Mesures prises:
In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Fundamental Principles of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement – humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity and universality – in 2015 and recognising their continued value, the EU Member States and the National Red Cross Societies pledge to co-operate and utilise the Fundamental Principles, as appropriate, in promoting mutual respect, non-violence and social inclusion, including through the provision of volunteering opportunities and educational activities which foster these humanitarian principles.
Adherence to the Fundamental Principles of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement continued to be the cornerstone of the EU and its Member States’ humanitarian assistance and the fundamental reference for their efforts in making the international humanitarian system more efficient and more effective. The EU and its Member States continued to promote the application of the Fundamental Principles in the framework of their activities aimed at the dissemination of international humanitarian law. In particular, they upheld these principles through cooperation with the respective national Red Cross Movements. Their engagement focussed mainly on volunteering and educational aspects.
As envisaged by the Treaty of Lisbon, the European Union established the EU Aid Volunteers initiative. Implementation started in 2015 with the establishment of a certification mechanism for participating organisations, the launch of first calls for proposals and the setup of the training programme for candidate volunteers. The programme aims to strengthen the EU’s ability to provide needs-based humanitarian aid and to strengthen the capacity and resilience of vulnerable or disaster affected communities in non-EU countries. At the same time, it allows European citizens to show solidarity with people in need by taking part in humanitarian actions in these countries.
The actions under the EU Aid Volunteers initiative are conducted in compliance with the humanitarian aid principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence and with the European Consensus on Humanitarian Aid. The actions are based on the humanitarian needs of local communities, promote transnational partnerships of organisations and have as a priority the safety and security of the EU Aid volunteers.
Progress on the EU Aid Volunteers initiative is marked by an increasing number of EU Aid Volunteers being deployed to third countries (nearly 400 have been deployed in 2017/2018 and more than 350 will be deployed in 2019), more than 200 organisations certified and 40 projects funded for capacity building and technical assistance for organisations.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and the National Red Cross Societies are actively involved and implement projects funded by the EU Aid Volunteers initiative.
