Changes from report parliamentary committee draft to plenary report

AddedC. whereas by 2030, over 90 % of worldwide poverty will be found in Africa; whereas the benefits of nutrition, health and education are crucial to get this population out of the poverty trap; whereas in 2025, the highest humanitarian needs are estimated to be in Eastern and Southern Africa, where 85 million people need humanitarian assistance; whereas the crisis in Sudan alone accounts for 35 % of those needs;

AddedD. whereas the situation in Afghanistan is putting even greater pressure on already stretched humanitarian resources and worsening the plight of millions, including women and girls, struggling to survive;

AddedE. whereas over 122 million people are forcibly displaced globally, as documented by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), with nearly 60 % living in fragile or conflict-affected settings, and over 70 % of asylum seekers arriving in the EU originate from these settings13;

AddedF. whereas the humanitarian system is facing a massive funding crisis; whereas in 2024 only 43 % of the USD 50 billion UN appeal for humanitarian aid was met; whereas the dismantling of US Agency for International Development (USAID) programmes and the reduction in foreign aid from other key donors, including several EU Member States, have further exacerbated the situation and led to a worrying decline in global funding for humanitarian, health, gender equality and climate initiatives; wheras only 13 %14 of the funding required for the 2025 UN appeal for humanitarian aid to assist 188 million people in 72 countries was reached by July 2025; whereas due to USAID cuts more than 14 million people face the risk of death by 2030; whereas this also affects more than 4.5 million children under the age of five15; whereas the funding cuts are deepening the hunger crisis when acute food insecurity is at an all-time high; whereas these cuts have a disproportionate impact on women, girls, persons with disabilities, and those living in rural and remote areas, exacerbating existing inequalities16; whereas local and national women-led and women’s rights organisations are among the most severely impacted; whereas these cuts further endanger the safety and well-being of internally displaced people, refugees and vulnerable groups; whereas these cuts are having a devastating impact on global health – further increasing overall mortality, morbidity and disability due to an unequal access to disease treatment and prevention, basic services and goods, and the risk of infectious disease outbreaks, and pandemics –, and food security;

AddedG. whereas there are striking imbalances in funding between humanitarian appeals, reflecting the fact that more crises are being forgotten; whereas forgotten crises are defined as severe, protracted humanitarian crisis situations where affected populations are receiving no or insufficient international aid and where there is no political commitment to solve the crisis, due in part to a lack of media interest;

AddedH. whereas humanitarian aid under the current multiannual financial framework (MFF) has been inadequate, leading to routine use of the Emergency Aid Reserve; whereas the EU must call on other actors to step up their humanitarian aid efforts; whereas humanitarian aid should not only support, but also mobilise local communities and get them involved in relief efforts;

AddedI. whereas the role of the humanitarian-development-peace nexus is crucial in humanitarian settings because it fosters coordination, collaboration and consistency among the sectors to address the root causes of protracted crises in addition to providing immediate relief; whereas the EU and its Member States jointly contribute 42 % of global development aid; whereas the OECD projects a 9 to 17 % drop in official development assistance (ODA) in 202517; whereas by 2027, the Commission aims to mobilise up to EUR 300 billion through the Global Gateway initiative in sustainable and inclusive investments; whereas fragile contexts need a special EU approach and strategy;

AddedJ. whereas conflict, climate change and economic factors are the three main drivers of the increase in humanitarian needs, and are human-caused and reversible with concerted and joint efforts; whereas the number of recorded armed conflicts peaked in 2023; whereas the consequences of climate change and environmental degradation lead to increased instability and conflicts, climate-related hazards, natural disasters, resource scarcity including water and food insecurity, internal displacement and irregular migration, disproportionately affecting women and vulnerable groups;

AddedK. whereas there is an alarming increase in the denial of safe and unhindered humanitarian access to people in need in many contexts, including during conflict, natural disasters and disease outbreaks, both by government forces as well as in areas controlled by non-state armed actors, compounded by the rise in dangerous and corrosive tendencies in the interpretation and application of IHL and the humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence; whereas the deliberate denial and weaponisation of humanitarian access to advance political and military agendas is in breach of obligations under IHL;

AddedL. whereas lack of respect for IHL is resulting in persistent and widespread violations of IHL and international human rights law, with deliberate attacks of civilians, destruction of essential infrastructure, such as schools and hospitals, targeting of humanitarian workers, widespread sexual violence and recruitment of children as combatants; whereas the number and influence of armed non-state actors in global conflicts is increasing and some of the deadliest attacks on civilians have been committed by these non-state armed groups; whereas there is an unprecedented number of attacks against humanitarian workers, civilian populations and civilian infrastructure, driven mostly by the conflicts in Gaza and Sudan18;

AddedM. whereas, according to the UN, in 2023 more than 600 million women and girls lived within 50 kilometres of a conflict zone, which is more than 50 % higher than a decade ago;

AddedN. whereas conflict-related sexual violence overall has risen dramatically, with the UN recording 3 688 verified cases of conflict-related sexual violence in 2023, which was 50 % higher than the year before, and with women and girls accounting for 95 % of the verified cases, while 32 % of the victims were children19;

AddedO. whereas in times of conflict and crisis, pre-existing gender inequalities are often exacerbated, resulting in women and girls being disproportionally affected, such as from displacement and gender-based violence, to exclusion from life-saving services and decision-making processes; whereas women, adolescent girls, persons with disabilities, indigenous persons, LGBTQI+ persons and older persons often have additional and intersecting vulnerabilities that must be considered; whereas the share of bilateral aid with gender equality objectives in the humanitarian sector has historically been low, and has decreased further over the last few years, stagnating at 17 %20 in 2021-22; whereas women play a crucial role in humanitarian settings as first responders; whereas investing in gender equality saves lives in humanitarian settings; whereas there is evidence that gender-responsive humanitarian programming delivers high returns, namely USD 8 for every USD 1 invested21, with challenges persisting with regard to prioritisation;

AddedP. whereas violence against women in all its forms (physical, sexual, psychological, economic or cyber) is a violation of human rights, an extreme form of discrimination against women and one of the main obstacles to achieving gender equality;

AddedQ. whereas anti-gender movements are increasingly instrumentalising humanitarian crises to push back against gender equality and to delegitimise women’s organisations, including in EU partner countries;

AddedR. whereas children constitute half of the population affected by crises and the violation of their rights is happening at alarming levels, compounded by a drastic decrease in funding for child-centred initiatives and programmes; whereas over 473 million children – more than one in six children globally – are now living in areas affected by conflict; whereas there has been an increase in the recruitment of child soldiers; whereas children are more likely than adults to be killed or maimed, recruited by armed groups and sexually violated; whereas more than 52 million children in conflict-affected countries are estimated to be out of school22;

AddedS. whereas churches and religious organisations, thanks to the trust they enjoy within communities, their ability to mobilise volunteers and their frequent presence in hard-to-reach areas, provide unique added value to crisis response; whereas their long-term commitment and holistic approach to support (combining material and psychosocial assistance) are crucial for building resilience and lasting peace;

Removed4. Deeply regrets the intention of some EU Member States to withdraw from the 1997 Ottawa Convention and the 2008 Oslo Convention;

Added4. Welcomes the adoption of UN Security Council resolution 2730 (2024), on protection of humanitarian personnel and UN and associated personnel in armed conflict; underlines the obligation under IHL to respect and protect humanitarian personnel, as well as the importance of supporting independent, neutral and impartial humanitarian action by preserving the humanitarian space from direct attacks, unintended impacts of counter-terrorism policies and sanction regimes, politicisation as well as misleading narratives;

Added5. Calls for concrete measures to ensure the effective implementation of safety and security protections for humanitarian workers, in line with UN Security Council Resolution 2730 (2024), including the establishment of investigations, transparency, and impartial inquiries into violations of IHL; emphasises the need to take into account the greater vulnerability of local staff, who face increased risks to their safety and security, and to ensure their specific protection; calls on the Commission to support safety and security measures for the protection of humanitarian workers, and to demand accountability for attacks on them; reiterates the importance of rapid response mechanisms that offer immediate financial, legal and psychosocial assistance to humanitarian workers facing arrest, intimidation, or other security incidents, drawing on models such as the ‘Protect Aid Workers’ initiative;

Added6. Expresses concern over the growing threats, harassment and criminalisation of human rights defenders and humanitarian volunteers in conflict and crisis settings; calls for the EU to include their protection as a priority in its humanitarian engagement; deplores the increasing attempts to criminalise humanitarian assistance without legitimate grounds for concern, especially life-saving interventions to people on the move fleeing from conflict, violence, persecution or poverty; calls for the adoption of a protective legal framework to address the criminalisation of aid, combat impunity, and include humanitarian exemptions in sanction regimes, as well as measures to prevent the criminalisation of humanitarian workers through anti-terrorism laws;

Added7. Confirms its support for multilateralism with the UN at its core; underlines that the EU’s operations must be coordinated and consistent with international bodies, and calls on the Commission to continue its critical support to various UN entities in the humanitarian field, with the goal of up holding the humanitarian principles and IHL; reaffirms the obligation to respect and facilitate the mandates of UN entities, and strongly condemns any attempt to obstruct, restrict, or undermine the ability of UN agencies to effectively perform their humanitarian duties;

Added8. Stresses the need to urgently address the unprecedented humanitarian crises in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), both among the most severe in the world today, with one third of the population in dire need of humanitarian assistance in Sudan and alarming levels of food insecurity and famine conditions confirmed in many parts of the country, similarly in the DRC, where 21 million people require humanitarian aid; calls on all parties to the conflict to ensure safe and unhindered humanitarian access in accordance with the humanitarian principles and to respect and protect humanitarian personnel; further calls for the EU and its Member States to increase humanitarian aid to Sudan and the DRC, and their neighbouring countries, and especially fund support for survivors of conflict-related sexual violence, local resilience and protection programmes, and programmes promoting women’s and children’s rights and gender equality;

Added9. Stresses that humanitarian aid, and therefore hunger, must never be politicised or weaponised and should reach civilians in need without obstruction or manipulation, in full compliance with IHL; reiterates that distribution sites, civilians, humanitarian workers and medical staff must be protected and must not become targets of military action; expresses outrage at the killing of 508 humanitarian workers in Gaza, as well as the repeated attacks on hospitals and humanitarian convoys; strongly opposes any aid distribution system in Gaza that is incompatible with the humanitarian principles; deplores the fact that this distribution scheme has resulted in the killing of more than a thousand Palestinians seeking aid; calls for an international response and investigation to ensure accountability for possible violations of international law which have occurred at Gaza Humanitarian Foundation-managed sites;

Added10. Demands the unimpeded and large-scale provision of humanitarian assistance, under the coordination of the UN and in line with thehumanitarian principles; calls for the opening of all relevant border crossings, recalling that the denial of access to life-saving humanitarian aid is collective punishment, constituting a war crime; underlines the urgent need for all international humanitarian bodies, and in particular those that are part of the UN network, in line with Article 214 TFEU, to have full, rapid, safe and unhindered access to and throughout the entire Gaza Strip; stresses the central role the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) plays in providing humanitarian aid to Palestinian refugees and deplores the attempts to delegitimise it; calls for the mandate and funding of UNRWA to be reinstated in full, with strong oversight and accountability, by securing long-term, sustainable, multiannual and predictable funding for a reformed UNRWA to deliver vital services to Palestinian refugees, and preventing further humanitarian crises;

Added11. Calls also for EU humanitarian assistance for the civilian population affected by Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine to be maintained and stepped up, with a particular focus on the needs of internally displaced persons, refugees, elderly people and children, including victims of forced deportation to the Russian Federation and occupied territories;

Added12. Highlights, in particular, the situation in Afghanistan, which is facing a severe and complex humanitarian crisis, with over 23.7 million people in need of assistance; notes that the situation is likely to deteriorate further owing to the expulsion of refugees from Pakistan and Iran and ongoing regional instability; welcomes the EU’s pledge of EUR 266 million in support, and calls for targeted local actions to assist women and girls;

Added13. Reiterates its call on the Commission to develop an EU humanitarian diplomacy strategy, together with the Member States and the European External Action Service (EEAS), and the EU Special Representatives (EUSRs), in consultation with humanitarian actors, so as to boost efforts and ensure a more systematic and coordinated approach to humanitarian diplomacy, while adapting to ever-changing circumstances, using all available tools by leveraging the EU’s political and economic weight through political dialogue, and trade and aid relations, in order to secure humanitarian access, protect humanitarian workers and safeguard humanitarian space in armed conflicts, including negotiating the cessation of hostilities, humanitarian pauses, and safe passages for civilians and relief items in active conflicts; encourages the Commission, together with the Member States, the EEAS and EUSRs to ensure that high-level humanitarian diplomacy is systematically informed by the operational experiences of humanitarian actors, who should be consulted on a regular basis;

Added21. Highlights the special challenges faced by children and persons with disabilities and their families in terms of accessing humanitarian aid; underlines that only a fraction of ODA (12 %) currently targets children compared to their significant representation in the population of ODA-receiving countries, even though investing in children – and not just individual sectoral priorities – fosters lasting improvements to their living standards, along with their whole communities; emphasises the importance of prioritising child-specific needs, particularly education and child protection, in all phases of humanitarian response, including preparedness, emergency relief, and recovery; underlines that safeguarding children’s rights and well-being is essential for long-term resilience and sustainable development; calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure dedicated funding, programming, and coordination mechanisms to address the specific needs of children in humanitarian settings;

Added22. Stresses the need for public funding to remain a primary resource for humanitarian aid, in the light of the responsibility of states to ensure adequate and sustained funding, while acknowledging that public funding alone will not suffice to close the humanitarian funding gap and underlining that new sources of financing, including from the private sector, have to be taken into account; encourages the Commission and the Member States, therefore, to expand the resource base by supporting the development of innovative approaches and partnerships to fill the humanitarian funding gap in cooperation with international financial institutions, multilateral development banks, the private sector – provided that any private engagement complies with the humanitarian principles and full transparency – and the scientific community, to complement international public humanitarian assistance and close the global humanitarian funding gap; calls on the Commission and the Member States to explore progressive and sustainable financing mechanisms for humanitarian aid; emphasises the need for cooperation with emerging donor countries with a view to increasing their contribution to humanitarian aid;

Added23. Welcomes the Humanitarian Reset launched by the UN, and stresses that this must be an opportunity to strengthen the humanitarian principles and a needs-based and people-centred system, and not just be driven by cost-cutting; underlines that equally important to achieving more efficiency and effectiveness is ensuring accountability for delivery, and that critical sectors, such as the protection mandates and gender-based violence measures, remain at the core as a lifesaving sector;

Added24. Welcomes the Commission’s significant efforts to make humanitarian supply chains more effective and efficient, considering that they account for nearly 70 % of the humanitarian costs, making it a critical focus area when addressing the growing funding gap; encourages the Commission to continue to develop and support a strategic approach to supply chains;

Added25. Calls on the Member States to deliver on their collective commitment to provide at least 0.7 % of gross national income (GNI) as ODA, to meet the ODA target of 0.2 % of GNI to Least Developed Countries by 2030, and to devote 10 % of their ODA to humanitarian action; calls on the Commission to ensure that humanitarian aid adequately addresses the needs of women and girls as a strategic investment with long-term positive impacts for all, while regretting that women’s rights organisations continue to be systematically underfunded, receiving less than 1 % of global ODA23;

Added26. Expresses its concern about the possible downsizing of EU delegations, including in third countries where significant humanitarian assistance is being provided; considers it essential, to the contrary, to strengthen these structures in the most critical countries;