News

The European Humanitarian Forum 2023 was held in Brussels on 20 and 21 March. The VOICE network, Board of Directors and NGO members, successfully managed to make their voices heard in many of the high-level panels and Humanitarian Talks.

In this article, we give an overview of all the high-level panels and Humanitarian Talks in which the VOICE network and its NGO members will participate.

VOICE President Dominic Crowley was interviewed by Défis Humanitaires ahead of the European Humanitarian Forum.

Türkiye and Syria earthquake on 6 February has had a devastating impact on the area. Humanitarian NGOs are on the ground, providing life-saving aid.

This article highlights the main priorities of the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU regarding humanitarian aid and the work programme for COHAFA.

This article presents the main aims of the second edition of the European Humanitarian Forum and highlights the role of VOICE in the upcoming Forum.

This article summarises the advocacy efforts of VOICE regarding EU humanitarian funding. On the one hand towards the revision of the MMF and on the other towards the SEAR.

Organisations are invited by Groupe URD to fill out a questionnaire with the aim of mapping climate and environment services and resources that could help to implement commitments 1 and 2 of the Climate and Environment Charter for Humanitarian Organisations.

In this interview, Andreas Papaconstantinou, the Director-General of Neighbourhood and Middle East at DG ECHO, gave an overview of the current position of the EU and DG ECHO regarding the current humanitarian situation.

The humanitarian and human rights community asks for the release of Olivier Vandecasteele, the Belgian humanitarian aid worker detained and imprisoned in Iran. An op-ed calling for his release has been co-signed by 37 NGOs and networks, including VOICE.

In this article, CESVI explains the intervention they are carrying out in Pakistan towards assisting affected populations and also implementing a capacity-building and anticipatory approach.

In this article, Welthungerhilfe explains how Forecast-based Action (FbA) is key to preventing the negative impacts of extreme weather events, and the consequent human suffering.

The article by Mercy Corps analyses the humanitarian crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), one of the most complex and long-standing ones in the world, from the point of view of hunger and conflict.

In this article, Alianza por la Solidaridad & ActionAid Spain explore the role of women and girls in the fight against hunger.

Action Against Hunger Germany explains that EU member states and other industrialised countries must drastically reduce their emissions to keep climate change from escalating and should transform their COP27 commitments into actions.

The article by Concern Worldwide explains how conflict is the main driver of food insecurity and the vital importance of political will in addressing both.

VOICE New Year wishes

The new edition of the VOICE out loud delves into the global hunger crisis and how humanitarian NGOs are taking action.

This article summarises the key highlights from the event "Funding Imbalances: How uneven prioritisation and insufficient funding affect humanitarian aid" organised by VOICE on 21 June 2022.

VOICE, in collaboration with ALNAP, hosted the Brussels launch of the ALNAP State of The Humanitarian System (SOHS) report 2022 on 17 November with the aim of triggering reflections on the current situation of the humanitarian system.

This article highlights VOICE's main takeaways from the recent COP27 hosted by Egypt.

This photo exhibition aims to bring the stories of Ukrainian people and describe how their lives have changed since Russia invaded their homes, and highlight that these are real people with their own faces, and families, who could be any of us or our relatives and friends here.

VOICE Messages on the EU Budget 2023 procedure: Increase the humanitarian aid budget line to € 2.5 billion to meaningfully address the unprecedented level of humanitarian needs worldwide, aggravated by the 2022 Ukraine conflict and its global economic repercussions, notably in terms of food insecurity worldwide.
Ensure funds from the Solidarity and Emergency Aid Reserve (SEAR) are additional to the current humanitarian aid budget line and can be mobilised for humanitarian crises outside the EU throughout the whole financial year.

With the aim of triggering reflections on the global and regional humanitarian context in the EU and worldwide from the perspective of donors and NGOs, VOICE and FoRS, the Czech national platform of humanitarian and development CSOs jointly organised a round table in Prague on 8 September during the Czech Presidency of the EU Council. 

In March 2021, the EC Communication on Humanitarian Action, a major EU policy document for the sector, announced that DG ECHO commits to provide greater support to local humanitarian actors.

For this World Humanitarian Day 2022, the UN and its partners’ intent is to show the importance, effectiveness, and positive impact of humanitarian work.

The next European Humanitarian Forum will (most likely) take place on 20-21 March 2023. Ahead of the event, and to foster a collective reflection around the Forum's agenda, VOICE is running a survey to gather humanitarian NGO's perspective around the Forum's priority themes.
Deadline to participate: 26 August 2022.

VOICE Policy resolution calls on the EU and its Member States to consistently uphold principled humanitarian aid worldwide

On 29 June, DG ECHO launched its long-awaited consultation on localisation.

On 22 June VOICE held its annual General Assembly (GA) in person after two years of virtual meetings.

The VOICE event aimed to shed a light on insufficient funding for humanitarian crises, on the reasons why some crises attract higher levels of funding and if media coverage plays a role in these unbalances.

This edition of the VOL considers the challenges humanitarian workers face in the delivery of humanitarian aid and how they seek to overcome them! 

A summary of the network work during the European Humanitarian Forum 2022

To raise awareness on the need for the European Union (EU) and its Member States (MS) to step up efforts to address the climate crisis and its effects, VOICE launched a Position Paper outlining the key role of humanitarian NGOs in addressing climate change and environmental degradation and setting clear recommendations for the EU and its MS on how to enhance climate resilience.

As the EU Budget 2023 procedure is accelerating, with the European Commission about to share the Draft Budget for next year, VOICE is working in collaboration with its members and other like-minded organisations to bring forward the following asks.  

At the beginning of this year, the VOICE Secretariat launched the Humanitarian Partnership (HP) Watch Group renewal process (former FPA Watch Group)

Caritas Europa to host a webinar on "Europe’s response to refugees from Ukraine" on 23 June at 14:00.

Maria Groenewald was interviewed by Défis Humanitaires on several topics such as the European Humanitarian Forum, Humanitarian principles and International Humanitarian Law.

A summary of the Finn Church Aid article featured on the VOICE out 32- Finland and the Humanitarian - Development - Peace - Nexus

The network's achievements and activities in 2021

While the European Humanitarian Forum was a great starting point to accelerate policy discussions at a European level about humanitarian aid, VOICE would like to recommend future forums to further identify commitments by the different stakeholders.

A summary of the article, Working in the Triple Nexus- A Reflection from Sweden featured on the VOICE out loud 32 "The EU Member States' implementation of the humanitarian -development -peace nexus".

VOICE Members are working to assist the most vulnerable affected by the Ukrainian crisis. Find here a collection of publications, statements, news from our members.

VOICE statement calls on the EU and MS to use the Forum to discuss the pressing humanitarian needs and identify solutions

EHF updated program.

A summary of the The Malteser International article featured on the VOICE out loud 32 "The EU Member States’ implementation of the humanitarian-development-peace nexus”.

Danish Refugee Council and DanChurchAid analyse the different elements of the Nexus and how they are taken into account by the Danish MFA and Danish NGOs.

A summary of the We World article featured on the VOICE out loud 32 "The EU Member States’ implementation of the humanitarian-development-peace nexus”.

The composition of the Humanitarian Partnership Watch Group (HP WG), an important DG ECHO-NGOs interface, is going to be renewed in 2022. All DG ECHO NGO partners are invited to express their interest in joining the group by 8 March 2022.

The new VOICE out loud is out. This issue explores how VOICE members and EU Member States are interpreting the triple nexus