Edito

The European consensus on humanitarian aid has already been collectively signed by the Council and the government representatives of the member states, by the European Parliament and by the European Commission on December 18th 2007. The statement made on that occasion by Louis Michel, the European commissioner in charge of development and humanitarian aid, is very clear: « In order to be able to provide aid under very difficult circumstances, it is necessary to develop a strong partnership as well as good contacts with the international community, especially with the United Nations, the Red Cross movement and the NGOs active in the humanitarian sector. The local infrastructures are also essential to save lives and limit sufferings. » The first phase of the consensus is also unequivocal: « Humanitarian aid is a moral imperative and the fundamental expression of the universal value of solidarity among people. ».
However, humanitarian aid has always to face a permanent lack of funding.
The most striking example is Darfur, where all our proposals expressing the financial needs necessary to provide for the basic needs of war victims are coming up against the weariness on the part of some decision-makers, who even point out to us that we get bogged down, that the situation is stagnant, that the number of displaced people is always as high as before!
Our role is precisely to interfere when the governments can not or do not want to take care of these populations who are bearing the consequences of the politics they initiated.
The same logic, applied in our country to the emergency department which budget would be maintained only on the condition that the number of interventions decreases, would that be acceptable?
Our missions in Burma are also hard to finance, some considering that – because of the political situation - it is almost indecent to interfere there.
Of course our reading is very different and is motivated by the necessity to act.
The world financial crisis currently influences the funding of our actions, and the humanitarian intervention could turn into a purely technical action, only based on logistic activities making financial reports more « readable ».
Therefore it is our duty to campaign for international solidarity not to be submitted to the market rules, and, fortunately, the European Consensus on humanitarian aid is there to confirm us in our convictions.