Donation procedure

DG ECHO only funds activities and expenses to the extent that they are used to the direct benefit of the final recipients of the humanitarian aid, i.e. the affected people of the humanitarian crisis as targeted in the Partner's Humanitarian Action. In addition, a grant may never produce profit for the Partner. Therefore, and as a general rule, if the full purchase price of the equipment was charged to the Action, the equipment must be donated to local beneficiaries at the end of the Action.

This obligation applies both to 100% financed and co-financed Actions where DG ECHO is the single largest donor (in case of Actions where DG ECHO is not the single largest donor and in case of multidonor Actions, the Partner may decide what to do with the remaining equipment provided that it is used to the benefit of Humanitarian Aid Actions).

Therefore supplies acquired within the framework of an Action, which the Partner has not distributed to beneficiaries or used up before the expiry of the implementation period, should be donated to the beneficiaries of the Action whenever DG ECHO is the largest single donor. This obligation concerns only goods or equipment with significant purchase price:

• goods: more than EUR 500 per category of item
• equipment: more than EUR 500 per single item

The beneficiaries of the donation may be any of the following (Article 19.1 of the General Conditions):

• the final recipients of the Action, i.e. the affected people of the humanitarian crisis;
• the local Partners: these Partners may be local NGOs or the local Partners implementing the actions of the humanitarian organisations (identified in Section 7 of the Single Form);
• the local authorities (at sub-national level), local structures participating in the implementation of short-term rehabilitation or reconstruction work (based on Article 2(d) of the Humanitarian Aid Regulation) such as local, non-profit making hospitals and schools, unless they are identified as implementing partners in section 7 of the Single Form. As the local community will benefit from the donation, the Single Form should mention this local capacity building element, preferably already at proposal stage. The donation letter must specify that the equipment must be used to the benefit of the affected people of the humanitarian crisis (in line with the objectives of the Humanitarian Action), and that it will not be “diverted” to public authorities as a general logistics or support tool (for instance, a generator cannot be donated to the Ministry of Health). The donation must be confirmed by DG ECHO through an exchange of letters;
• In exceptional cases, other international humanitarian actors, on the condition that the decision to donate the equipment is taken on the basis of operational considerations only, is free of any conflict of interest, and the other international actor can guarantee that the equipment is used to the benefit of the final recipients of the humanitarian aid. This involves an amendment of the Agreement (derogation to be introduced under Art 8.2 of Special Conditions).
  

When the beneficiary of the donation is a final recipient of the Action or a local Partner, the Humanitarian Organisation does not have to obtain prior agreement from the Commission. In all other cases, a prior written agreement by DG ECHO is needed.

In case of donation, the Partner must prepare a donation letter or certificate, to be signed by the Partner and the beneficiary of the donation. The purpose of such certificate is to lay down the terms and conditions of the donation. It must stipulate:

• the intended use of the donated equipment (for instance under which circumstance the equipment may be sold);
• that the donated equipment must be identified in the beneficiary's inventory and/or allow for possible verifications;
• that the beneficiary cannot request DG ECHO or other donors to pay for the donated equipment, but that running costs could be charged in follow-up projects.

The certificate must also foresee that if the beneficiary does not comply with these conditions, the Partner may request the return of the donated equipment. The conditions of use as specified in the donation certificate must ensure that the equipment is used to the benefit of the beneficiaries identified in the Action.

In case of donation to a large number of individual beneficiaries, the beneficiaries must be clearly identified by the Partner.



In all cases, the end use of the equipment must be reported on in the final financial report.

References and useful links

• General Conditions, Article 19.1
• Implementing Rules of the Financial Regulation, Article 171(a)
• Fact sheet B.1, section 4.2,
• Fact sheet B.2, section 3.1