HUMANITARIAN AID CONTRIBUTION AGREEMENT (HACA)

The Humanitarian Aid Contribution Agreement (HACA) is the contractual template to be used when implementing a DG ECHO Humanitarian Aid Action, with entities entitled to work under indirect management with the European Commission. Humanitarian Partners working with DG ECHO under indirect management budget implementation mode include UN Agencies, IFRC and ICRC as well as certain Member States’ Specialised Agencies (MSSAs). The list of humanitarian partners of DG ECHO is available at this link.

When signing the HACA, the Organisation agrees to carry out the Action acting on its own responsibility and in accordance with the terms and conditions laid down in the Agreement (including objectives and results of the Action described in the e-Single Form) and in the Financial Framework Partnership Agreement – if any – signed with the European Commission.  

In general, the HACA is composed of the following parts, which form an integral part of the Agreement:

• The Special Conditions: the 7 articles of the Special Conditions describe the main elements of the Action. (See below to find out what is covered by each article).

• The Annex I: is the Description of the Action, which is included in the e-Single Form. The HACA is generated on the basis of the information provided in the approved e-Single Form.  

• The Annex II: is the General Conditions of the Agreement which set general administrative, financial and managerial conditions governing the implementation of a humanitarian aid DG ECHO funded Action. Annex II is an integral part of the Agreement, even if not always materially attached to it.

• The Annex IIa: includes the provisions applicable only to Multi-Partner Humanitarian Aid Contribution Agreements. It applies where two or more DG ECHO Partners, entitled to work under indirect management, implement together a DG ECHO funded Action under a HACA (“multi-Partner HACA”). It sets out the roles and responsibilities of the parties participating in the Action.

• The Annex III: is the Management Declaration, a formal declaration that the Organisation must provide using the template available in the Reference Documents section of this website. It must be submitted either annually or with every progress report (related to a payment request) and final report – as explicitly foreseen in Article 1.5 of the Special Conditions.   

Each Agreement concluded between DG ECHO and the concerned Organisation has a reference number assigned  to a project when selected for contribution and complementary to the project number. This Agreement reference number is indicated in the heading of the Agreement together with the project number. The project number is the code associated with the proposal submitted to DG ECHO and normally follows the structure [year]/[number].

While the language of the Agreement is English, as stated in Article 5 of the Special Conditions, all communication in connection with the Agreement, including reports, shall be in English, or where appropriate, in French. The language of the e-Single Form determines the language to be used for reporting.

The seven Articles of the Special Conditions describe the main elements of the action as follows:

• Article 1: The purpose of the Agreement
• Article 2: Entry into force of the Agreement and the implementation period of the Action
• Article 3: Financing of the Action
• Article 4: Payment arrangements and Reporting
• Article 5: Communication language and contacts
• Article 6: Annexes
• Article 7: Additional specific conditions applying to the Action

The HACA has to be duly signed by the counterparty(-ies), represented by the Legal Representative mentioned in Section 15.1 of the e-Single Form. 

For multi-Partner HACA proposals submitted from November 2025 onwards, the Lead Organisation must indicate in Chapter 15.1.1 of the e-Single Form, whether it will sign on behalf of the other Organisations participating in the implementation of the Action (as listed in Chapter 10.6 of the e-Single Form). If the Organisation does not sign on behalf of the others, all Organisations participating in the Action and party to the Agreement must co-sign the Agreement individually.

Please note that, under no circumstances may the Organisation unilaterally make changes to the HACA received for signature. If the Organisation identifies a clause it disagrees with or has questions about, it must contact the Desk Officer as soon as possible.

As mentioned in the Agreement itself, the Parties signing the Agreement recognise the Qualified Electronic Signature (QES) (in compliance with the Regulation (EU) No 910/2014) as having equivalent legal effect to a hand-written signature. While DG ECHO always signs using QES, the Organisations have the possibility to choose whether to sign with a qualified electronic signature or to hand sign.

Moreover, in the specific case of a multi-Partner HACA, if all Organisations participating in the Action sign the Agreement (as opposed to having the Lead Organisation sign on behalf of the others), the Agreement needs to be signed by all parties in the same format, either with a qualified electronic signature sent by email or a hand-signed copy sent by courier.

Instructions on how to sign are provided in the cover letter accompanying the Agreement.

 
N.B. The Agreement must be returned signed within 15 days from its reception. Only once the Agreement is returned signed, the process for the initial pre-financing payment  will be launched.

In the case of clerical errors (unintentional additions, omissions or typographical errors) in the text of the HACA, the Parties shall inform each other as soon as the error is identified, and the text shall be rectified by mutual consent. The clerical error shall be without prejudice to the validity of the HACA.

Unless terminated earlier, the Agreement shall end on:

• the date of the payment of the balance by DG ECHO or
• the date when the Partner repays any amounts paid in excess by DG ECHO or
• the date of completion of the dispute settlement procedure, if any.