The EU: an international humanitarian actor in turbulent times

Abstract

The humanitarian aid sector is facing an unprecedented organizational crisis: funds are stagnating (in some cases decreasing for historic donors) and the needs are skyrocketing. Simultaneously, a growing geopoliticization of the aid is slowing shading core principles such as neutrality or independence. The EU, member states included, is one of the biggest donors, intervening in a variety of crises around the globe. Yet, these turbulent times put further pressure upon donors in their daily decision-making processes. This is also true for implementing partners that must face daily cut in funding while maintaining projects in the field. With the void left by Trump’s decision on USAID’s funding cuts, focus is now turning towards the EU as the reliable humanitarian partner in a fragmented world, alongside new unconventional donors. Scholarly, the EU as a humanitarian international donor still remains understudied. This is particularly accurate considering recent events mentioned previously. This panel therefore analyses the EU as an international humanitarian actor, collaborating with a variety of actors (NGOs, IOs, CSOs, etc.) in turbulent times. It does so by exploring recent processes of funding decisions and partnering (both with implementing partners and third-country donors), the rationales behind such decisions, and the outcome for recipients in the field. This panel will also explore envisaged or planned reforms (localization of the aid, triple nexuses, new indexes, …) to answer to the contemporary international context. It addresses questions such as: how does the EU respond to the growing funding gap? How do EU member states fit in the EU’s humanitarian strategy? How will the EU humanitarian aid network react to these turbulent times? Will the EU adapt its decision-making process and budget (e.g. new MFF)? What rationales will be put forward if so? What consequences for implementing partners and recipients in the field? How can the EU position itself to remain a central humanitarian actor? The goal is to provide valuable insights on the EU as an international humanitarian actor across various streams (funding decisions, partnering, advocacy, the EU in local contexts, etc). Both quantitative and qualitative research designs are encouraged.

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