HUMANITARIAN ACTION

In view of the growing number of crises, which are becoming longer and more and more complex, humanitarian aid needs across the world are continually increasing, and in addition, in 2020, the health crisis linked to the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened matters. To support the responses by its humanitarian partners in many different contexts, the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs allocated a total budget of EUR 61,742,258.40 in 2020. The budget was disbursed to support humanitarian interventions in various countries and in the three phases of humanitarian crises as defined in Luxembourg’s humanitarian action strategy: emergency, transition and prevention.

In preparation for possible natural disasters and humanitarian emergencies and also to respond to growing humanitarian needs in the context of prolonged crises, Luxembourg reserves about 75% of its humanitarian aid budget for emergencies. This aid is allocated according to need and with a particular focus on the most vulnerable people, taking account of several indicators such as the classification of humanitarian crises, risk management indices (INFORM) and the indicators for forgotten crises published by ECHO and OCHA. In 2020, EUR 8,150,000 million was allocated to respond to humanitarian emergencies worldwide.

After an emergency, the transition phase aims to support the efforts of affected populations to rebuild their lives and regain their livelihoods. The objective of the transition phase is both to link the emergency phase with the development phase and to support the community and individuals in the process of reconstruction and rehabilitation.

In line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction adopted in March 2015, the MFA allocates at least 5% of its humanitarian action budget to financing activities in the area of disaster prevention, resilience and risk reduction.

On 18 December 2020, Franz Fayot, Minister for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs, HITEC Luxembourg, SES Techcom and Luxembourg Air Ambulance signed an agreement to continue the ‘emergency.lu’ programme until 2026.