“The European Commission is making good progress on the European Voluntary Humanitarian Aid Corps (EVHAC), however many issues remain unsolved,” says Luca Jahier, Italian EESC member since 2002, former president of the ACP-EU Follow-up Committee (2008-2010) and president of
Group III (Various Interests) since 2010. Jahier also has extensive experience in the field of humanitarian aid and international cooperation. “I consider the presence of European volunteers crucial alongside aid volumes that are amongst the highest in the world, in terms of quantity, quality and efficiency.”
Vita Europe: What aspects of the EVHAC’s evolution give grounds for satisfaction?
Luca Jahier: It’s too early to judge, we are still in the experimental phase. However, the Commission was very quick in giving the EVHAC an operative arm: starting with online consultation, followed by the external evaluation and orientation study and finally the launch of three pilot projects.
Vita Europe: What are the more critical points?
Jahier: There is a paradox between wanting to professionalize the voluntary humanitarian aid corps employing young volunteers. The idea of sending youths from the European Voluntary Service to very hostile humanitarian environments is rather complicated in my opinion. The question regarding the type of volunteer one wants to use in humanitarian operations remains open. The most logical solution would be the use of local rather than European volunteers, not least for linguistic purposes. Security remains the biggest issue. As it stands, today no European military force exists that can help the volunteer corps when entering a civil war context.
