Publications

VOICE, CONCORD, EPLO and HRDN joint reccomandations on the Multiannual Financial Framework 2021 asking for strong external budget, separate instruments for humanitarian aid, humanRights, democracy and peacebuilding, more support to civilsociety and involvement of CSOs in MFF discussions

VOICE position paper on the post 2020 Multi Annual Financial Framework

Our report of the event on the humanitarian-development nexus and the humanitarian principles.

To celebrate this important statement for Humanitarian aid, we have highlighted the 10 main achievements of the Consensus implementation from an NGO perspective. 

The Localisation workstream in the Grand Bargain (GB) generates high expectations and enthusiasm and is expected to contribute significantly to the vision to “Leave No One Behind” as set in the Agenda for Humanity. Through this paper the Grand Bargain Task Force wishes to initiate a conversation with ECHO on localisation and to explore optimal approaches to achieving the 6 commitments of Workstream.

The purpose of this paper is to highlight through current practices and examples the interest for both ECHO and its partners in implementing a multiyear planning and funding approach and to demonstrate which current challenges could be overcome by doing so.

COMPREHENSIVE EVALUATION OF THE EUROPEAN UNION’S HUMANITARIAN AID 2012-2016
OPEN PUBLIC CONSULTATION
Background elements to VOICE answers
This document represents a compilation of the VOICE network’s positions during the period covered by the evaluation (2012-2016), to complement the collective answers provided in the Open Public Consultation questionnaire.

The document with the joint messages to celebrate the 10 years of the Consensus on the occasion of the event the 11 of October 2017.

The Council will adopt conclusions on resilience: the VOICE secretariat has prepared recommendations, based on consultations with members, including in the workshop organised in cooperation with the Commission in February 2017.
In the paper, the importance of a community-based approach to resilience and the need for a context-specific approach are stressed again. The need for clear mandates to be defined for the different stakeholders involved in building resilience was also underlined.

This event was very topical and demonstrated that data, social media, and new technologies undoubtedly present many opportunities for data collection and innovation in the humanitarian sector. However, the event also highlighted the many challenges and questions presented by the rise of new technologies that need to be addressed.

The Grand Bargain Task Force organised the event "The Grand Bargain: implementing a humanitarian deal to leave no one behind" at the European Development Days 2017 on 8 June 2017. Here is the summary note of the session.

This study highlights DRR policies and programming of a selection of EU Member States and presents recommendations for the further elaboration of their policy work on Disaster Risk Reduction.

This paper highlights the opportunities and challenges NGOs perceive from the Grand Bargain implementation

In 2012 – 2013 VOICE engaged in the consultation organised by the European Commission when it developed its Resilience Communication as well as in the drafting of its Action Plan. Last year VOICE also contributed to the EU process leading to the EU Global Strategy on Foreign and Security Policy, bringing forward a perspective from humanitarian NGOs.
Today, the Global Strategy remains a political vision and the upcoming new Communication on Resilience, which will be developed under the leadership of the EEAS, is perceived as an essential step in its implementation.
NGOs from the humanitarian and development sectors welcomed the civil society consultation that was organised on February 17th around the upcoming Communication on Resilience.
This contribution is based on meetings held with members and key points raised by them, on VOICE positioning and contributions to the EU policies on resilience and the Global Strategy, as well on the outcomes of the three workshops held during the civil society consultation.

VOICE organised this event on 30 November 2016 to raise awareness of NGOs and other stakeholders about the impact of counter-terrorism laws and policies on humanitarian action. It was attended by 104 participants from civil society and European Institutions.

On 14 November 2016, VOICE and the Slovak NGO platform MVRO hosted a regional roundtable and workshops on "Working differently to end need".

This event brought together 77 participants from the humanitarian aid sector, many of which attended the World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) in Istanbul. In a panel discussion and subsequent discussion round, the main themes were the strength and weaknesses of the Summit, as well as emerging trends and next steps.

This statement is made by 6 national and international networks (Coordination SUD, ICVA, InterAction, NEAR, VENRO, VOICE) and is based on the declaration of Dr F. Sivignon, President of Médecins du Monde, at the Summit’s closing ceremony.

In this paper, VOICE makes recommendations for the new EU Global Strategy on Foreign and Security Policy.

The study commissioned by VOICE in July 2015 seeks to examine and compare the funding and grant modalities of four donors illustrating the institutional diversity within the EU: Denmark; DANIDA, The EU; ECHO, France; Centre de Crise and Germany; Auswärtiges Amt. In total, this study consulted 43 respondents from several NGOs or networks active in humanitarian aid across 8 countries in Europe.

The report contains:

- An overview of selected donors humanitarian funding and funding architecture
- The analysis of the four donors conditionalities through a matrix that maps the requirements of each donor
- NGO perspectives on donor funding requirements
- VOICE findings and advocacy recommendations

Following from the Dutch Humanitarian Summit and on the occasion of the Netherlands EU presidency, this Roundtable brought together NGOs active in humanitarian aid from the Netherlands and Europe with other relevant actors to take stock and discuss priorities to feed into the continuing process of the World Humanitarian Summit. 49 people participated in the event which covered an overview of the Summit and views on what should be the European Union and Dutch priorities leading up to it. A discussion on what was at stake regarding bridging between humanitarian and development aid focussed especially on refugees, displacement, LRRD and localisation, while the discussion with a focus on funding looked at the importance of simplifying funding conditions, the Dutch government’s medium term changes, the Dutch Relief Alliance model and innovation.

This paper, based on the critical review of the SFDRR published by the Global Network of Civil Society Organisations for Disaster Reduction (GNDR), aims at highlighting key priorities to be considered by the European Commission when developing its Staff Working Paper, following the adoption of the SFDRR, and ways the VOICE DRR Working Group can specifically contribute.