Humanitarian aid. Report

Today's humanitarian challenges are growing and becoming more complex. Consequently, the needs for humanitarian aid are increasing. Since the last Eurobarometer survey in 2012, we have witnessed a range of devastating disasters such as the tropical cyclone Haiyan in the Philippines, the Ebola outbreak in West Africa and the conflict in Eastern Ukraine. There are currently four "Level 3" emergencies – the worst level of humanitarian crises according to the United Nations – in Syria, South Sudan, the Central African Republic and Iraq. This is the highest number of such crises ever declared. The number of people suffering from conflicts, displacement, or lack of basic necessities such as food, water or shelter, is constantly on the rise. Through its Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO), the European Commission provides life-saving assistance based on the principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence. This assistance is carried out in partnership with UN agencies, NGOs and international organisations such as the Red Cross. Representing less than 1% of the EU budget, the EU funded humanitarian aid provides life-saving assistance to over 120 million people every year. Together with the funding provided by the EU Member States, the European Union is the world's largest humanitarian aid donor.

This report brings together the results of the Eurobarometer survey on public opinion on humanitarian aid in the 28 EU Member States. The aim of the survey is to understand EU citizens’ awareness and support for EU activities in the area of humanitarian aid, including comparisons (where appropriate) with similar surveys conducted in 2012 and 2010. This year's Special Eurobarometer looks at the following areas: Awareness of humanitarian aid: examining EU citizens' awareness of EU funding of humanitarian aid activities. Attitudes to humanitarian aid: looking at citizens' support for the EU to fund humanitarian aid and support for continued funding in spite of the current economic crisis. It also examines whether EU citizens believe it is more efficient if humanitarian aid is provided by each EU Member State separately, or if it is provided by the EU as a whole and coordinated by the European Commission.

Knowledge and information on EU humanitarian activities: examining how well informed EU citizens are about the humanitarian aid activities of the EU and which information sources they prefer. The report presents the views held generally across the EU, how these views vary from country to country, significant variations by gender, age, education and other sociodemographic variables. This survey was carried out by TNS Opinion & Social network in the 28 Member States of the European Union between the 21st and 30th of March 2015. Some 28.082 respondents from different social and demographic groups were interviewed face-to-face at home in their mother tongue on behalf of Directorate-General for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection. The methodology used is that of Eurobarometer surveys as carried out by the Directorate-General for Communication (“Strategy, Corporate Communication Actions and Eurobarometer” Unit).

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