Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council. Annual report on the implementation of the EU Aid Volunteers Initiative in 2014

In view of the increasing number of natural and man-made disasters in the world over the last years, the humanitarian organisations need more well-prepared people to support them helping communities struck by disasters.

As envisaged by the Treaty of Lisbon, the European Union established the EU Aid Volunteers initiative. The objective is to contribute to strengthening the Union’s capacity to provide needs-based humanitarian aid and to strengthening the capacity and resilience of vulnerable or disaster-affected communities in third countries, while giving European citizens an opportunity to be involved in humanitarian action in third countries showing solidarity with people in need.

Article 27 of Regulation (EU) No 375/2014 setting up the EU Aid Volunteers initiative requires the Commission to submit annual reports to the European Parliament and to the Council examining the progress made in implementing the Regulation.

This annual report outlines the main activities and achievements in the implementation of the EU Aid Volunteers initiative in 2014 taking into account the specificity of the first year, which was dedicated to the adoption of the indispensable legal acts mapping out the next steps in the implementation of the EU Aid Volunteers initiative.

ESO: Background information: EU Aid Volunteers: the initiative takes shape http://www.europeansources.info/record/memo-eu-aid-volunteers-the-initiative-takes-shape/

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