Annex 1: Terms of Reference

• Author: Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) (European Commission), Landell Mills International
• Pages: 130-146

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1. EU HUMANITARIAN INTERVENTION

1.1 FRAMEWORK

1 The legal base for Humanitarian Aid is provided by Article 214 of the Treaty on the

Functioning of the European Union, and the Humanitarian Aid Regulation (HAR). The

objectives of European Union (EU) humanitarian assistance are outlined there and could – for

evaluation purposes – be summarized as follows: From a donor perspective a nd in

coordination with other main humanitarian actors, to provide the right amount and type of

aid, at the right time, and in an appropriate way, to the populations most affected by natural

and/or manmade disa sters, in order to save lives, alleviate suffering and maintain human

dignity.

2 The European Consensus on Humanitarian Aid (the Consensus) – which has been jointly

developed by the Council, the EU Member States, the European Parliament and the

Commission – provides a reference for EU humanitarian aid, and outlines the common

objectives, fundamental humanitarian principles and good practices that the European Union

as a whole pursues in this domain. The aim is to ensure an effective, high-quality, needs-driven

and principled EU response to humanitarian crises. It concerns the whole spectrum of

humanitarian action: from preparedness and disaster risk reduction, to immediate emergency

response and life-saving aid for vulnerable people in protracted crises, through to situations of

transition to recovery and longer-term development. The Consensus has thus played an

important role in creating a vision of best practice for principled humanitarian aid by providing

an internationally unique, forward-looking and common framework for EU actors. It has set

out high-standard commitments and has shaped policy development and humanitarian aid

approaches both at the European and Member State level. Furthermore, with reference to its

overall aim, the Consensus has triggered the development of a number of humanitarian

sectoral policies.

3 The humanitarian aid budget is implemented through annual funding decisions adopted by the

Commission, which are directly based on Article 15 of the HAR. In general, there are two

types of financial decisions: decisions adopted in the context of non-emergency situations

(currently entitled World Wide Decisions (WWD)), and decisions which are adopted in

emergency situations. The WWD defines inter alia the total budget, and budget available for

specific objectives, mechanisms of flexibility. It is taken for humanitarian operations in each

country/region at the time of establishing the budget. The funding decision also specifies

potential partners, and possible areas of intervention. The operational information about crises

and countries for which humanitarian aid should be granted is provided through ‘Humanitarian

Implementation Plans’ (HIPs). They are a reference for humanitarian actions covered by the

WWD and contain an overview of humanitarian needs in a specific country at a specific

moment of time.

4 DG ECHO has more than 200 partner organisations for providing humanitarian assistance

throughout the world. Humanitarian partners include non-governmental organisations

(NGOs), international organisations and United Nations agencies. Having a diverse range of

partners is important for ECHO because it allows for comprehensive coverage of the ever-

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expanding needs across the world – and in increasingly complex situations. ECHO has

developed increasingly close working relationships with its partners at the level of both policy

issues and management of humanitarian operations.

5 DG ECHO has a worldwide network of field offices that ensure adequate monitoring of

projects funded, provide up-to-date analyses of existing and forecasted needs in a given

country or region, contribute to the development of intervention strategies and policy

development, provide technical support to EU-funded humanitarian operations, and facilitate

donor coordination at field level.

6 DG ECHO has developed a two-phase framework for assessing and analysing needs in

specific countries and crises. The first phase of the framework provides the evidence base for

prioritisation of needs, funding allocation, and development of the HIPs.

The first phase is a global evaluation with two dimensions:

• Index for Risk Management (INFORM) is a tool based on national indicators and data

which allows for a comparative analysis of countries to identify their level of risk to

humanitarian crisis and disaster. It includes three dimensions of risk: natural and man-made

hazards exposure, population vulnerability and national coping capacity. The INFORM

data are also used for calculating a Crisis Index that identifies countries suffering from a

natural disaster and/or conflict and/or hosting a large number of uprooted people.

• The Forgotten Crisis Assessment (FCA) identifies serious humanitarian crisis situations

where the affected populations do not receive enough international aid or even none at all.

These crises are characterised by low media coverage, a lack of donor interest (as measured

through aid per capita) and a weak political commitment to solve the crisis, resulting in an

insufficient presence of humanitarian actors.

The second phase of the framework focuses on context and response analysis:

• Integrated Analysis Framework (IAF) is an in-depth assessment carried out by European

Commission's humanitarian experts. It consists of a qualitative assessment of humanitarian

needs per single crisis, also taking into account the population affected and foreseeable

trends.

1.2 SCOPE & RATIONALE

7 The European Union aims at being a reference humanitarian donor176, by ensuring that its

interventions are coherent with the humanitarian principles177, are relevant in targeting the

most vulnerable beneficiaries, are duly informed by needs assessments, and promote resilience

building to the extent possible. The Commission also takes the role of – when necessary –

leading, shaping, and coordinating the response to crises, while respecting the overall

coordination role of the UN OCHA.

176 I.e. a principled donor, providing leadership and shaping humanitarian response.

177 Humanity, Impartiality, Neutrality and Independence