European Voluntary Humanitarian Aid Corps - 4000 volunteers to be deployed in disaster-hit countries

Michèle Striffler MEP, first Vice-Chairwoman of the European Parliament’s Development Committee, has welcomed the adoption by a large majority of the European Parliament of her legislative Report establishing the European Voluntary Humanitarian Aid Corps (EU Aid Volunteers), one of the innovations of the Lisbon Treaty.

"With this vote, MEPs have sent a strong signal of support for this important initiative that will provide European citizens with new concrete opportunities to act in the humanitarian sphere. Solidarity constitutes a fundamental value of the EU", declared Striffler, permanent Rapporteur for humanitarian aid.

"I am confident that this initiative, whose budget will be about €148m for the period 2014-2020, will be successful in helping the most vulnerable people.

The EU Aid Volunteers will bring real added-value to the EU's humanitarian activity and their deployment will be done through humanitarian organisations certified by the European Commission as meeting the European standards of volunteer management in humanitarian projects.

Similarly, each mission will be organised according to the actual needs identified on the ground in order to ensure support to the most vulnerable people.

"Every European citizen - young, expert, retired – could be a candidate and put their expertise and energy at the service of people affected by disasters. For the period 2014-2020, around 4000 volunteers will be deployed in countries affected by a disaster", concluded the MEP.

To ensure the effectiveness of the European Voluntary Humanitarian Aid Corps, the European Commission will draw up an interim evaluation report in the coming years to assess the impact of the volunteers' work in the field and the programme's cost-effectiveness.