European Community Humanitarian aid Office (ECHO) is the European Commission's department for humanitarian aid. In 2007 it provided €768 million (approx. USD 1,100 million) for emergency relief[1].
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Background
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ECHO was established in 1992 by the Second Delors Commission. It comes under the responsibility of the European Commissioner for Development & Humanitarian Aid, formerly Louis Michel. Funding from the office affects 18 million people every year in 60 countries. It spends €700 million a year on humanitarian projects through its over 200 partners (such as the Red Cross, Relief NGOs and UN agencies). It claims a key focus is to make EU aid more effective and humanitarian.[2]
Budget
In 2006, ECHO's aid budget amounted to 671 million euro, 48% of which went to the ACP countries.[3] Together with the aid given by member states individually, the Union is the largest aid donor in the world.[4]
Reform
The former commissioner for aid, Louis Michel, had called for aid to be delivered more rapidly, to greater effect and on humanitarian principles.[4]
Some charities have claimed European governments have inflated the amount they have spent on aid by incorrectly including money spent on debt relief, foreign students and refugees. Under the de-inflated figures, the Union did not reach its internal aid target in 2006.[5]
See also
References
- ^ ECHO Annual Review 2007
- ^ "Humanitarian aid and the European Union". Europa (web portal). http://ec.europa.eu/echo/presentation/background_en.htm. Retrieved 2007-09-23.
- ^ "DG for humanitarian aid - ECHO, financial report 2006" (PDF). European Commission. 2006. http://ec.europa.eu/echo/pdf_files/financial_report.pdf. Retrieved 2007-08-13.
- ^ a b "Commission calls for a European consensus to boost impact of humanitarian aid". European Commission. 2007-06-13. http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/07/814&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en. Retrieved 2007-08-13.
- ^ Taylor, Jerome (2007-05-11). "EU accused of artificially inflating its aid figures". The Independent. http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article2530776.ece. Retrieved 2007-08-13.
External links
- ECHO Website ec.europa.eu
- EU development activities europa.eu
- The EU as a humanitarian actor the-euros.eu
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