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures.

    Actions funded by the EU contributing to shift 5B in 2017 are taken forward in three ongoing projects implemented by the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) multi donor partnership managed by the World Bank (WB):

    1. Actions implemented in the Africa Caribbean Pacific - European Union (ACP-EU) Natural Disaster Risk Reduction (NDRR) Programme with technical assistance targeting 17 ACP countries to build capacity and support the development of disaster risk financing and insurance strategies (through the Pacific Catastrophe Risk Assessment & Financing Initiative, the Caribbean Disaster Risk Financing Technical Assistance project and the Southwest Indian Ocean Risk Assessment and Financing (SWIO RAFI) project).

    2. The Africa Disaster Risk Financing (ADRF) program implemented by the GFDRR: actions in 2017 included the development of nine multiple-hazard country risk profiles and risk financing instruments and strategies in 16 countries. To date the ADRF trained about 600 people in risk financing, of which approximately 250 in 2017, and has produced 27 analytical products, of which 10 in 2017.

    3. Under the EU-WB/GFDRR Global Partnership for Disaster Risk Financing Analytics (DRFA) the actions continue to focus on three priority areas: i) the development of a suite of standardized disaster risk financing analytics decision making tools; ii) delivery of customized analytics tools in pilot countries, which has started in the Philippines and Pakistan and will be extended to at least one more country and iii) establishing a Disaster Risk Financing (DRF) Analytics executive education program in partnership with Cambridge University in the UK.

    See also (Index for Risk Management) INFORM in 4B.

    2. A. How are you measuring progress toward achieving your commitments? Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Through existing, internal systems or frameworks for monitoring, reporting and/or evaluation.
    B. How are you assessing whether progress on commitments is leading toward change in the direction of the transformation?

    In the three programs mentioned in response to Question 1, progress is monitored through a monitoring framework developed specifically for each program. The monitoring frameworks are updated every six months and presented in the Programs’ related Steering Committees.

    3. A. Please select no more than 3 key challenges faced in implementing the commitments related to this transformation. Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Buy-in
    • Data and analysis
    • Institutional/Internal constraints
    B. How are these challenges impacting achievement of this transformation?

    The policy area of disaster risk financing is largely a new one in Africa, and has meant establishing awareness and commitment to the topic, which is a long-term process. In the Pacific and the Caribbean the risk financing agenda is much more advanced.

    4. Highlight actions planned for 2018 to advance implementation of your commitments in order to achieve this transformation.

    EU to undertake a study to consider the range and effectiveness of different insurance mechanisms already applied or tested in humanitarian aid and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR). Ongoing activities under the ADRF program to continue (aims: create enabling environment for risk financing, formulate risk financing priorities, facilitate risk financing knowledge sharing). Partnership on DRF Analytics to fine-tune design of tools to support selection of insurance transactions (e.g. risk evaluation, cost-benefit analysis). See also INFORM in 4B.

    5. What steps or actions are needed to make collective progress to achieve this transformation?

    Development and humanitarian partners need to ensure strong policy dialogue and coordination with national and local institutions, with government and other stakeholders in the analytical studies and the development of disaster and climate risk financing strategies and risk informed investments. 

    6. List any good practice or examples of innovation undertaken individually or in cooperation with others to advance this transformation.

    Ensure the EU funded programs in support to disaster risk financing strategies contribute to upscale the sovereign regional risk pooling facilities (Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF), Pacific Catastrophe Risk Assessment and Financing Initiative (PCRAFI), SWIO/RAFI and Afican Risk Capacity (ARC) and to the InsuResilience Global Partnership.

    Keywords

    Disaster Risk Reduction

  • 5D
    Finance outcomes, not fragmentation: shift from funding to financing

    Individual Commitments (2)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility
    • The EU will increase multi-year, collaborative, and flexible planning and multi-year funding.
    • Financial
    • Invest in Humanity

    • The EU will systematically include forcibly displaced persons and their host communities in the programming, design and implementation of international cooperation and assistance interventions.


    • Operational
    • Leave No One Behind Invest in Humanity

    Core Commitments (3)

    • Commitment
    • Core Responsibility
    • Commit to enable coherent financing that avoids fragmentation by supporting collective outcomes over multiple years, supporting those with demonstrated comparative advantage to deliver in context.
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity
    • Commit to promote and increase predictable, multi-year, unearmarked, collaborative and flexible humanitarian funding toward greater efficiency, effectiveness, transparency and accountability of humanitarian action for affected people.
    • Invest in Humanity
    • Commit to broaden and adapt the global instruments and approaches to meet urgent needs, reduce risk and vulnerability and increase resilience, without adverse impact on humanitarian principles and overall action (as also proposed in Round Table on "Changing Lives").
    • Invest in Humanity
    1. Highlight the concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2017 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures.

    The European Union (EU) has continued using multi-year planning and funding for disaster preparedness and for enhanced response capacity. It is launching pilot projects for multi-annual planning and funding in different countries, regions and contexts, and with different partners, to inform decision making. The results framework of these projects focus on reporting, transparency, indicators for assessing success, and multi-annual planning and funding.

    2. A. How are you measuring progress toward achieving your commitments? Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Through existing, internal systems or frameworks for monitoring, reporting and/or evaluation.
    B. How are you assessing whether progress on commitments is leading toward change in the direction of the transformation?

    The ongoing contract preparation for the pilot projects include elements to assess progress, potential efficiency and effectiveness gains. It will also measure the added value compared to the more "classic" approach of country specific and annual contracting.

    3. A. Please select no more than 3 key challenges faced in implementing the commitments related to this transformation. Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Data and analysis
    B. How are these challenges impacting achievement of this transformation?

    Evidence and dialogue with partners are needed to confirm the gains of this approach (among others via decreased management costs and overheads) as well as the transfer of these gains to the final beneficiaries.

    4. Highlight actions planned for 2018 to advance implementation of your commitments in order to achieve this transformation.

    Implement the pilot projects and assess lessons learnt. In some cases mid-term assessments are envisaged.

    5. What steps or actions are needed to make collective progress to achieve this transformation?

    Transparency is required, implementing partners need to demonstrate their capacity to assess the gains and the transfer of these gains to the final beneficiaries. Solid monitoring mechanisms will help.

  • 5E
    Diversify the resource base and increase cost-efficiency

    Individual Commitments (3)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility

    • The EU commits to scaling up cash-based assistance.


    • Operational
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity
    • The EU will continue to report development and humanitarian support to the International Aid Transparency Index (IATI) Registry and will encourage others to also report to the IATI Registry.
    • Operational
    • Invest in Humanity

    • The EU will engage strategically with non-DAC donors, regional organisations and the private sector with a view to enhancing the more effective involvement of a wider variety of actors active in humanitarian contexts.


    • Partnership
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity

    Core Commitments (2)

    • Commitment
    • Core Responsibility
    • Commit to increase substantially and diversify global support and share of resources for humanitarian assistance aimed to address the differentiated needs of populations affected by humanitarian crises in fragile situations and complex emergencies, including increasing cash-based programming in situations where relevant.
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity
    • Commit to promote and increase predictable, multi-year, unearmarked, collaborative and flexible humanitarian funding toward greater efficiency, effectiveness, transparency and accountability of humanitarian action for affected people.
    • Invest in Humanity
    1. Highlight the concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2017 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures.

    • The European Union (EU) had bilateral contacts with a number of non-DAC (Development Assistance Committee) donor authorities and organisations in order to exchange information on humanitarian practices and respective levels of contribution to different crises/sectors.
    • The EU provided €450,000 in support to the UN-led Connecting Business initiative (CBi), which helps businesses prepare for and respond to crises, disasters and complex emergencies in developing countries.
    • End November 2017, the EU launched the European Innovation Council Horizon Prize on Affordable High-Tech for Humanitarian Aid. This Prize aims at inducing increased cooperation between international organisations and NGOs responding to crises, end-users and local actors, research and scientific communities and the private sector.
    • The EU is a leading actor in developing the cash agenda in the humanitarian sector. By end 2017, the EU's Humanitarian Aid Department reached its own target of 35% cash transfers to affected populations, and adopted a guidance note on large-scale cash transfers to ensure that assistance gets to beneficiaries more effectively and efficiently. Central elements of the guidance are common targeting criteria; a single registry or at least interoperable registries of eligible beneficiaries; a single payment mechanism delivering standardised transfer values through a single financial service provider, allowing top-ups by other agencies; a common feedback/grievance system; and a common results framework. This has resulted in more effective and efficient EU-funded cash transfer programmes in e.g. Turkey, Greece, Somalia, Iraq, Lebanon.

    2. A. How are you measuring progress toward achieving your commitments? Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Through existing, internal systems or frameworks for monitoring, reporting and/or evaluation.
    • Through multi-stakeholder processes or initiatives (e.g. IASC, Grand Bargain, Charter for Change, etc).
    • By applying processes/indicators developed to measure WHS commitments specifically.
    B. How are you assessing whether progress on commitments is leading toward change in the direction of the transformation?

    Field studies; exchanges with partners and beneficiaries; policy dialogue with interested donors; continuous internal assessment of quality and quantity of published data; and external assessment (biannual Aid Transparency Index and Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation (GPEDC) transparency monitoring).

    3. A. Please select no more than 3 key challenges faced in implementing the commitments related to this transformation. Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Adherence to standards and/or humanitarian principles
    • Buy-in
    • Strengthening national/local systems
    B. How are these challenges impacting achievement of this transformation?

    Ensuring interoperability of cash systems is essential to avoid the inefficiencies associated with duplication of systems. Failure to include all vulnerable groups limits the possibilities to integrate such groups in social protection systems.

    4. Highlight actions planned for 2018 to advance implementation of your commitments in order to achieve this transformation.

    Consider beneficiary registration as a global public good, while ensuring data protection according to standards in force. Include and strengthen role of private sector (first step planned: Preliminary Market Consultation). Assess use of new technologies (e.g. blockchain). Work on single delivery mechanism. Increase scope of data publication as technically feasible. Launch updated EU open aid website. Include IATI in agenda of workshop with EU Member States.

    5. What steps or actions are needed to make collective progress to achieve this transformation?

    Coordinate actions, avoid duplication, and use appropriate technologies. Support single delivery mechanism. Adopt a context specific, exhaustive approach integrating cash whenever possible. Further promote and support use of IATI data to support development and humanitarian assistance. Convergence by all parties towards a common set of rules, principles, and management standards.

    6. List any good practice or examples of innovation undertaken individually or in cooperation with others to advance this transformation.

    Partner countries' use of Aid Management Systems that import IATI data. IATI data replacing reporting requirements to donors. Thematic or geographic websites visualising IATI data. Field mission with other donors to identify convergent cash approaches.

    Keywords

    Cash, Innovation, Private sector, Transparency / IATI