Interview with Mags Bird from VOICE

Mags, you are Programme Coordinator for VOICE (Voluntary Organisations in Cooperation in Emergencies). What exactly is your role there?

My job is to support the overall work program of the network, which centres around raising members’ concerns towards EU policy-makers. Together with my colleagues in the VOICE Secretariat, I facilitate our members’ collective influence on issues of humanitarian aid policy, involving them in advocacy and information exchange. This is done through a variety of communication and advocacy tools, working groups, briefings and presentations, and includes exchange and liaison with a wide range of other humanitarian actors, networks and initiatives.

Throughout our work, VOICE is concerned to promote respect for International Humanitarian Law and humanitarian principles, the values of humanitarian NGOs and to support a high level of quality and effectiveness in humanitarian action.

You are the go to person for EVHAC related issues within VOICE. What is your organisation's role in relation to EVHAC?

VOICE has followed the development of this issue on behalf of our members and has represented their views via formal and informal consultation with the European Commission and ECHO. It has done so not only since the clause establishing a voluntary corps appeared in the Lisbon treaty, but also prior to that when the EU consulted NGOs back in 2005 and 2006.  Some of our members are now involved in the first pilot project. You can read VOICE position paper on EVHAC here.

Many NGOs have been critical of the idea behind EVHAC and have expressed concerns around possible duplication of work, lack of professionalism and competition for funding, do you believe these concerns have been adequately addressed in the pilot projects?

While it’s not possible to judge what EVHAC will look like in the long term, VOICE welcomes the fact that the EVHAC framework agreed to date (as per Communication from the Commission[1] and Council Conclusions[2]) recognizes the need to be cost-effective and not encroach upon the Commission’s existing humanitarian aid budget.

Volunteerism is a long-established feature of the humanitarian NGO community; the commitment made for EVHAC to build upon existing national and international voluntary schemes without duplicating them is therefore important. VOICE supports the Council’s emphasis on the need for EVHAC to provide added value to the work of professional humanitarian ECHO partners by addressing concrete needs and gaps in the humanitarian field.

Care should be taken that EVHAC does not compromise the trend towards continually increased professionalism in the humanitarian sector, nor replace or undermine local capacity building efforts. And while the EU’s concern for visibility will naturally form a part of the final EVHAC model, we will continue to emphasize that this should not overshadow the fundamental needs-based nature of EU humanitarian assistance as per the European Consensus on Humanitarian Aid. See VOICE position paper on the multi-annual financial framework here.

The DIRECTORATE-GENERAL HUMANITARIAN AID AND CIVIL PROTECTION - ECHO has allocated EUR 850,000 to fund pilot projects for EVHAC. There seems to be a huge difference between the initial idea and the pilot projects. Is it fair to say that so far, EVHAC is mostly sponsoring internships?

The initial concept was very broad, so it was necessary to interpret it in order to come up with projects that are concrete and useful to the humanitarian community and humanitarian aid. The pilot projects are just about to start, so it might be early to judge the output, let alone the final form that EVHAC might eventually take.  One pilot project focuses on the problem of opening up possibilities for post-graduate field experience and entry level positions in the sector. It might also provide a model for supporting small to medium organisations to take on board trainees.

You note that in the EU draft budget for 2014-2020, EVHAC is expected to have its own budget line, totalling EUR 210 million over this period. Are there concerns that this could come at the expense of current humanitarian funding?

Issues around future funding of humanitarian aid are not only related to the budget for EVHAC. Humanitarian needs are increasing while ECHO has consistently had to use budget reinforcements over the last years (via the Emergency Aid Reserve) in order to respond to these needs.  We believe that funding for humanitarian aid through ECHO should amount to an annual envelope of EUR 1 billion, and priority access for humanitarian aid to the Emergency Aid Reserve when necessary. And of course, these funds need to be spent with a needs-based perspective.

There have been calls for the professionalization of humanitarian organizations for over 10 years and much has been done. What do you see today as the biggest remaining gap on the way to more professionalism?

There has definitely been progress, especially when it comes to standards, codes of conduct and accountability tools. Personally I believe that one of the biggest remaining challenges is related to the provision of structured training and career development. The reason it is so difficult to address is related directly to the nature of the sector. The structure of humanitarian funding makes it difficult to squeeze in training during deployments and the large number of fixed term contracts does not encourage aid agencies to provide training to staff who are likely to change employer at the end of the contract. It could also make more sense to invest more resources on training of local staff who stay longer and guarantee an operation delivers in the longer run. 

With increased professionalism, the way people get into the sector has also changed. Today, there are only a few cases where an HR manager can afford to hire a generalist without any prior experience. Coming in ‘sideways’ in the humanitarian sector, for example as an engineer or a nutritionist is still possible. Coming in as a generalist is increasingly rare and being bright and committed is not enough anymore (NB: that might be enough to get an intern position with VOICE!). So when we are expecting new hires to have prior experience but no one is there to provide the first job, there is undoubtedly a problem. In that sense, EVHAC might provide an opportunity for people to enter the sector, especially via medium and small organisations who often have problems supporting trainee positions. We will have to see what comes out of the first pilot projects.

Still, while the humanitarian sector is not a leisure industry, it is a great place to work. We are confronted with many challenges and frustrations but the work can also be very satisfying. And despite all the self- inflicted criticism, we have to recognize that the sector is constantly improving, so we must have done something right.

So, best wishes to NOHA students and alumni – looking forward to meeting you on your career journeys! Don’t forget VOICE could be an interesting place to spend your internship (but we only take the best! :) )

[1] COM (2010)683/3, November 2010

[2] Council Conclusions 17th May 2011