Activities of Carlos ZORRINHO related to 2023/2000(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Innovative humanitarian aid strategy: spotlight on current and forgotten crises (short presentation)
Reports (1)
REPORT on how to build an innovative humanitarian aid strategy: spotlight on current and forgotten crises
Amendments (29)
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 9 a (new)
Citation 9 a (new)
– having regard the Humanitarian Partnership 2021-2027 and its goal to improving the effectiveness and efficiency of humanitarian aid;
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 14 a (new)
Citation 14 a (new)
– having regard to the UN Security Council Resolution 2664 (2022) on a Humanitarian Exemption to asset freeze measures imposed by United Nations Sanctions Regimes;
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 15
Citation 15
– having regard to the Grand Bargain agreement signed on 23 May 2016, to the annual independent reports thereon, in particular the 2021 report, and to the Grand Bargain 2.0 framework and the annexes thereto presented at the Grand Bargain annual meeting of 15-17 June 2021, as well as the renewed commitments at the Grand Bargain annual meeting of 19-20 June 2023;
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 17 a (new)
Citation 17 a (new)
– having regard to the Climate and Environment Charter for humanitarian organizations and the Donors’ Declaration on climate and the environment of March 2022;
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas humanitarian crises are becoming more protracted and complex, and are causing global spillover effects; whereas increasing numbers of conflicts, climate change hazards and their impacts and the COVID-19 pandemic have created more economic vulnerability and displacement, resulting in even greater needs; whereas these crises have significantly risen inequalities;
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas innovative structural solutions are needed to address global humanitarian challenges and ensuring the humanitarian system is more agile, prepared for and responsive to humanitarian crisis, more gender- inclusive, locally-led and accountable; whereas these solutions should focus on ensuring sufficient and quality funding, implementing effectively the humanitarian- development-peace nexus (triple nexus) approach and creating an enabling humanitarian environment for humanitarian workers and organisations; whereas efforts to address current and future humanitarian challenges must be guided by a people-centred approach, especially with regard to women, children and persons with disabilities; whereas the role and participation of local actors and first responders in humanitarian responses must be recognised and supported; whereas it is estimated that over 40% of the half a million humanitarian workers who provide frontline care during emergencies, wars and disasters, are women;
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Calls urgently on the Commission and the Member States to substantially increase their humanitarian aid budgets to respond to humanitarian needs, which are at a record high, without compromising on the development budget; reiterates its call on the Member States to allocate a fixed share of their gross national incomes to humanitarian aid; supports, in this regard, the Council conclusions of 22 May 2023 encouraging the Member States to devote 10 % of their official development assistance to humanitarian action and calls for their swift implementation; calls on the Commission and Member States to set ambitious targets and to create roadmaps for gradually increasing official development assistance to meet the final target;
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Notes that closing the funding gap is a global responsibility; reiterates, therefore, the need to expand the humanitarian resource base by promoting the greater involvement of non-traditional donor countries with major economic potential and by mobilising private funding, accompanied by follow-up mechanisms, in full respect of humanitarian principles; of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence;
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Is concerned about the imbalances in funding between crises and within sectors and warns of the consequences of chronic underfunding on the most vulnerable; notes that in 2022, only 27.7 % of the humanitarian appeal for El Salvador was funded compared to 94.5 % of the humanitarian appeal for the Central African Republic, reflecting that funding imbalances can result in some appeals receiving as much as three times more funding than others; notes the critical and continuous underfunding of the protection and gender based violence sectors, which highly impacts on access to services of people in need; calls for more equitable, needs-based distribution of funding to ensure that no one is left behind; calls on the Commission to develop a more harmonised approach to forgotten crises and to report on its commitment to allocate 15 % of its initial annual humanitarian budget to forgotten crises and prevent the transfer of resources from already underfunded crises; calls on the Council to better coordinate the Member States’ attention and support for these crises;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to support and implement the G7 foreign ministers statement on anticipatory action and invest an increased part of the humanitarian funding for early warning and anticipatory action ; invites the Commission and the Member States to strengthen existing and currently developed early warning systems (IPC, FEWSNET and local ones) to enhance and disseminate the evidence base for a political warning and triggering of an adequate government, donor and partner response to prevent IPC 2 levels deteriorating into IPC 3, 4 or 5;
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to provide more quality funding through flexible, unearmarked, softly earmarked and multiannual funding that is tailored to local contexts, prioritising protracted crises where predictability is critical, needs-based and people-centred; highlights the need to harmonise and simplify donors’ contracting procedures; applications, contracting, grants management and reporting procedures; calls on the Commission and Member States to allocate increased direct funding to NGOs who are able to more efficiently and cost-effectively utilise funding; calls for greater transparency regarding the recipients and amounts of funding on the ECHO website;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Welcomes the Commission commitment to allocate 25% of humanitarian funding to local and national actors and responders; calls on the EC and Member States to monitor and report on the implementation of this commitment;
Amendment 80 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Notes that the triple nexus is key to addressing context-specific needs in complex and protracted crises, and in building resilience to future crises, in order to improve coherence and complementary of responses in line with humanitarian principles; insists on more visibilitynexus-specific funding, visibility, coordination, and knowledge-sharing among stakeholders when applying the triple nexus approach, including through better involvement of local actors;
Amendment 85 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Calls on the Commission to ensure the effective implementation of the triple nexus across its policies and structures and to regularly report on its implementation; calls for the promotion of more joint assessments, analysis and planning across different funding instruments, especially at country level; notes the potential of the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation – Global Europe instrument (NDICI-GE) to put the triple nexus approach into practice; calls for better coordination between the Commission’s Directorate-General for International Partnerships and, the Directorate- General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations and the European External Action Service in implementing the rapid response pillar of NDICI-GE, in order to ensure that their responses complement one another;
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Calls on the Commission to respond to and implement the recommendations from the INTPA- commissioned study on the nexus entitled “HDP nexus: challenges and opportunities for its implementation,” particularly on the recommendation to monitor the implementation of the nexus across the relevant services;
Amendment 101 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Calls for climate funding to be scaled up in order to prevent, mitigate and respond to the alarming impact of climate change on humanitarian crises; is concerned that NDICI-GE expenditure with a climate objective falls far short of the commitment that such expenditure should represent 30 % of NDICI-GE’s overall financial envelope; calls on the Commission to scale this up without delay, focusing in particular on locally-led adaptation in least developed countries;
Amendment 107 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Stresses the need to localise disaster risk reduction, climate preparedness, adaptation and response, build, recognise and utilise the capacities of local actors and communities and ensure the climate resilience of the most vulnerable groups;
Amendment 109 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Calls for donors and Member States to adopt and implement the Humanitarian Aid Donors’ Declaration on Climate and the Environment by increasing their funding for disaster prevention, preparedness, anticipatory action, and response; calls for humanitarian actors to sign onto and implement the Climate Charter for humanitarian organisations, to maximise the environmental sustainability of their work;
Amendment 114 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Stresses the importance of building human resilience by enhancing protection and minimizing the risks people face in a crisis and ensuring full respect of their rights while supporting access to education and health services and pre-crisis capacity building; emphasises the need to involve the affected people and local communities inand local/national humanitarian actors in coordination structures, implementing early warning systems, conducting needs assessments and determining and monitoring the humanitarian response;
Amendment 118 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12a. Highlights the role and importance of local formal and informal civil society organisations in the humanitarian response; calls on the Commission and Member States to guarantee their inclusion and participation in all processes in line with the Guidelines on Promoting Equitable Partnerships with Local Responders in Humanitarian Settings published by the Commission;
Amendment 123 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Asks the Commission to better address the needs of vulnerable groups in humanitarian responses, including minorities, children, women, the elderly, and particularly persons with disabilities and intersectional vulnerabilities; encourages the use of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s disability marker to track the progress made in humanitarian action; calls on the Commission to support the External Action Service in order to update the EU guidelines on children and armed conflict and ensure their implementation;
Amendment 129 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Notes that the number of forcibly displaced persons worldwide is at a record high; calls for the EU and the global community to support refugees, internally displaced people and their host communities, including those forced to flee due the impacts of climate change, and to work for durable solutions, in particular in forgotten crises; calls on the Commission and Member States to report on and reiterate the commitments made under the Global Compact for Refugees to ensure that the global responsibility to host refugees is shared more fairly;
Amendment 132 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. Underlines that existing structural gender inequalities are exacerbated during crises and that therefore, women and girls, as well as the most marginalised groups that suffer different and intersecting forms of discrimination are disproportionately affected by conflicts, natural disasters or climate change hazards; deplores the increase in gender- based violence in humanitarian settings and stresses the need to prevent it; underlines that the specific needs and rights of these groups should be addressed in all humanitarian responses;
Amendment 137 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Calls for the EU and the Member States to take positive action on gender mainstreaming in humanitarian action, given that women and girls are the most likely victims of conflicts and natural disasters but also agents of change; underlines the need to accelerate the implementation of the EU Gender Action Plan; deplores the increase in gender-based violence in humanitarian settings and stresses the need to prevent it;
Amendment 145 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Insists on the need to reinforce the centrality and protection of international humanitarian law, international human rights law and humanitarian principles in the EU’s external action; invites the Commission to develop a humanitarian diplomacy strategy together with the Member States, ensuring that this strategy advocates the protection of civilians, compliance with international humanitarian law and respect for humanitarian principles;
Amendment 147 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16a. Calls on the European Union and the Member States to use all of their political influence to promote and uphold IHL, protect civilians and support humanitarian access to allow disaster affected people to access humanitarian aid as civilians must be better protected and not become intentional, accidental, or collateral victims of conflicts;
Amendment 152 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Strongly condemns war crimes and serious violations of international humanitarian law; calls for all perpetrators to be held accountable and for victims to receive reparations; deplores the rise in attacks on civilians, humanitarian personneland medical personnel and critical infrastructure, inlcuding hospitals and schools, worldwide and insists on the need to increase protection measures for civilians, humanitarian and medical workers, critical infrastructures and preventing sexual exploitation and abuse within the humanitarian workers; condemns discriminatory policies, such as the ban on female humanitarian workers in Afghanistan;
Amendment 162 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Welcomes the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 2664 (201622) introducing a humanitarian exemption in UN sanction regimes; calls for the EU to further align with the global standard set by UN Security Council Resolution 2664 (2016) and to22); calls the Commission to carry out analysis of the impact of sanctions on the delivery of humanitarian aid and subsequently adopt standing humanitarian exemptions in its autonomous sanction regimes in order to facilitate humanitarian activities in contexts affected by armed conflict, as required by international humanitarian law; furthermore insists on the need to include a standing humanitarian exemption in the future Directive on the definition of criminal offences and penalties for the violation of Union restrictive measures in order to ensure that humanitarian activities are not criminalized under EU sanction regimes and that humanitarian workers are protected in the contexts where EU sanctions apply; calls on the European Commission to work closely with financial institutions and humanitarian actors to ensure that administrative barriers including de-risking over- compliance are addressed to enable the delivery of humanitarian aid;
Amendment 174 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Underlines the importance of supporting local actors in line with the Grand Bargain commitment to making principled humanitarian action as local as possible; invitpraises the Commission and the Member States to furole that local and national organisations and first responders play in humanitarian responses and the support they provide to people in the most acute needs; welcomes the EC guidance note on equitable parthner developships and ECHO’s commitment to advance their localisation strategies in close collaboration with humanitarian partners, and to ensure an adequate sharing of riskagenda in the Grand Bargain discussions; calls on the European Commission and Member States for the full and meaningful implementation of the commitments enshrined in guidance note, ensuring accountability for the commitments made, a proper support to its partners as well as a fair sharing of risks with intermediate and local partner organisations;