Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-04-08-Speech-2-203"
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"en.20030408.6.2-203"2
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". – As concerns the first strand of the question, that is whether ECHO’s office in Amman is adequate for the current needs of the region, I would like in the first place to clarify the following.
There were also a number of recommendations and specific critical points in this evaluation and we have followed up very actively on the evaluation. We do this with a view to improving the overall quality of ECHO's management of activities, also including the verification of the results. I would like to mention the main ones.
First of all, ECHO has introduced the logical framework approach and promoted the use of standardised performance indicators, to better measure the results and evaluate the impact of its activities wherever possible. This will also stimulate an improvement of the project proposals we get from our implementing partners and we can already see clearly this effect.
ECHO has in parallel increased the supervision and the technical coordination of all the financed activities, notably at field level, by increasing the technical assistance capacity and creating regional support offices, as I just explained regarding the situation in Amman, and also working towards a more standardised basic approach in each sector of intervention, especially in the area of health support.
Another step forward in the improvement of our performance based on lessons learned was the establishment of Strategic Programming Dialogues in order to strengthen cooperation and strategies at operational and policy level. Since 2000, an extensive ever-improving strategic dialogue has been taking place with all major ECHO partners: UN agencies, NGOs and other international organisations.
ECHO has furthermore given increased priority and now prepares better for the interfaces of linking rehabilitation, relief, development and so on, playing a more proactive role, calling for coordination meetings with relevant Commission services and other donors, both at field and headquarters levels. Projects are earmarked with aid phases identifying those operations which can possibly be handed over to development donors, and this whole effort has been quite successful. If we look at East Timor, Kosovo and even Afghanistan, this gradual handing over has been better than in the case of previous conflicts.
In parallel with the introduction of these key elements for improving performance, every year ECHO now presents an evaluation plan by the start of the new budgetary year. Evaluations are thus synchronised with the planning and implementation of all stages of ECHO's operations. Evaluations focus on country operations, on partners and thematic issues. The evaluation plan ensures, on a two-yearly basis, that all major operations are now being evaluated.
A programme of evaluation using external consultants, and focused on ECHO operations, partners' capacity as well as on specific thematic issues, is therefore ongoing. Of particular relevance are the recent evaluations of the UNHCR and the World Food Programme, major international partners which also play a major role in the present crisis in Iraq. The evaluation reports are periodically published on ECHO's website, once Member States have been informed.
Lastly, it should be mentioned that ECHO has also undertaken the implementation of the Commission reform programme. This has positively influenced all administrative and financial aspects of the Commission's work.
ECHO is today in a totally different situation compared to the situation when this Commission came into office. A recent article in
made me think that what was promised by me in the hearing in Parliament in August 1999 has been delivered. ECHO is today, for good reason, a respected player in the game of international humanitarian aid.
Coming to the last part of the question, as regards the existence of an agreement with the United Nations for tackling 'the day after' in Iraq, I recall what the European Council stated on 21 March, that the UN should play a central role during and after the current crisis. My view here is simply that the UN system has a unique – I repeat: unique – legitimacy, mandate, capacity and practical experience in coordinating assistance in post-conflict situations. That is where that discussion should start.
The ECHO office in Amman is the regional hub for the Iraq crisis. This office has recently expanded and now has seven expatriate technical assistants and 10 local staff positions. It covers Iraq and the rest of the Middle East. There is also an antenna in Jerusalem consisting of one expatriate technical assistant and three local-official positions.
Amman was selected as regional hub for this crisis because this office has adequate human and logistic resources to respond immediately to the new needs in the field. The Technical Assistant's role is to assess the situation on the ground, analyse the needs and make recommendations to ECHO. Once aid is approved, the Technical Assistant monitors its implementation on the ground. The Technical Assistant also coordinates with other donors and humanitarian stakeholders.
It must, however, be emphasised that ECHO is not an implementing organisation. The actual delivery of humanitarian aid is undertaken by ECHO's partners. These are international humanitarian organisations, such as the Red Cross, UN agencies and European humanitarian NGOs.
Regular monitoring visits were carried out before the crisis. Three missions from headquarters and the field have visited Iraq since January this year. The main aim of these visits was to prepare for the consequences of what was then a potential crisis. Such visits have now been suspended. ECHO Technical Assistants are currently following the crisis from Amman.
ECHO will restart needs assessment and monitoring missions as soon as security conditions allow. ECHO will then reassess the need to further strengthen its presence on the ground. For the time being, however, ECHO sees its presence as adequate.
As for the viability of a permanent structure in Iraq and in the region, I can already say that, as was done with Afghanistan, ECHO intends to open an office in Baghdad as soon as the security situation improves. This office will be answerable to the regional office in Amman. It is possible that some personnel will be transferred from Amman to Baghdad. ECHO also envisages opening an office in Iran if there are large movements of refugees there.
ECHO Amman is ready to provide operational, logistic and administrative back-up for the future ECHO antenna in Baghdad in the form of staff, equipment, assistance and so on at the outset of a presence there.
As regards the evaluation of ECHO's activities, I would like to recall, in the first place, that an independent broader evaluation of ECHO's functioning carried out in 1999 stated that 'ECHO is currently financing the delivery of humanitarian assistance at least as well as any other organisation, and probably better and in a more cost-efficient manner than any other comparable international organisation'."@en1
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