Salvation Army, European Commission agree humanitarian partnership

|PIC2|The international Salvation Army has joined together with other NGOs in agreeing a five-year partnership with the European Commission Humanitarian Aid Organisation (ECHO) to strengthen humanitarian responses in times of crisis.

The Framework Partnership Agreement (FPA) with ECHO, the arm of the European Commission responsible for humanitarian provision, was signed earlier in the month during the ECHO Annual Partners' Conference in Brussels.

Commissioner Don Odegaard, Salvation Army International Secretary for Programme Resources, and Major Cedric Hills, Salvation Army International Emergency Services Coordinator, were in Brussels to witness the launch of the partnership, which comes into force in January 2008.

The FPA was signed by Commissioner Odegaard, who commented, "It is an honour that ECHO has invited The Salvation Army to become a partner in implementing humanitarian responses at times of crisis.

"The signing of the agreement marks the start of a new relationship and is an indication that our emergency services ministry has been vetted by ECHO as professional and appropriate.

"We look forward to working with the European Union for the benefit of those impacted by disaster."

The European Union is one of the world's main humanitarian aid donors. In the last month alone, it donated 1.5 million euros to care for Rohingya refugees who have fled to Bangladesh as a result of terrible conditions in Myanmar. It has also allocated 50 million euros to alleviate the plight of Iraqi refugees in Syria and Jordan.

The Commission said that the new agreement with The Salvation Army and other NGOs "focuses strongly on maximising the impact of humanitarian aid for the world's most vulnerable populations".

The agreement comes on the back of years of research and planning in partnership with Salvation Army leaders in the Netherlands, according to Major Hills.

He welcomed the partnership: "Resourcing our emergency operations worldwide is a huge challenge. The partnership opens new possibilities for us to support territories at times of disaster."