Document status: current. Last source check: 4 Nov 2026, 09:59 UTC. Extracts below retain the donor’s source wording.
Countries and scope
No country list has been extracted. Read the geographic or thematic scope in the HIP and technical annex.
Funding priorities
To allow for fast and flexible response to disasters (natural and human-induced) and early response, ReliefEU support to partners has three modalities:
Response strategy ↗Humanitarian needs are steadily increasing, and their evolution is often difficult to predict. Crises may arise due to natural or human-induced hazards, while others may increase in severity, requiring urgent intervention through the provision of additional funding to partners.
Response strategy ↗For such purposes, ReliefEU Funding includes three instruments:
Response strategy ↗2) Support to the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies' (IFRC) Disaster Response Emergency Fund (DREF)
Response strategy ↗3) Support for the rapid emergency deployment of disaster response experts or teams for response coordination.
Response strategy ↗ALERT allows DG ECHO to provide rapid first-line funding for the immediate response or early response4 to any type of humanitarian emergency (natural and or human-induced, as well as epidemics). This can include bridging funds on a case-by-case basis for an extraordinary, unexpected deterioration of a protracted human-induced crisis, that has led or is likely to lead to major loss of life, physical, psychological or social suffering and/or material damage when these cannot be immediately covered by geographic or regional HIPs.
Response strategy ↗4 See footnote 4 for a description of “early response”.
Response strategy ↗5 Preparedness activities can be considered for funding for epidemic outbreaks.
Response strategy ↗ALERT facilitates the immediate response of humanitarian actors who are already on the ground or who can be deployed rapidly. Its purpose is to provide a first initial response to be able to cover the immediate needs of the most vulnerable population in an emergency.
Response strategy ↗The potential areas of intervention include: 1) Water, sanitation and hygiene and emergency WASH NFIs ; 2) Food assistance and nutrition; 3) Emergency livelihood support; 4) Health5; 5) Non-food items; 6) Emergency rehabilitation of schools and other vital infrastructures; 7) emergency shelter NFIs; 8) Protection; 9) Support to emergency communications; 10) Transport and logistics; 11) Coordination.
Response strategy ↗2) Support to the IFRC Disaster Response Emergency Fund (DREF)
Response strategy ↗DG ECHO’s contribution to the DREF will allow to frontload funding through IFRC to support interventions from the National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies on a case-by-case basis for emergency operations.
Response strategy ↗DG ECHO's contribution to the DREF aims to support quick responses to small and medium- sized disasters, both sudden and slow onset, including early response for imminent disasters providing timely relief to vulnerable people.
Response strategy ↗Up to 20% of the overall contribution to the DREF may be used to support its Anticipatory Pillar.
Response strategy ↗DG ECHO's contribution to the DREF can also be used to support of IFRC Emergency Appeals issued after or in complement to the launch of a DREF replenishment request.
Response strategy ↗The disaster preparedness/response capacity-building at local and national levels, which results from DG ECHO's support to the DREF adds a long-term sustainable aspect to this short-term response.
Response strategy ↗3) Support for the rapid emergency deployment of disaster response experts or teams for response coordination
Response strategy ↗Under this new initiative, DG ECHO will make ReliefEU funding available for the rapid deployment of established coordination structures dedicated to first response.
Response strategy ↗This initiative will not cover the cost of development of these teams, nor their maintenance/training, and will be limited to supporting costs of deployments in emergency and provision of immediate coordination and last-resort response according to each agencies’ mandate.
Response strategy ↗Under this initiative, DG ECHO will establish funding agreements, without however specifying the countries of destination of deployments. As per other ReliefEU modalities, DG ECHO will retain the possibility of agreeing for each individual deployment, harnessing the full range of field-based knowledge to determine whether a deployment is needed and recommendable.
Response strategy ↗The primary objective of this initiative is to enhance the speed and effectiveness of disaster response through a coordinated framework that utilises the resources and expertise of leading agencies. By deploying pre-established teams equipped with specialised skills and tools, this programme aims to swiftly address emergency situations, minimise damage, and provide immediate relief to affected communities.
Response strategy ↗ReliefEU Capacities are humanitarian emergency response tools, designed to provide rapid but temporary support to partners in the humanitarian response where the humanitarian community struggles to provide timely assistance. ReliefEU capacities help thus to cover immediate needs of the affected population, to fill operational gaps, and to strengthen humanitarian access through the provision of safe and reliable transport, logistics and supply chain solutions, expertise and services.
Response strategy ↗The main objectives of ReliefEU capacities are:
Response strategy ↗To support humanitarian actors’ operations to provide effective, efficient, and timely assistance to people in need in the aftermath of a disaster and/or in protracted crises where operational gaps are identified.
Response strategy ↗To show stronger EU leadership in steering and deciding on the delivery of humanitarian assistance, fostering and promoting Team Europe initiatives and driving the humanitarian agenda.
Response strategy ↗To support the EU's overall role as global actor and its political and diplomatic leverage in the context of crises.
Response strategy ↗To contribute to raising the profile of a crisis, drawing attention to operational constraints faced by humanitarian actors on the ground and supporting EU diplomatic efforts in humanitarian access negotiations with local and national authorities.
Response strategy ↗To achieve these objectives, the operational capacities cover temporary weaknesses and gaps within the humanitarian supply chain and humanitarian expertise.
Response strategy ↗a. Logistics services, including air transportation
Response strategy ↗
Partner eligibility
Only ECHO partners are eligible to submit a project for funding13;
Eligibility criteria ↗No award will be made to NGO partner organisations which have not complied with their obligations concerning the submission of audited financial statements (i.e., which would not have submitted those in due time to the Commission without a proper justification) or which would appear not to offer sufficient guarantee as to their financial capacity to implement the proposed actions (in light of their liquidity and solvency ratios as appearing from their latest available annual statutory accounts certified by an approved external auditor).
Eligibility criteria ↗All awards made using EU Funds must respect the Conditionality Measures14 issued under any Council Implementing Decision adopted in accordance with Article 6 of EU Regulation 2020/2092 on a general regime of conditionality for the protection of the Union budget15 (“Conditionality Decision”).
Eligibility criteria ↗The Commission hereby notifies applicants under this HIP/TA of the following Conditionality Decision (valid at the date of publication of this HIP/TA):
Eligibility criteria ↗14 Conditionality Measures against a Concerned Entity, may, for example, include, amongst others, the requirement to:suspend payments or the implementation of the legal commitment to/with the Concerned Entity; and/or terminate the legal commitment with the Concerned Entity; and/or prohibit entering into new legal commitments with the Concerned Entity. Conditionality Decisions and Measures issued under Council Implementing Decisions may impact the implementation of grants, contributions and procurement contracts awarded, as the Commission is required to ensure the application of these Conditionality Decisions
Eligibility criteria ↗and Measures in the implementation of the EU budget via both direct and indirect management. implementation of grants, contributions and procurement contracts awarded, as the Commission is required to ensure the application of these Conditionality Decisions and Measures in the implementation of the EU budget via both direct and indirect management.
Eligibility criteria ↗15 Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2092 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2020 on a general regime of conditionality for the protection of the Union budget OJ L 433I , 22.12.2020, p. 1–10
Eligibility criteria ↗17 Act IX of 2021 on public interest trust foundations with a public service mission (entry into force 01/01/2023).
Eligibility criteria ↗18 Available (in Hungarian) at:[https://njt.hu/jogszabaly/2021-9-00-00](https://njt.hu/jogszabaly/2021-9-00-00)
Eligibility criteria ↗Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/2506 of 15 December 2022 on measures for the protection of the Union budget against breaches of the principles of the rule of law in Hungary16.
Eligibility criteria ↗This Conditionality Decision, in particular its Article 2.2, prohibits legal commitments under direct and indirect management with any public interest trust established by Hungarian Act IX of 202117, including those entities listed in Annex I to Hungarian Act IX of 202118 and other affiliated entities maintained by them (“Concerned Entities”). The Commission will further notify when the above- mentioned Conditionality Measures are lifted.
Eligibility criteria ↗
Apply the round-specific restrictions below together with the complete partner and award conditions.
Allocation rounds and submission dates
Allocation round 1
Indicative date has passed
- Published date / wording
- Indicative date for receipt of the above requested information: by 26 February 202611
- Potential or pre-selected partners
- Potential partners 9 : All DG ECHO Partners, specifically lead agencies with a coordination mandate and a capacity to deploy rapid, pre-established teams.
Dates are indicative and remain in their published context. A date shown here does not certify that new applications are being accepted. Confirm the exact cutoff time and applicable instructions.
Allocation round 1
Indicative date has passed
- Published date / wording
- Indicative date for receipt of the above requested information: from 1 January 2025 onwards
- Round-specific eligibility
- No partner restriction was extracted for this round. Check the complete annex; general partner eligibility alone does not establish access to this round.
Dates are indicative and remain in their published context. A date shown here does not certify that new applications are being accepted. Confirm the exact cutoff time and applicable instructions.
Official documents and versions
- HIP version 3 ↗ Version 3 · document read · 4 Nov 2026, 09:59 UTC
- Technical annex version 3 ↗ Version 3 · document read · 4 Nov 2026, 09:59 UTC