Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-02-02-Speech-4-122-000"
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"en.20120202.11.4-122-000"2
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"Mr President, humanitarian aid is a very, very important matter. Together, the European Union and its Member States are the world’s largest donor of humanitarian aid. The Directorate General for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection (DG ECHO) administers around 36% of these resources, which, in 2010, amounted to around EUR 1.1 billion. ECHO merely plays a coordinating role in this, while implementation on the ground is generally carried out by partners; this means that NGOs, UN agencies – in some cases – and international organisations are responsible for implementation.
It is undoubtedly important that we continue to focus in future on sustainability and prevention. In the case of disaster preparedness, for example, early warning systems should be built up. In addition, we need to improve the transition phase between humanitarian aid and development aid. Finally, it is also important that the resilience of the local population is strengthened by building up local structures.
The report was adopted with a large majority in committee, and naturally I would be very pleased to see a majority in favour of this report today in plenary.
The fact is that humanitarian aid is intended for the world’s most needy people, and therefore any inefficiency and ineffectiveness costs human lives. That was the starting point for my own-initiative report. After seven years, it is high time that the European Parliament reinvestigated the effectiveness and efficiency of control mechanisms, monitoring mechanisms and, in the final event, the implementation of the aid concerned.
Where cooperation between DG ECHO and the NGOs is concerned, it can be stated that, overall, DG ECHO ensures a very high degree of accountability. Very good continuous dialogue takes place between the NGOs and DG ECHO. Moreover, the 2008 framework partnership agreement has brought definite progress. This is being revised this year, and naturally we should continue along this path. It is also important that we focus in future on reducing administrative expenses.
I am somewhat more critical of our cooperation with the UN. Here, serious shortcomings can be found in the joint budget implementation method as regards reliable control of the management of financial resources.
In my opinion, the ‘single audit’ principle is basically correct. Nonetheless, we have to emphasise transparency. That means, firstly, that the European Parliament should have access to all the UN audit reports. This is not the case at present. In my opinion, the European Parliament is unable to discharge its duties as a control body adequately as a result.
Secondly, the narrative reports sent to the Commission in respect of implementation are worded very vaguely, in my view, where results are concerned. They should contain more substance.
Thirdly, we come to the matter of UN reform. This reform was initiated following the scandal involving the government of North Korea. In respect of transparency and accountability, no progress has yet been made. The Member States surely have a duty to exert more pressure on the UN in this regard.
Where implementation by NGOs is concerned, there are a few weak areas – particularly as regards the contract award procedure of certain NGOs. These are not adequate and, in some cases, NGOs do not have a contract award procedure at all. Internal control mechanisms are also deficient. Although NGOs or partners may also delegate tasks here, they themselves bear the responsibility for how these funds are managed. It is therefore important that there are appropriate internal control mechanisms for this.
There is a strong variation in support costs for similar projects. Perhaps a uniform benchmark ought to be set for projects of a particular type, to rule out this being due to ineffectiveness or inefficiency."@en1
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