REACTIVE STATEMENT : EU Communication on Humanitarian Action

The European Commission has adopted its Communication “Defending values, driving reform, delivering impact: the EU’s humanitarian action in a shifting global order”, alongside three Staff Working Documents (SWDs) on Humanitarian Diplomacy, Humanitarian Supply Chains, and an Integrated Approach to Fragility, a significant policy framework intended to guide the EU’s humanitarian engagement over the coming years.  Médecins du Monde welcomes the European Commission’s Communication as an important political signal that humanitarian aid remains a strategic priority for the European Union at a time of erosion of respect for international humanitarian law, shrinking funds and humanitarian space, and rising conflicts and fragility.

One of the most substantive contributions of the Communication is its clear framing of humanitarian diplomacy and its unambiguous emphasis on International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and the protection of humanitarian workers. In a period marked by alarming rates of attacks on civilians and aid workers and deliberate obstruction of humanitarian access, this political reaffirmation is most welcomed. The EU’s commitment to supporting risk management, security systems and direct care for humanitarian workers is a step in the right direction as well. To further strengthen this commitment, we would encourage the EU to develop a more coherent framework for addressing disinformation and harmful narratives, which constitute a growing threat to the humanitarian space, and which the Communication does not yet address in a sufficiently comprehensive way.

The Communication includes a notably strong commitment to Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) in humanitarian settings, an area that has been subject to significant political pressure globally, including from the current US administration. Full access to quality and affordable SRHR (including modern contraception, maternal healthcare, prevention of sexually transmitted infections and safe abortion) is fundamental to building societies where everyone can live healthy lives, enjoy true equality and participate fully in education, work and political life. The introduction of the SHIELD initiative (Sexual and Reproductive Health in Emergencies and Life in Dignity) is a concrete and encouraging development. To realise its full potential, an explicit reference to sexual and reproductive rights should be incorporated to underline strong political support, alongside further clarity on its governance structure, funding envelope and operational modalities although a clear mention to rights is lacking.

The reaffirmation of the EU’s engagement in fragile and conflict-affected settings as a strategic priority is equally positive, with a direct mention to the OECD definition of fragility. The commitment to flexible and multi-year funding, particularly in protracted crises, is key to ensuring predictability, as is the continued contribution to a diversity of pooled funds. As the EU deepens its engagement with pooled mechanisms, it must ensure that governance, partner selection and design processes remain transparent, principled and free from political conditionalities that could compromise humanitarian independence.

Localisation only be meaningful when bureaucratic barriers are dismantled and access to funding is streamlined. Thus the Commission’s commitment to simplifying reporting requirements for local responders is very welcome. Similarly, localisation efforts must be accompanied by fair risk management procedures ensuring that local organisations, do not bear a disproportionate share of the risk. At the same time, we would encourage the Communication to more explicitly recognise the role of international NGOs as valuable and complementary members of the humanitarian system. INGOs play a critical role in bridging local and global responses, connecting local and international civil society movements, and ensuring principled humanitarian action in the most complex and hard-to-reach contexts in complementarity with local actors. The EU should support and invest genuine partnerships between local and international civil society organisations, and ensure that local actors are always at the centre of humanitarian response decision mechanisms.

The emphasis on private sector investment, including artificial intelligence as tools for greater efficiency reflects a broader trend in EU policy toward competitiveness, including in the humanitarian space. While certain private sector partnerships can bring added value in specific contexts (e.g., logistics, supply chains), the framing risks normalising a transactional approach to humanitarian action that prioritises cost-efficiency over principled response in sector that are not intended to generate profit by nature. The use of AI in humanitarian operations (e.g., data analysis, needs assessments), raises serious questions regarding accountability, data protection, and the concentration of technological power in a small number of private actors, therefore the translation of this into programming should be under great scrutiny. In the same spirit, any EU-supported data-sharing framework among humanitarian actors should be built on strong governance, meaningful consent, data protection principles, and effective protection against misuse. In contexts where humanitarian data can be accessed by state security actors or used for population surveillance, the risks of data-sharing are substantial.

For the EU to translate these commitments into meaningful impact, coherent implementation, sustained political will and adequate financing are essential. Throughout this process, the EU must ensure that its humanitarian action remains principled, upholding human rights in all its programming, including sexual and reproductive health and rights, at a time when these are under unprecedented pressure globally. As an immediate step, the Communication should be backed by Council Conclusions to ensure Member State ownership and political accountability. Negotiations on the next Multiannual Financial Framework, particularly the Global Europe Instrument, will be the true test of the EU’s humanitarian ambition. Specifically on the MFF, Médecins du Monde calls for:

• A humanitarian envelope of at least 25 billion euros under the next MFF;
• At least 20% of the GEI dedicated to non-programmable actions, preserving flexibility to respond to sudden-onset crises;
• The reinstatement of minimum spending targets for Least Developed Countries and Fragile and Conflict-Affected States;
• The ring-fencing of the Emergencies challenges and priorities cushion to preserve the EU rapid response capacity by ring-fencing and guarantee that humanitarian action’s priority access to it;
• Multi-year, predictable funding commitments that allow humanitarian organisations to plan and deliver effectively;
• Direct grants remaining central to EU external action, with direct funding guaranteed for local NGOs, particularly in low-income and fragile settings