Humanitarian aid: aid to uprooted people (refugees, displaced persons) in Asian and Latin American developing countries

In its amended proposal, the Commission incorporated, in full or in part, almost all the amendments adopted by Parliament at first reading, with the exception of four amendments on: - consultation of all operational partners, the European Parliament's Committee on Development and the NGO liaison committee before carrying out the projects; - preference in the award of contracts to be given to tenderers in the recipient country; - concerning comitology and its rules: changing the type of committee, dropping the reference to the ALA Committee, consultation before establishment of general guidelines with all partner organizations and holding meetings of the advisory committee in public; - submission by the Commission of a detailed annual report. The amendments incorporated by the Commission concerned: - establishment of democratic structures and the promotion of human rights as an integral part of assistance programmes to uprooted people in developing countries, with assistance targeted to the most vulnerable groups; - budget support for a number of additional operations, including socio-economic development and social integration of refugees, aid for food self-sufficiency, the provision of infrastructure requirements and drinking water, legal support for displaced persons etc.; - the definition of "displaced persons"; - making aid available to persons under serious threat or who are suffering from persecution; - participation by NGOs, especially community-based organizations, in implementing assistance; - review of the regulation after five years.�