The European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO): 1992-1999 and beyond

The European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO) was established in 1992 to co-ordinate and administer European Union (EU) humanitarian aid and by 1994 had grown to be the world's largest humanitarian aid donor: Since it was set up for an initial period of seven years, ECHO's performance and the question of its continuing existence will be reviewed next year; it seems unlikely to be abolished. Irt light of this, this paper starts with a description of how ECHO functions its mandate, sources of finance and funding mechanisms. It looks then at some of the ongoing challenges that ECHO faces - its relations with Member States, its links to other Commission services and its attempts to establish a distinctive role within the humanitarian aid field. In terms of this last issue, the paper concludes that ECHO should focus instead on establishing itself as a credible donor agency.