RIYADH: European Union crisis management commissioner, Janez Lenarcic urged for wider expansion of the groups of global humanitarian aid donors to create fair and sustainable assistance during his visit to the Delegation of the European Union to Saudi Arabia in Riyadh.
“We need to expand the donor base, the group of donors which at the moment is quite narrow, quite small in the sense that 10 biggest humanitarian donors give more than 80 % of the humanitarian aid globally so this is not entirely fair and sustainable,” Janez Lenarcic, European Union crisis management commissioner told Arab News.
“We believe that others who could do more should do more and assume a greater share of responsibility which is the humanitarian assistance to people who need it” he added.
Lenarcic attended the 3rd Riyadh International Humanitarian Forum that took place on Feb. 20 where he discussed the ‘exploding humanitarian needs’ around the world and the response needed along with the roles of the international donor and humanitarian community.
During his visit, Lenarcic also met with Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, adviser at the Royal Court and supervisor general of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center to discuss issues of common interest related to relief and humanitarian affairs.
“Saudi Arabia is one of the 10 biggest humanitarian donors as is the European Commission, European Union meaning the commission and its member states is the second largest donor of humanitarian aid,” Lenarcic said.
“This being among the largest donors makes us (KS Relief and European Union) naturally allies and collaborators in what we see (as) growing humanitarian needs worldwide and we want to discuss with Saudi Authorities how we can address this growing funding gap and how to encourage others in the region and elsewhere to do more, those who are not yet doing their fair share,” he explained.
During the interview, Lenarcic cited ongoing conflicts as the major source of humanitarian crises.
“We need to work harder to stop the ongoing conflicts and prevent the new ones because the conflicts are still the biggest source of humanitarian crises worldwide, "he said.
Lenarcic also highlighted the European Union’s humanitarian efforts following the earthquake that affected Türkiye and Syria on February 6th.
“This was a very powerful earthquake, once in a century you get such an earthquake,” he said.
“We have immediately received a request for assistance from Turkiye and then two days later also from Syria, we have immediately responded to these requests for assistance through what we call Union Civil Protection Mechanism.”
Established in 2001 by the European Commission, the EU Civil Protection Mechanism strengthens cooperation between the states on civil protection to improve preparedness and response to disasters.
"At the beginning, the request for assistance was about search and rescue teams it was the number one priority because what needed to be done immediately was to save the people that were trapped under the rubble but in parallel both Turkiye and Syra also requested emergency shelter items tents, blankets, beds, heaters."
“We sent medical teams but in parallel we also stepped-up humanitarian assistance in both Turkiye and Syria,” he said.
The commissioner highlighted that among the humanitarian aid actions, the EU activated the European strategic reserve called rescEU to manage emerging risks in both Turkiye and Syria.
“We also activated our emergency humanitarian response capacity which means these are stockpiles that we maintained in several locations in the world. We have mobilized those stockpiles, notably shelter items, and dispatched them to both Syria and Turkiye."
Along with the EU, during the first stages of the earthquake, the Kingdom’s KS Relief was among the largest active donor, with more than 4,200 Saudi medics registered to aid survivors in Turkiye and Syria.
KSrelief Supervisor-General Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeah announced $49 million of aid to help house survivors and provide health care along with establishing an air bridge to send plane-loads of aid to both countries.
