Developing an integrated framework on area-based approaches for DG ECHO

The primary objective of this mission is to help DG ECHO develop an integrated framework at both the policy and operational levels. It will help to clarify DG ECHO’s understanding of, and position on, area-based approaches. It will also help to promote the importance of these approaches and the fact that they can be applied beyond the Shelter and Settlements sector by adopting a much broader approach to include both displaced people and host communities.

In particular, the mission will be an opportunity to:

• Present and explain the main aspects of area-based approaches according to DG ECHO;
• Identify the areas in which DG ECHO would like to focus its efforts in developing approaches of this kind;
• Ensure that there is coherence between DG ECHO’s different strategies and policies, and the guidelines for area-based approaches.

There is growing interest in area-based approaches within the aid sector. They allow the whole population living within a given area to be taken into account and assistance to be considered from a multi-sector and inclusive perspective. They are therefore part of the current shift towards aid localisation and the humanitarian-development-peace Nexus.