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Voluntary Organisations in Cooperation in Emergencies

VOICE asbl

VOICE is a network of 89 European non-governmental organisations focused on improving humanitarian aid worldwide.

Lobbying Activity

Meeting with Janez Lenarčič (Commissioner)

19 Jul 2024 · Meeting the newly appointed VOICE President Ms Pauline Chetcuti

Meeting with Martina Krobath (Cabinet of Commissioner Johannes Hahn), Sibylle Bikar (Cabinet of Commissioner Johannes Hahn) and

23 Jun 2023 · Discussion with network of Civil society organisations on mid-term review of the Multiannual Financial Framework.

Meeting with Ilan De Basso (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur for opinion)

13 Apr 2023 · Möte

Meeting with Jasna Pajnkihar (Cabinet of Commissioner Janez Lenarčič), Kim-Tobias Eling (Cabinet of Commissioner Janez Lenarčič)

1 Mar 2023 · European Humanitarian Forum; EU humanitarian aid policy; emergency response in current crises

Meeting with Hanna Jahns (Cabinet of Commissioner Johannes Hahn)

8 Feb 2023 · Opportunities and challenges for the EU’s humanitarian finance

Meeting with Jasna Pajnkihar (Cabinet of Commissioner Janez Lenarčič), Kim-Tobias Eling (Cabinet of Commissioner Janez Lenarčič)

1 Dec 2022 · European Humanitarian Forum; resource base for humanitarian action; humanitarian space

Meeting with Kim-Tobias Eling (Cabinet of Commissioner Janez Lenarčič)

13 Oct 2021 · follow-up to 2021 Commission Communication on Humanitarian Action

Meeting with Kim-Tobias Eling (Cabinet of Commissioner Janez Lenarčič) and Médecins Sans Frontières International

11 Feb 2021 · EU humanitarian aid in the context of Covid-19

Meeting with Kim-Tobias Eling (Cabinet of Commissioner Janez Lenarčič)

4 Feb 2021 · EU humanitarian aid

Meeting with Paraskevi Michou (Director-General European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations)

10 Dec 2020 · First opportunity for DG Michou to meet with all Members of VOICE in the margins of the VOICE General Assembly. Presentation and exchange of views on a series of topics of interest for VOICE members.

Meeting with Mateja Munda (Cabinet of Commissioner Janez Lenarčič)

17 Nov 2020 · Humanitarian aid budget

Meeting with Kim-Tobias Eling (Cabinet of Commissioner Janez Lenarčič)

2 Sept 2020 · Humanitarian aid

Meeting with Natalie Pauwels (Cabinet of Commissioner Janez Lenarčič)

4 Aug 2020 · Humanitarian aid

Meeting with Kim-Tobias Eling (Cabinet of Commissioner Janez Lenarčič)

13 Jul 2020 · Humanitarian aid / impact of Covid-19

Meeting with Janez Lenarčič (Commissioner) and

4 Jun 2020 · Impact of COVID-19 crisis on humanitarian NGOs and the prospects for the "after crisis"

Meeting with Kim-Tobias Eling (Cabinet of Commissioner Janez Lenarčič)

3 Jun 2020 · EU humanitarian aid; humanitarian-development nexus

Meeting with Paraskevi Michou (Director-General European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations)

8 May 2020 · Curtesy call, introduction of the network its work and relevance of their work for DG ECHO and its partners

Meeting with Kim-Tobias Eling (Cabinet of Commissioner Janez Lenarčič)

6 Apr 2020 · Humanitarian aid and Covid-19

Meeting with Kim-Tobias Eling (Cabinet of Commissioner Janez Lenarčič)

10 Jan 2020 · Humanitarian aid and humanitarian-development nexus

Response to Evaluation of EU’s emergency trust fund for stability and addressing root causes of migration in Africa

6 Dec 2018

VOICE (Voluntary Organisations in Cooperation in Emergencies) is a network representing 86 European NGOs active in humanitarian aid worldwide. VOICE is the main NGO interlocutor with the European Union on emergency aid and disaster risk reduction and it promotes the values of NGOs working in humanitarian action. Many of VOICE members are multi-mandated organisations (active in emergency responses, resilience building activities and longer term development programmes) and have implemented projects funded by the EU Trust Funds, including the Emergency trust fund for stability and addressing root causes of migration in Africa. VOICE has conducted two surveys amongst its members in October 2016 and September 2018, assessing the relevance and functioning of EU Trust Funds, and contributed to a number of studies, assessment and research papers on the subject. The VOICE network welcomes the evaluation on the Trust Fund for Africa and the present roadmap. Building on its members’ experience with this Trust Fund, VOICE would like to share the following the remarks: - On the scope of the evaluation: The VOICE network would also recommend examining the governance of the TF, the roles and mandates of the different stakeholders involved, in particular for member states and their agencies, including in relation to the quality of the project selection process. In addition, VOICE welcomes the focus on demonstrated additionality of the EUTF / added value compared to traditional EU financing instruments. In this regard, the contracting processes should also be looked at, so as to better analyse whether the TF allows to address evolving needs swiftly enough and to facilitate the transition from humanitarian aid to development cooperation. - Regarding stakeholders to be consulted: as part of the EU stakeholders to be consulted, VOICE would consider the European Parliament to be an important one given the substantial work done by this institution on the Trust Fund, including recently with the Study commissioned on the management of the EU Trust Funds and the Turkey Facility (CEPS study). In this sense, we would also recommend involving think tanks and research centres working on the subject, which may have already done a valuable work in gathering different lessons learned and recommendations, possibly through an Open Public Consultation.
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Meeting with Christos Stylianides (Commissioner) and

13 Sept 2018 · VOICE/ECHO Partnership & Challenges

Response to Multiannual Financial Framework: Proposal for the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument

16 Aug 2018

VOICE (Voluntary Organisations in Cooperation in Emergencies) is the network representing 86 European NGOs active in humanitarian aid worldwide, most of them holding a Framework Partnership Agreement (FPA) with DG ECHO. VOICE is the main NGO interlocutor with the European Union institutions on emergency aid and disaster risk reduction. VOICE activities primarily focus on humanitarian aid and the network welcomes the EC’s MFF Proposal maintaining a separate instrument to provide assistance to people in need natural or man-made crises worldwide. Nonetheless, in the current context of multiple protracted crises absorbing a large part of humanitarian assistance funding and of climate change and the need for climate adaptation, VOICE considers that complementarity between the EU’s humanitarian and development instruments is crucial. That is why the following feedback is shared on the proposed NDICI. 1) The NDICI should provide predictable funding and a community based approach for Disaster Risk Reduction and Preparedness In the context of climate change and the need for climate adaptation, Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Preparedness are crucial. DRR prevents the loss of lives and human suffering, and helps to preserve results achieved through development cooperation and to reduce the need for emergency responses. The EU played a key role in the negotiations of the Sendai Framework for DRR 2015-2030 with a unified and persistent position for an ambitious framework. The VOICE network welcomes that the proposed NDICI regulation, includes the Sendai Framework as a reference point and mainstreams DRR in the geographic and thematic pillars. DRR is an integral part of resilience and the humanitarian-development nexus. Investment in DRR should ideally happen before a disaster strikes rather than only as part of building back better. In line with the EU’s approach to resilience, risk, vulnerability and capacity analysis and a community-based approach, must be at the heart of the EU’s efforts. Therefore, DRR and preparedness should not only be mainstreamed in the new regulation, but also matched with corresponding and predictable investments and programming. 2) The NDICI should financially support Linking Relief, Rehabilitation and Development (LRRD). The pillar for rapid response actions foreseen in the NDICI presents some potential to bridge between development and humanitarian assistance - provided that: - rapid response does not imply only short- term/sighted solutions: coordination and complementarity between actions funded under this pillar and development programming in the other pillars must be ensured, - people’s needs remain at the heart of the approach: the decision-making should be guided by operational constraints and needs rather than driven by the EU’s own political needs, - the humanitarian expertise of ECHO and its partners feeds into the decision-making of the rapid response actions in order for humanitarian principles to be fully upheld. The EU’s commitment to LRRD has been renewed with the impetus on the humanitarian-development nexus. Implementing the nexus requires ensuring complementarity of development and humanitarian activities, and a culture shift from the EU as a donor, towards more operational flexibility and risk taking to support LRRD, people and their communities’ resilience, early recovery and reconstruction. NGOs have seen opportunities lost due to a lack of suitable and flexible financial instruments – the NDICI provides an opportunity to address this, including beyond the pillar for rapid response actions. For example, the systematic introduction of crisis modifiers in development activities funded by the NDICI would effectively contribute to the nexus implementation.
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Response to Resilience as a strategic priority of the external action of the EU

23 Mar 2017

1. Key messages The EU has a number of normative bases for its work on resilience, including the Lisbon Treaty provisions on the objectives of development and humanitarian assistance, the EU’s commitment to human rights and the respective regulations to implement those, such as the Humanitarian Aid regulation. The EU’s humanitarian aid is guided by the European Consensus on Humanitarian Aid. This has been reflected in a number of policy commitments, including the EU’s WHS Commitments, the respective Council conclusions, and the 2013 Joint Communication on a Comprehensive Approach to conflicts and crises. → The new Communication on Resilience should reiterate in particular that: • the EU’s humanitarian aid will not be used as a crisis management tool and state that a resilience objective may not override the humanitarian imperative and the need to respect humanitarian principles. • the needs-basis of humanitarian assistance and corresponding funding allocations will be respected, rather than re-oriented towards the areas of immediate concern for the EU’s own interests, such as security or tackling migration. • the EU will maintain its current commitment to resilience, through ensuring full implementation of its Action Plan 2013-2020. • the Resilience agenda of the EU will be mainly driven by development actors given its intrinsic links with the Agenda 2030 and the need for longer-term programming. To support this, the EU will promote a people centred, context-based and flexible approach to resilience. The importance of building resilience is internationally recognised by the Post-2015 Global Frameworks, especially the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR), Agenda2030, the Paris Agreement and the Agenda for Humanity commitments taken during the WHS. In follow-up of the World Humanitarian Summit: the concept of resilience helps towards having humanitarian, development and peacebuilding complementing each other better and ensuring better assistance for crisis-affected people. This Communication offers an opportunity to build on those international commitments and agreements: → The EU should push for more coherence and complementarity in the definition and collection of indicators to implement those frameworks. The EU has undertaken a number of its own policy initiatives to implement those commitments, such as the Implementation Plan for the SFDRR, the 2016 Lives in Dignity Communication, the upcoming Consensus on Development, and an increase in attention to education in emergencies. → This Communication should take stock of these EU initiatives, and as appropriate, they should be reflected in this Communication.
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Meeting with Christos Stylianides (Commissioner)

18 Oct 2016 · Greece, Turkey

Meeting with Mathieu Briens (Cabinet of Commissioner Christos Stylianides)

31 May 2016 · Discussion of the preparation of the Resilience Forum

Meeting with Kim-Tobias Eling (Cabinet of Commissioner Christos Stylianides)

28 Jan 2016 · Humanitarian Aid Policy/WHS

Meeting with Monique Pariat (Director-General European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations)

8 Oct 2015 · ECHO cooperation with VOICE members and ECHO Partners Conference

Meeting with Kim-Tobias Eling (Cabinet of Commissioner Christos Stylianides)

27 Jan 2015 · EU Humanitarian Assistance Policy

Meeting with Christos Stylianides (Commissioner)

20 Jan 2015 · Overall humanitarian issues