Estonia and Turkey join OCHA Donor Support Group as EU chairmanship comes to an end

European Commission

Press release

Brussels, 1 July 2014

Estonia and Turkey join OCHA Donor Support Group as EU chairmanship comes to an end

Estonia and Turkey are new members of the ODSG - the Donor Support Group of OCHA (UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs). The announcement comes during the High-level Meeting event which marks the end of the European Commission's chairmanship of the ODSG.

Kristalina Georgieva i, European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, warmly welcomed the two new members to the group. "Both Turkey and Estonia have become significant actors in the global humanitarian aid landscape", Commissioner Georgieva said . "They are providing growing financial contributions to crises worldwide. As unfortunately disasters and conflict are on the increase, inflicting hardship on millions of people every year, there is a need for more countries to join forces to increase aid and enhance effectiveness of humanitarian assistance."

Turkey will play a particularly important role over the next few years as host of the World Humanitarian Summit which will take place in Istanbul in 2016. Over the last few years, Estonia has greatly invested in building its capacity which is turning the country into an important humanitarian donor.

The High-level Meeting - taking place today in Genval, close to Brussels - is hosted by the European Commission Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO) which has chaired the ODSG from July 2013 to June 2014. Denmark will take over the chairmanship of the Group at the end of the Meeting.

Background

The ODSG was established in 1998 by a small group of donors. It has since then grown and now brings together 27 top OCHA donors in a unique informal constellation, serving as a "sounding board" and a source of advice on policy, management, budgetary and financial questions.

The previous, current and future chairs form the ODSG 'troika', which has the role of liaising on behalf of donors with OCHA throughout the year. Currently the troika is made up of Germany, the European Commission and Denmark and the following 'troika' will be comprised of the European Commission, Denmark and Sweden.

For more information

Headline on EU Chairmanship conclusion

http://ec.europa.eu/echo/news/2014/20140630_en.htm

The European Commission's humanitarian aid and civil protection:

http://ec.europa.eu/echo/index_en.htm

Commissioner Georgieva's website:

http://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/georgieva/index_en.htm