Communicating better together ECHO-Partners seminar, 28 September 2009

ECHO Communication team Simon Horner Head of Unit (A6) Thorsten Muench Senior communication officer (Asia, Pacific) Susana Perez Diaz Communication officer (West Africa, Latin America, Caribbean) Raphael Brigandi Communication officer (East, Central and Southern Africa) Janice George Comm. officer/Internet editor (Mid. East, N. Africa, Central Asia) Eduardo Correia Communication officer Food aid, Liaison with other DGs Julie Laduron Audiovisual products, design Linda de Pina Finance and contracts Axel Koch Web manager, design Chi Te Wong Webmaster, design Jose Abad Meir Events and publications Hilde Willems Secretariat, visibility items, publications Celine Ginies Secretariat, visibility items, visits Claire Barrault Regional Information Officer, Dakar Daniela Cavini Regional Information Officer, Amman Daniel Dickinson Regional Information Officer, Nairobi Malini Morzaria Regional Information Officer, New Delhi

Communication mandate Humanitarian Aid regulation (article 4) Community aid… may also be used to finance: the cost of highlighting the Community nature of the aid. public awareness and information campaigns aimed at increasing understanding of humanitarian issues, especially in Europe and in third countries where the Community is funding major humanitarian operations. European Consensus on Humanitarian Aid Point 46: Accountability measures… include… communication. Point 97: Concretely, the Community will seek to…communicate the impact and importance of Community humanitarian aid to the European public to ensure continued high levels of support from citizens.

Strategy Communicate key humanitarian messages and Europes role as widely as possible, notably through the media. Focus on high impact activities with a significant multiplier effect. Engage with young Europeans. Work with key humanitarian organisations to highlight our partnership and the way this contributes to saving lives and relieving suffering. Maintain efforts to mainstream communication and encourage a wider communication reflex (internal).

Priority issues For basic messages, see sheet 3 of the Toolkit Humanitarian principles (including IHL and the threat to the humanitarian space) Climate change (in particular the impact of weather-related natural disasters and the importance of disaster-risk reduction)

Mechanisms for joint communication 1. Grants: Visibility line in operational agreements Service contracts (ECHO A6 budget) a.Contracts with companies (i) Communication actions with agencies (ii) Framework contract with APTN (iii) Other contracts (printing, visibility materials, equipment) b.Contracts with partners 3. Grants: Planned communication decision

Planned Communication Decision (1) Form Financing decision Grant/contribution agreement subject to usual humanitarian aid procedures (single form, fichop etc.) Anticipating projects in the range 150,000 to 250,000 Caveats 1. Decision not yet adopted 2. Project criteria still to be defined… but likely to be on the following general lines:

Planned Communication Decision (2) Substance Required. The activity must: give prominence to the partnership with the Commission have a high potential multiplier effect (imaginative projects to attract media coverage) Preferred. Actions that: target young Europeans highlight humanitarian principles feature humanitarian aspects of climate change include a public event (ideally the culmination of the activity that might be billed as a humanitarian day)