The humanitarian challenges: A European Commission's perspective

In the landscape of EU external action, humanitarian aid has become, over the years, a well-established policy. The outgoing EU Development and Humanitarian Aid Commissioner, Karel De Gucht spoke last week on the future of international aid and climate change.

Extract of speech no. /09/581 given by Karel De Gucht, outgoing EU Development and Humanitarian Aid Commissioner at the Annual ECHO Partners Meeting 2009, Brussels, 10 December 2009

"Climate-related disasters are on the increase – threefold over the last decade with weather hazards more violent and deadly than ever before. This will lead to food insecurity and 'climatic migration', and will further exacerbate competition for scarce natural resources and fuel social and political instability. In other words: more suffering and more humanitarian needs.

We also know that the poor in developing countries will be the hardest hit. In the face of these developments, we will need not only to strengthen our activities in the area of disaster risk reduction (DRR) but also to change the way we provide our humanitarian aid.

"Something I would like to be clear on is that disaster risk reduction, very much like climate change, needs to be addressed first and foremost in the framework of development policies. The experience, gained by ECHO in disaster preparedness through its DIPECHO programme, will be invaluable in that respect."