INSPIRE consortium: Policy development for European Union’s humanitarian aid department (DG ECHO)
Context
The European Union (Member States and Commission), which is the largest humanitarian donor in the world, is at the forefront in developing effective policies to ensure its humanitarian assistance has lasting impact and to provide its many partners with guidance.
With the context of humanitarian action changing rapidly over the past years, good humanitarian policies are needed to respond to a fast-changing environment. The increasing scale of humanitarian needs requires the most effective use of the limited resources available. At the same time, the complexity and volatility of humanitarian contexts call for continuous, in-depth analysis to assess the effects of the current mode of action, identify good practices and improve the quality of aid. In short, there is a constant need to develop, review and adapt humanitarian policies in virtually all areas ranging from food assistance to water and sanitation and across issues such as gender, protection and humanitarian coordination.
The project
The European Union’s humanitarian aid department, DG ECHO, has selected Groupe URD, together with the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) and Instituto de Estudios sobre Conflictos y Acción humanitaria (IECAH) through an open call for tender, to support (DG ECHO) in developing and implementing policies through research, workshop facilitation and the dissemination of results.
The three leading European institutions in the humanitarian sector have founded the INSPIRE consortium for this purpose. The consortium is coordinated by Groupe URD and will provide DG ECHO with advice and expertise on critical humanitarian issues and assist in shaping its humanitarian policies throughout 2012. The consortium will develop humanitarian policies in close consultation with DG ECHO, its partners and beneficiaries on a variety of issues such as gender, food assistance, civil-military relations, protection and linking relief rehabilitation and development.
The project will begin by assessing the current status of DG ECHO’s humanitarian policies before drawing up a detailed plan of action. After the initial needs assessment has been carried out, the Consortium will provide DG ECHO with support in developing policies and disseminating them through research, studies, methodological work, workshops, training and an IT-based knowledge management platform.
For more information, please contact Véronique de Geoffroy.
