Article 79

1. Humanitarian and emergency aid shall be granted in the OCTs faced with serious economic and social difficulties of an exceptional nature resulting from natural or man-made disasters or extraordinary circumstances having comparable effects. Humanitarian and emergency aid shall be maintained as long as necessary to deal with the urgent problems which arise in such situations. Humanitarian and emergency aid shall be granted solely on the basis of the needs and interests of disaster victims. 2. The aim of humanitarian and emergency aid shall be to: save human lives, prevent and alleviate suffering and maintain human dignity in crisis and post-crisis situations; contribute to the financing and delivery of humanitarian aid and to the direct access to it of its intended beneficiaries by all logistical means available; carry out short-term rehabilitation and reconstruction to enable the victims to benefit from a minimum of socioeconomic integration and, as soon as possible, create the conditions for a resumption of development on the basis of long-term objectives; address the needs arising from the displacement of people, such as refugees, displaced persons and returnees, following natural or man-made disasters so as to meet, for as long as necessary, all the needs of refugees and displaced persons, regardless of where they are located, and facilitate action for their voluntary repatriation and re-integration in their country of origin; and assist the OCTs in setting up short term disaster prevention and preparedness mechanisms, including for prediction and early warning, with a view to reducing the consequences of disasters. 3. The aid provided for by this Article may also be granted to OCTs taking in refugees or returnees to meet acute needs not covered by emergency assistance. 4. Aid provided for by this Article shall be financed from the general budget of the Union. However, it may exceptionally be financed from the allocations laid down in Annex II, in addition to the funding from the budget heading concerned. 5. Humanitarian and emergency aid operations shall be undertaken at the request of the OCTs affected, the Commission, the Member State to which the OCTs is linked, international organisations or local or international non-governmental organisations. Such aid shall be administered and implemented under procedures that facilitate rapid, flexible and effective operations.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-11-02 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.