Annex work programme of the italian presidency for the working party on humanitarian aid and food aid (cohafa)

Delegation will find in the Annex the programme of the Italian Presidency for the Working Party on Humanitarian Aid and Food Aid.

As the first Presidency of the new Trio (IT-LV-LU), the Italian Presidency is firmly committed to implementing the Trio Programme¹ in the field of humanitarian aid. Under the Italian Presidency, COHAFA will continue to closely monitor ongoing and emerging humanitarian crises worldwide and sustain efforts to promote joint analysis, coordination and sharing of best practice so as to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the collective European humanitarian response.

Special emphasis will be placed on strengthening the links with development aid, particularly with regard to resilience, and with civil protection, in a drive to exploit synergies and minimise the number of gaps and overlaps in EU emergency assistance.

In view of the growing number of people affected by conflict, the Italian Presidency will build on the work of previous Presidencies to step up humanitarian advocacy vis-à-vis third countries and partner organisations. A key priority will be the protection of vulnerable groups in emergencies, in particular women, children and people with disabilities. In this context, the Italian Presidency will encourage debate to explore ways in which to address gender-based violence and violence against children in conflict and emergencies, and to ensure, at a wider level, respect for international humanitarian law in armed conflict.

In line with the efforts of previous Presidencies, COHAFA will closely monitor ongoing and emerging humanitarian crises, and promote shared analysis, coordination and the exchange of relevant information so as to render the collective EU response as efficient and effective as possible. In view of a growing number of crises brought about conflict to which there is no imminent political solution, special emphasis will be placed on protracted crises. Due attention will also be paid to 'forgotten' crises, which often risk being eclipsed by the substantial number of crises that require immediate action. COHAFA will continue to champion the overall coordination role of UN-OCHA and the humanitarian principles as set out in the European Consensus on Humanitarian Aid.

COHAFA is a unique forum in which Member States and the Commission can agree on joint humanitarian advocacy messages enabling all EU humanitarian aid actors to speak with one voice on vital issues, such as obstacles to the delivery of aid in specific countries or situations. In line with the work carried out by the Lithuanian and Hellenic Presidencies, the Italian Presidency will guide discussions so as to ensure that joint analysis may lead, where appropriate, to contributions to Council Conclusions prepared by other Council preparatory bodies, and to coordinated advocacy by Member States and the Commission vis-à-vis third countries or partner organisations.

COHAFA will also continue to support the monitoring of the implementation of the Consensus and will discuss its recommendations and next steps after the publication of the independent evaluation (commissioned by the Commission).

In close cooperation with the Development Cooperation Working Party (CODEV), COHAFA will continue to support the implementation of the Action Plan for Resilience in Crisis Prone Countries 2013-2020² at all levels, and to monitor its output and achievements. This will include an exchange of best practice, coordination, as appropriate, on measures involving the Member States, and a general follow-up to regional and country-specific flagship initiatives such as SHARE and AGIR.

The Presidency will initiate a discussion on strengthening cooperation with Civil Protection as regards disaster risk reduction, preparedness and humanitarian aid to victims of natural disasters. The aim is to identify gaps in response, coordination and information sharing and promote the results gained from lessons-learned exercises involving both humanitarian aid and civil protection authorities.

To this end, Member States will be asked to take part in a consultation process, through the circulation of a concept paper and a technical meeting which will be organised with the support of the European Commission. The consultation process will aim to stimulate reflections on building new partnerships at all levels of the disaster management cycle and possible innovative and concrete proposals for joint use of resources based on complementarity, coherence and efficiency.

The Italian Presidency will present draft Council Conclusions on strengthening co-operation between civil protection and humanitarian aid. The draft will be discussed in both COHAFA and PROCIV and will be finalised in PROCIV, with close involvement of COHAFA.

During an informal meeting in October, delegates will have the opportunity to visit the Italian Civil Protection headquarters, where new technologies are used for disaster prevention, and to share experience of resilience strategies with representatives of the FAO and WFP.

f)Preparations for major international events

The Presidency will monitor the preparations for the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit and review the key issues to be discussed at the Summit.

In this respect, the Italian Presidency continue the work of the Hellenic Presidency on cooperation with the private sector. The Presidency will devote particular attention to all aspects of "Transformation through innovation".

COHAFA will also be regularly briefed on the Post-2015 Hyogo Framework for Action consultation process.

The Italian Presidency will carry out work to follow up on the "Declaration of commitment to end sexual violence in conflict"³ signed at the UN General Assembly last year. The Presidency will also raise awareness of the outcome of the Global Summit on Ending Sexual Violence in Conflict, which will take place in London on 10-13 June 2014. The Presidency will seek to translate the summit outcome into European humanitarian action. Special attention will be paid to identifying ways in which to improve the situation in specific humanitarian crises, such as the crisis in Syria.

The Presidency intends to raise awareness about people with disabilities and the need for humanitarian programmes to take into account the specific needs of people with physical, cognitive, mental or sensory disabilities, who are among the most vulnerable groups in societies most affected by conflict. The Italian Presidency will promote debate on this subject in order to identify ways in which aid can be targeted more effectively at these vulnerable groups.

The Italian Presidency will support the exchange of best practice within the EU on how to improve the coordination and effectiveness of humanitarian response. With a view to increasing aid efficiency, COHAFA will encourage the exchange of best practice in strengthening results-based management in humanitarian aid, monitoring results and disseminating lessons learned within the EU and between Member States.

Under the Italian Presidency COHAFA will continue to support the implementation of EU commitments on food and nutrition security. This will, in particular, involve follow-up on the Nutrition Action Plan⁴, preparation of statements on behalf of the EU at WFP Executive Board meetings, follow-up on the accession to and ratification of the Food Assistance Convention by the Member States and monitoring progress on the use of cash and vouchers.

Following the adoption of the Regulation establishing the European Voluntary Humanitarian Aid Corps (EU Aid Volunteers), the Italian Presidency will support the implementation of the initiative as well as the dissemination of lessons learned during the third round of pilot projects.

Mr Mario Baldi

Ms Teodora Danisi

Ms Marta Collu

Ms Viviana Wagner

Ms Letizia Fischioni