Commissioner Georgieva met today with Jacob Kellenberger, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) – one of the EU's principal humanitarian partners. The ICRC is endowed with a mandate of utmost importance: its mission is to protect the lives and dignity of victims of armed conflict and other violence and to provide them with assistance. The ICRC benefits from strong and constant support from the European Union as it carries out its missions. Over the last two years, the Commission allocated over €153 million to the ICRC.

The Commissioner and President Kellenberger discussed some of today’s major ongoing humanitarian crises – in Libya, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Somalia and the Ivory Coast – where both organisations work together to alleviate suffering and bring life-saving relief to those affected. Libya remains very high on the agenda, with the EU being at the forefront of the humanitarian response and the ICRC providing medical assistance. It does this assisting local doctors, among other activities, such as providing food, water and basic supplies to those affected by the conflict.

During the discussions, Commissioner Georgieva also stressed the need to reinforce the legal protection for Internally Displaced persons (IDPs), as well as her willingness to maintain an active role in strengthening International Humanitarian Law. She also emphasised the importance of closer cooperation between humanitarian and development actors with the goal of addressing protracted crises and tackling, inter alia, food insecurity and malnutrition around the world.