(*) Key achievements in the table state which period they relate to. Many come from the implementation of the predecessor programmes under the 2014-2020 multiannual financial framework. This is expected and is due to the multiannual life cycle of EU programmes and the projects they finance, where results often follow only after completion of the programmes.
Budget for 2021-2027
(**) Only Article 15(3) of the financial regulation.
(million EUR)
Financial programming | 1 015.0 |
NextGenerationEU |
|
Decommitments made available again (*) | N/A |
Contributions from other countries and entities | 18.0 |
Total budget 2021-2027 | 1 033.0 |
(*) Only Article 15(3) of the financial regulation.
Rationale and design of the programme
The programme finances projects to give young people a chance to take part in solidary activities addressing societal challenges through volunteering or to set up their own solidary projects. It provides supports to young people wishing to engage in solidary activities in a variety of areas, from helping the disadvantaged and delivering humanitarian aid to contributing to health and environmental action across the EU and beyond.
The EU is built on solidarity, a shared value strongly felt throughout European society. Solidarity is a fundamental pillar of the European integration project, providing a clear compass to guide EU citizens, and especially the young ones, in their aspirations for a better EU. Many young people wish to engage in solidarity activities. Communities have unmet needs that could be addressed by involving younger generations in such activities, and many organisations engaged in solidarity initiatives are looking for motivated youngsters to help with their efforts. These imbalances of supply and demand require attention.
In the absence of measures to bring organisations and young people together to promote solidarity, there is a risk that a major potential for solidarity activities goes untapped. This could result in an unnecessary welfare loss to organisations, young people and society as a whole. Furthermore, there is room for improvement by simplifying processes and there are efficiency gains to be derived from economies of scale and scope.
Whereas tackling socio-economic issues is primarily the responsibility of Member States, intervention at the EU level enhances the European, cross-border dimension of solidarity, complementing existing national and regional public and private policies, programmes and activities without creating competition or substitution effects. This intervention also helps identify shared challenges, stimulate cooperation and transnational mobility, encourage synergies, and promote the sharing of good practices and mutual learning in addition to supporting an EU-wide approach to social innovation, where there is clear added value to European solutions.
In 2022, Europe was still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as a series of extreme weather events and natural disasters in 2021 (e.g. floods, large-scale forest fires in a number of countries), with many supported projects addressing their consequences.
The importance of solidarity among individuals and communities, within or across borders, became even more apparent in 2022 following the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the resulting big inflow of refugees into the EU.
Against this background, the programme brings together young people and organisations to build a more inclusive society, supporting vulnerable people and responding to societal and humanitarian challenges. It offers an inspiring and empowering experience for young people who want to help, learn and develop, and provides a single entry point for such solidarity activities across the EU and beyond.
The general objective of the programme is to enhance the engagement of young people and organisations in accessible and high quality solidarity activities, primarily volunteering, as a means to strengthen cohesion, solidarity, democracy, European identity and active citizenship in the Union and beyond. It will address societal and humanitarian challenges on the ground, with a particular focus on the promotion of sustainable development, social inclusion and equal opportunities.
The programme offers opportunities, which further energise solidarity between Europeans and mobilise young Europeans to support their local communities, bringing relief to one another during isolation or confinement, including helping older generations gain digital skills to stay connected and offering care for those hardest hit by the crisis. Overall, it enhances the European cross-border dimension of solidarity, complementing existing national and regional public and private policies, programmes and activities without creating competition or substitution effects.
Actions to tackle socio-economic problem areas are primarily the responsibility of the Member States and regions and must be taken closest to the citizens at national and sub-national levels. The programme addresses the role the EU has to play in identifying shared challenges, stimulating cooperation and transnational mobility, encouraging synergies, and promoting the sharing of good practices and mutual learning in addition to supporting a Europe-wide approach to social innovation, where there is clear value added for European solutions.
The specific objective of the programme is to provide young people, including young people with fewer opportunities, with easily accessible opportunities for engagement in solidarity activities that induce positive societal changes in the EU and beyond, while improving and properly validating their competences, as well as facilitating their continuous engagement as active citizens.
In order to achieve its objectives, the programme implements its actions structured into two strands:
- Participation of young people in solidarity activities:
- volunteering
- solidarity projects.
- Participation of young people in humanitarian aid related solidarity activities (‘Volunteering under the European Voluntary Humanitarian Aid Corps’):
- Humanitarian Aid Volunteering projects.
- Additionally, the programme supports a series of activities and measures aiming at providing high-quality solidarity activities:
- networking activities
- quality and support measures.
The programme is implemented directly both by the European Commission, under the leadership of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Education and Culture (which bears the overall responsibility for supervision and coordination), and by the European Education and Culture Executive Agency. The bulk of the programme’s activities are implemented in indirect management with the support of a network of national agencies, which brings the programme closer to its target audience, adapting it to the different national education systems, and offers the possibility to align it with national priorities.
The programme builds on achievements of the predecessor programme in its first years of existence and on the EU Aid Volunteers initiative, further consolidating efforts to have a single entry point for young people wishing to engage in solidarity activities and extending the scope to cover volunteering activities in support of humanitarian aid operations.
Its inclusion and diversity framework will help further improve access to solidarity opportunities, especially for participants with fewer opportunities. The programme will also give more emphasis to the Commission’s priorities and contribute to the EU’s sustainable growth and digitalisation.
Programme website:
Impact assessment:
- Ex ante evaluation of the programme: https://europa.eu/!ht93mJ.
Relevant regulation:
Evaluations:
Budget
Budget programming (million EUR):
2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | 2027 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Financial programming | 135.7 | 141.4 | 144.2 | 144.0 | 146.9 | 149.8 | 152.9 | 1 015.0 |
NextGenerationEU | ||||||||
Decommitments made available again (*) | N/A | |||||||
Contributions from other countries and entities | 11.0 | 7.0. | p.m. | p.m. | p.m. | p.m. | p.m. | 18.0 |
Total | 146.7 | 141.4 | 144.2 | 144.0 | 146.9 | 149.8 | 152.9 | 1 033.0 |
(*) Only Article 15(3) of the financial regulation.
Financial programming:
+ EUR 6 million (+ 1%)
compared to the legal basis*
* Top-ups pursuant to Art. 5 of the multiannual financial framework regulation are excluded from financial programming in this comparison.
- The 2021-2027 financial programming has a rather linear and flat profile with a moderate increase of the programme over the programming period (initially about 2% by year). In 2022 and 2023, the programme received additional budget as a result of the final EU voted budget (EUR 3 million each year).
Budget performance – implementation
Multiannual cumulative implementation rate at the end of 2022 (million EUR):
Implementation | 2021-2027 Budget | Implementation rate | |
---|---|---|---|
Commitments | 290.5 | 1 033.0 | 28.1% |
Payments | 201.6 | 19.5% |
Annual voted budget implementation (million EUR)(1):
Commitments | Payments | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Voted budget implementation | Initial voted budget | Voted budget implementation | Initial voted budget | |
2021 | 135.7 | 135.7 | 75.0 | 90.7 |
2022 | 141.4 | 141.4 | 122.0 | 99.7 |
(1) Voted appropriations (C1) only.
2021-2022
- Following the challenging and complex first year of the new multiannual financial framework, triggered by the late adoption of programme regulations and annual work programmes, combined with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2022 aimed to be a decisive year to demonstrate the ability of the programme to enter steadily in cruising speed as regards budget implementation.
- However, 2022 also had its share of unexpected and exceptional challenges. Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine combined with the impacts of quickly rising inflation on beneficiaries required our programmes to adapt and take appropriate measures, both at the operational and budgetary levels.
- In this challenging context, the Commission quickly adapted flexibility measures to allow projects to refocus, on a voluntary basis, parts of their activities to provide short-term support to Ukraine.
- The extremely high inflation rate in the EU in 2021-2022 particularly affects subsistence costs (e.g; food and housing) for the programme. For this reason, a review of individual support amounts (unit costs) for the grants was applied under the 2023 call:
- cumulative EU inflation rate in the 2017-2020 period of 5.92% is applied for those actions, which were not yet increased at the start of the programming period;
- an adjustment of 12.27% based on the comparative increase of the price indices between January 2021 and July 2022 (latest monthly index available).
- The proposed adjustment is the start of a more in-depth and comprehensive revision of the applicable rates, based on the impact of the inflation increase.
- In 2022 the programme also strongly contributed to the European Year of Youth. The European Parliament and the Council approved a EUR 3 million reinforcement to the programme for 2022 for activities related to the European Year of Youth. The reinforcement was allocated to certain programme actions dedicated to preparing and carrying out activities in line with the European Year of Youth 2022 such as volunteering activities, solidarity projects, networking activities, European Solidarity Corps Portal developments, etc. ‘Solidarity Projects’, which allow groups of young people to design and implement their own projects and to deal with issues faced directly by the communities where they live, were the format that benefited most from the budgetary reinforcement as it is an easy-access action format that best reflected the year’s objective to empower young people.
- The Commission, together with the European Education and Culture Executive Agency, managed to close 2022 with outstanding budgetary performance, reaching an overall budget execution of 100%, both in commitments and payments appropriations for the EU voted budget available at year end.
- In 2022, we clearly noticed an acceleration of budget implementation in payment appropriations compared to 2021. As a result, reinforcement of credits redeployed from other programmes were needed to cover the payment needs until the year end.
2023
- On top of the additional EU voted budget for the 2023 programme (EUR 3 million), outside the framework of the annual work programme of the programme, the budget available for 2023 activities of the programme will be topped up by the Horizon Europe EU Missions funds (EUR 16.53 million). There are five missions that steer actions to find solutions and results by 2030 to key global challenges.
- Adaptation to climate change: support at least 150 European regions and communities to become climate resilient by 2030.
- Cancer: working with Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan to improve the lives of more than 3 million people by 2030.
- Restore our ocean and waters by 2030.
- 100 climate-neutral and smart cities by 2030.
- ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’: 100 living labs and lighthouses to lead the transition towards healthy soils by 2030.
2024
- The 2024 planned commitment appropriations are aligned with the 2021-2027 financial programming. The estimated needs in payment appropriations for 2024 take into account the acceleration in budget implementation observed in 2022, the past average payment trends and the most recent forecast provided by national agencies.
Contribution to horizontal priorities
Green budgeting
Contribution to green budgeting priorities (million EUR):
Implementation | Estimates | Total contribution | % of the 2021–2027 budget | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | 2027 | |||
Climate mainstreaming | 18.0 | 15.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 33.7 | 3% |
Biodiversity mainstreaming | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0% |
Clean air | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0% |
- The programme contributes to the mainstreaming of climate action by targeting organisations and young people wishing to tackle current societal challenges, including climate action, through projects that benefit people and communities across Europe and beyond. A coefficient of 40% is applied to the relevant projects budget, in accordance with the EU climate coefficients methodology. Young people between the ages of 18 and 30 can take part in a wide range of solidarity activities, such as tackling societal challenges and supporting vulnerable people, and contributing to positive change in communities across Europe and beyond, all while gaining valuable skills. Climate action, the environment and nature protection are increasingly popular areas within the programme. A strategic approach towards carbon-neutral and more environmentally-friendly post-2020 EU programmes for education, training, youth, sport and solidarity is under preparation. Meanwhile, the programme already supports sustainability and climate action in the following ways:
- supporting projects with the themes of climate action and sustainability;
- assigning a dedicated priority in its specific calls for ‘Volunteering teams in high-priority areas’ to climate change and sustainability;
- promoting sustainable awareness among programme participants.
- In 2021-2022, the programme supported projects and activities aiming to protect, conserve and enhance natural capital, to raise awareness about environmental sustainability and to enable behavioural changes linked to individual preferences, consumption habits and lifestyles. The programme supports initiatives aimed at preventing and mitigating or repairing the adverse effects of extreme weather events and natural disasters, along with activities that provide support to affected communities in the aftermath of such events or disasters.
- In general, the programme promotes the incorporation of green practices in all projects, regardless of the main focus of their activities. Organisations and participants involved with the programme should have an environmentally-friendly approach when designing their activities . Activities contributing to other existing EU initiatives in the area of environmental sustainability (e.g. the New European Bauhaus) are highly encouraged.
- Combining funding from the programme and Horizon Europe EU Missions in 2023 will further mobilise young citizens to give their time to climate and environmental projects as well as health projects, linked to the goals of the missions. Creating a connection between the missions and the programme will help to deliver a systemic change. The extra budget allocated from Horizon Europe EU Missions to the programme (EUR 16.53 million) addresses the following priorities: green, health, digital, culture, civil security and food bioeconomy.
- The yearly contribution to climate objectives is based on beneficiary organisations’ applications for receiving funding for projects with climate-related topics.
Gender
Contribution to gender equality (million EUR) (*):
Gender score | 2021 | 2022 | Total |
---|---|---|---|
Score 0: | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Score 0*: | 108.4 | 83.4 | 191.8 |
Score 1: | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Score 2: | 27.3 | 58.0 | 85.3 |
(*) Based on the applied gender contribution methodology, the following scores are attributed at the most granular level of intervention possible:
- 2: interventions the principal objective of which is to improve gender equality;
- 1: interventions that have gender equality as an important and deliberate objective but not as the main reason for the intervention;
- 0: non-targeted interventions (interventions that are expected to have no significant bearing on gender equality);
- 0*: score to be assigned to interventions with a likely but not yet clear positive impact on gender equality.
- The programme aims to promote social inclusion by facilitating access to young people with fewer opportunities. These young people need additional support because they are at a disadvantage compared to their peers, due to various obstacles such as gender-based discrimination.
- Regarding interventions of which the principal objective is to improve gender equality (score 2), the total yearly contribution to gender is based on beneficiary organisations’ applications for receiving funding for projects with gender-related topics.
- Regarding interventions with a likely but not yet clear impact on gender equality (score 0*), the total yearly contribution to gender is the difference between the programme budget as indicated in the relevant annual work programme and the yearly contribution to gender, based on beneficiary organisations’ applications for receiving funding for projects with gender-related topics.
- Data are provisional, as the final results will only be available upon completion of the projects (normally 2-3 years after they start).
- Due to the specificities of the European Solidarity Programme, it is not possible to fully discern gender contribution from voted budget implementation commitments only. The split presented in the table above represents a pro-rata repartition based on the scores' proportions of the total implementation included in the relevant Annual Work programmes. This total of 288.8 million includes administrative credits on top of the voted budget implementation.
Digital
Contribution to digital transition (million EUR):
2021 | 2022 | Total | % of the total 2021-2027 implementation | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Digital contribution | 28.9 | 34.3 | 63.2 | 21.8% |
- The programme aims to support Europeans, regardless of their gender, age and background, to live and thrive in the digital age through projects and activities that help to improve digital skills in general and/or foster digital literacy, and to develop an understanding of the risks and opportunities of digital technology.
- In general, the programme promotes the use of appropriate information, communication and technology tools in all projects, regardless of the main focus of their activities.
- The yearly contribution to digital objectives is based on beneficiary organisations’ applications for receiving funding for projects with digital-related topics. Data are provisional, as the final results will only be available upon completion of the projects (normally 2-3 years after they start).
Budget performance – outcomes
Baseline | Progress (*) | Target | Results | Assessment | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number of participants in solidarity activities | 0 | 23% | 185 755 in 2027 | 42 903 compared to a target of 185 755 | Moderate progress |
Number of organisations holding a quality label | 0 | 67% | 5 965 in 2027 | 3 987 compared to a target of 5 965 | On track |
Share of participants with fewer opportunities | 0% | 29% | 30% annually from 2022 | Milestones achieved for 2021 and 2022 | On track |
Share of activities that address climate objectives | 0% | 21% | 15% annually from 2026 | Sum of results for 2021 and 2022 of 0.19 compared to sum of milestones of 0.9 | Moderate progress |
(*) % of target achieved by the end of 2022.
Link to file with complete set of EU core performance indicators
- The late adoption of the programme’s legal basis delayed the publication of the 2021 call and consequently the selection of proposals for funding. As a result, projects were awarded and contracted later than usual. In addition, many organisations postponed their project activities from 2019 and 2020 until 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Consequently, some of them did not have the operational capacity to initiate new projects under the new multiannual financial framework (i.e. in response to the 2021 call). In 2021, these factors further exacerbated the lower budget take-up that is typical for the first year of each programming period, i.e. the time needed by potential applicants to adjust to new rules and procedures.
- After 2 years of implementation, we see that the programme’s volunteering projects fully absorb the allocated budget, due to the high demand by young people for volunteering opportunities. However, we also observe that the number of young people who can be supported with the available budget is lower than initially expected. This is due to a lower-than-estimated take-up of short-term activities, which are less costly, and more-than-estimated take-up of long-term volunteering activities.
- The short-term activities, which typically last from 2 weeks to 2 months, cost on average about 8 to 10 times less than the longer-term activities, which last for several months and up to 1 year. These activities are designed mainly for young people with fewer opportunities. The original estimations of the budget split between short- and long-term activities was 35% short-term versus 65% long-term, whereas we now observe a split closer to 15% for short-term and 85% for long-term activities. This explains to a great extent the implementation figures (in terms of the number of volunteers). Additional factors influencing these figures are inflation and a more significant uptake of the programme by young people with fewer opportunities, which exceeds the programme’s original ambitions. At the time of the publication of this document, it is too early to report on the performance of the 2021-2027 programme. The ongoing mid-term evaluation of the programme is due to be finalised by the end of 2024 and will provide factual inputs on programme performance.
- Building on past experience, the programme implementation scheme is evolving to become more efficient and address issues that came up in the previous multiannual financial framework. In 2021, a specific priority, ‘Prevention, promotion and support in the field of health’, was added to mobilise volunteers in addressing the impact of the pandemic and the recovery. In 2022, two priorities were indicated: ‘Promoting healthy lifestyles’ and ‘Preservation of cultural heritage’.
- The main novelty is the launch of the European Voluntary Humanitarian Aid Corps, a new centralised action that will allow the deployment of young volunteers in non-EU countries. Following intense preparatory work announced in the 2021 annual work programme, the first call for proposals was published in the 2022 programme guide, enabling organisations that have been awarded the specific quality label to request funding for volunteering opportunities in support of humanitarian aid projects. As this is the first year of implementation, and based on the results of the first call, we can make more accurate estimates for the following years, notably for the deployment in teams, which is much lower than what had been initially expected. In practice, the number of volunteers is now expected to be much lower than the initial estimation, but their deployments are expected to last longer.
- During the active programme, the European Voluntary Service and the European Solidarity Corps were merged to provide better coherence in this field and to address the deficiencies of the previous programmes. Corrective measures were put in place for the new humanitarian aid strand to prevent the low take-up experienced by the corresponding action in the 2014-2020 multiannual financial framework, the EU Aid Volunteers initiative. Concerning training in particular, a new and much more effective training cycle was devised. A deeper integration with the features of other programme strands was ensured. The deadline for the humanitarian aid applications for the 2023 call is in May and further assessment will be available after that date.
- The programme and its entire community once again showed extreme resilience and adaptability, by quickly mobilising to provide relief to Ukrainian residents fleeing the war, along with communities across the EU that offered them a safe haven. With the conflict still ongoing, the programme will continue to contribute to the provision of relief for people fleeing armed conflicts and other victims of natural or man-made disasters in 2023.
MFF 2014-2020 – European Solidarity Corps
The former programme (2018-2020) was aimed at giving young people the chance to take part in a range of solidarity activities that address challenging situations across the EU, such as rebuilding communities following natural disasters and addressing social issues such as social exclusion, poverty and health, and demographic challenges. The programme supported volunteering, traineeships and job placements in a wide range of sectors engaged in solidarity and provided young people with opportunities to set up their own solidarity projects or volunteer as a group.
Budget implementation
Cumulative implementation rate at the end of 2022 (million EUR):
Implementation | 2014-2020 Budget | Implementation rate | |
---|---|---|---|
Commitments | 352.0 | 352.2 | 99.9% |
Payments | 279.8 | 79.4% |
- The programme started in 2018 for a period of 3 years (2018-2020).
- During the 2018-2020 period, its total budget was consumed at nearly 100% in terms of commitments and at about 79% in terms of payments.
- The late adoption of the regulation in October 2018 delayed the effective start of the programme and consequently the launch of the 2018 and 2019 calls for proposals. This slow take-off affected the implementation of the programme, which was spread over more years than initially planned, and the related payment consumption. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic had an impact on the solidarity activities in the last year of the programming period. DG Education, Youth, Sport and Culture granted extensions of the duration for ongoing projects, which also had the technical effect of reducing payments scheduled for 2021, moving them to 2022 and 2023. In some limited cases, the non-receipt of interim reports in time led to a reduced volume of payment appropriations consumed in 2021.
Baseline | Progress (*) | Target | Results | Assessment | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Participants in volunteering | 0 | 42% | 61 900 | 25 911 out of 61 900 participants | Deserves attention |
Participants in traineeships | 0 | 5% | 11 200 | 541 out of 11 200 participants | Deserves attention |
Participants in solidarity projects | 0 | 46% | 18 900 | 8 629 out of 18 900 participants | Deserves attention |
(*) Cumulative results for 2014-2020 compared to target.
Link to file with complete set of EU core performance indicators
- The programme builds on the achievements of the European Voluntary Service and on the first phase of the programme, launched in December 2016, whereby different EU programmes were mobilised to offer volunteering, traineeships or job activities to young people across the EU. In 2018, the first programme regulation created a new, coherent framework for solidarity-related activities.
- The programme proved successful in providing opportunities to address horizontal priorities such as inclusion (with more than 30% of participants being people with fewer opportunities) or climate change (13% of projects supported under the programme address climate action, the environment and nature protection). It offered support for projects revolving around a range of solidarity (in the form of individual or team volunteering, traineeships, jobs and solidarity projects) involving young people between 18 and 30 years of age.
- The programme performed well in terms of budget absorption. However, it is now clear that the initial assumptions on targets were inaccurate. The combination of full budget absorption and low participant numbers (44%-46% of relevant target) shows that the cost of supporting individual solidarity opportunities was severely underestimated. The overestimated overall number of participants may be the consequence of an inaccurate estimation of the budget split between short- and long-term activities. The applicants’ strong preference for (more costly) long-term activities only became apparent during the implementation of the programme and explains to a great extent the implementation figures (in terms of the number of volunteers).
- The ‘Traineeships and jobs’ strand, which represented the biggest novelty under the programme, faced additional challenges. The performance targets had been designed with the expectation of a full 3 years of implementation over the 2018-2020 period. The short programme period (end of 2018-2020) had an impact on the possibilities for successful outreach to an entirely new category of stakeholders (potential participating organisations), and the ‘Traineeships and jobs’ strand did not manage to carve out a niche in the relatively vast range of national and EU tools aimed at improving the employment prospects of young people.
- In terms of participation rates, the number of young people in volunteering and solidarity projects continued to rise. In 2021, the total number of participants from the 2018–2020 calls exceeded 12 000. In 2021 alone, over 3 000 volunteering participants took part in programme activities despite the COVID-19 restrictions. The programme continued to provide relief where possible, for example by providing assistance to elderly people during the pandemic.
- Nearly 280 000 young people from across the EU registered with the programme by the end of 2020.
- The combination of the high number of young people who expressed their wish to engage in the programme (through registration) and 100% budget absorption showed that the programme is relevant for the target groups and – together with positive feedback from stakeholders in the youth and solidarity sectors – led the Commission to propose that the programme should be renewed for the 2021-2027 period.
MFF 2014-2020 – EU aid volunteers
The EU Aid Volunteers initiative brought together volunteers and organisations from different countries, providing practical support to humanitarian aid projects and contributing to strengthening the local capacity and resilience of disaster-affected communities. The programme incentivised and fostered collaboration and the exchange of knowledge and good practices by building partnerships between organisations in the field of humanitarian aid.
Budget implementation
Cumulative implementation rate at the end of 2022 (million EUR):
Implementation | 2014-2020 Budget | Implementation rate | |
---|---|---|---|
Commitments | 89.2 | 89.5 | 99.7% |
Payments | 68.2 | 76.2% |
- The EU Aid Volunteers initiative was managed until 2020 by DG European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations. During the 2014-2020 period, the total EU budget was allocated at nearly 100% in terms of commitments and at 76% in terms of payments.
- The COVID-19 pandemic further affected the already unsatisfactory level of volunteering activities in support of humanitarian aid in the last year of the programming period. A call for proposals was cancelled and extensions of the duration of ongoing projects were granted to beneficiaries, thereby reducing payments scheduled in 2021. The payments appropriation in 2022 and 2023 will serve to support final payments of projects and actions implemented by the European Education and Culture Executive Agency.
Baseline | Progress (*) | Target | Results | Assessment | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number of EU aid volunteers trained | 0 | 32% | 4 300 in 2020 | 1 383 out of 4 300 volunteers trained | Deserves attention |
Number of EU aid volunteers deployed | 0 | 30% | 4 175 in 2020 | 1 192 out of 4 175 volunteers | Deserves attention |
Number of hosting and sending organisations participating in the EU aid volunteers initiative | 0 | 82% | 535 in 2020 | 439 out of 535 organisations | Moderate progress |
(*) Cumulative results for 2014-2022 compared to target.
Link to file with complete set of EU core performance indicators
- After the launch of the initiative, the uptake of this new programme was below expectations. For the 2014-2020 period, the EU Aid Volunteers initiative aimed to finance the training of an initial target of 4 400 volunteers and the deployment of 4 000 volunteers, the provision of technical assistance and capacity-building to participating organisations, and the implementation of communication and other support activities. By the end of 2022, 1 192 deployments were financed, amounting to 29% of the initial target, and 788 deployments had taken place.
- The EU Aid Volunteers initiative introduced a thorough certification mechanism that required the sending and hosting organisations to prove that they had procedures and policies in place to achieve the high volunteering standards of the programme. This mechanism did not exist during the pilot phase. Consequently, challenging targets were set in terms of certified organisations and volunteers trained and deployed, which did not produce satisfactory results.
- In light of these issues, the aim to achieve better coherence and synergies with the European Voluntary Service and the programme gave rise to the creation of a new humanitarian aid strand in the new programme (2021-2027 multiannual financial framework), which followed the EU Aid Volunteers initiative. The expansion of the programme’s scope to humanitarian aid in non-EU countries as of 2021 (i.e. taking over the legacy of the EU Aid Volunteers initiative) further confirms the programme’s role as a unique gateway for volunteering and other solidarity activities of young people in Europe, improving its visibility and impact across the EU and beyond.
- At the implementation level, the lessons learned from the previous programme have led to significantly simplified access for interested young people and organisations, including better provisions for involving young people with fewer opportunities in the programme. The programme’s quality and support mechanisms have also been enhanced, for example with more training and support options available to the young participants before, during and after their engagement in the programme.
In order to ensure efficient and effective implementation, the 2021-2027 programme makes maximum use of existing management arrangements already in place in the youth field. This allows a better focus on maximising delivery and performance of the programme’s actions while minimising administrative burden.
Sustainable development goals
Contribution to the sustainable development goals
SDGs the programme contributes to | Example |
---|---|
SDG1 End poverty in all its forms everywhere |
Through its activities to achieve social inclusion through solidarity activities, the programme contributes to SDG 1, in particular its target of reducing at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions. Resilience aims at protecting vulnerable populations from the shocks and stresses that keep people in poverty, whilst providing services, livelihoods and opportunities to address the underlying causes of their vulnerability – to ‘leave no-one behind’. Humanitarian Aid Volunteers work together with volunteers in vulnerable communities to strengthen their resilience to disasters and to build local capacity. |
SDG3 Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages |
The programme can play an important role in supporting health and social care systems, improving people’s experience of care, building stronger relationships between services and communities. Through its activities, it also aims at mobilising volunteers around key health challenges, such as those related to cancer, mental health and wellbeing overall. |
SDG4 Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all |
The programme aims, among other things, at developing the skills and competences of participants for professional, social and civic development. In addition, given its strong focus on inclusion, this includes young people with fewer opportunities, including young people with disabilities. |
SDG5 Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls |
The programme aims at removing social obstacles for participation in it for people facing gender-based discrimination, among other reasons. It also supports projects dealing with the issue of gender equality, such as focusing on changing mentalities, sensitising communities to gender and diversity or contributing to breaking down barriers for women’s access to employment. For example, Humanitarian Aid Volunteers are recruited as gender experts to promote gender sensitivity and mainstreaming of gender considerations in disaster risk management in affected communities. |
SDG8 Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all |
All of the programme actions contribute to increase the employability of the young people who participate, as shown by several studies. This is achieved through a combination of outcomes, for example the acquisition of new skills, increased autonomy, increased knowledge of foreign languages. Additionally, solidarity projects can further help the entrepreneurial and innovative spirit of young participants. Finally, the emphasis on inclusion aims to ensure that everyone can reap these benefits, irrespective of disadvantage. |
SDG10 Reduce inequalities within and among countries |
Through its activities, the programme aims to strengthen cohesion and solidarity. It supports projects and activities actively addressing the issue of inclusion in society. Special attention ensures that activities supported by the programme are accessible to all young people, notably the most disadvantaged ones. To this end, special measures are in place to promote social inclusion, the participation of disadvantaged young people, as well as to take into account the constraints imposed by the remoteness of the outermost EU regions and overseas countries and territories. Similarly, the participating countries should endeavour to adopt all appropriate measures to remove legal and administrative obstacles to the proper functioning of the programme. These include – wherever possible and without prejudice to the Schengen acquis and EU law on the entry and residence of non-EU nationals – resolving administrative issues that create difficulties in obtaining visas and residence permits. |
SDG11 Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable |
Through its activities aiming at addressing societal challenges, the programme supports efforts to promote sustainable development of urban areas, and to protect and safeguard Europe’s cultural heritage. |
SDG13 Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts |
The programme aims at integrating green practices into all projects and activities, and promoting environmentally-sustainable and responsible behaviour among participants and participating organisations. Organisations and participants should thus have an environmentally-friendly approach when designing and implementing their activities. The programme also supports projects and activities addressing the topics of environmental protection, sustainability and climate goals, and aiming to protect, conserve and enhance natural capital, to raise awareness about environmental sustainability and to enable behavioural changes for individual preferences, consumption habits and lifestyles. |