Commissioner for Preparedness, Crisis Management and Equality, Hadja Lahbib, reflects on her first months in office, the challenges ahead, and the importance of collaboration in strengthening Europe’s crisis preparedness. She highlights key priorities, including the new preparedness strategy and the role of the Knowledge Network in fostering resilience.
Inspiring, challenging, and hugely rewarding. This is how I would describe my first few months as Commissioner for Preparedness, Crisis Management and Equality.
Inspiring – because I have the privilege of working with a team of civil protection and humanitarian colleagues who live and breathe their passion for preparing and helping others. Challenging – because we see the massive work ahead to make our people and societies ready for today’s increased threats. And rewarding – because I have seen in the eyes of kids, women and men, living in horrific conditions, what our work means to them and their families.
I would like to thank each of you for what you do every day – to save lives, provide support, and bring hope. Your passion inspires me, and so many others. It touches the lives of so many vulnerable people around the world. You embody our European values. You are Europe at its best.
In recent weeks, I visited Ukraine, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey, where I witnessed the immense needs. Families living in shelters who had lost their homes, women and girls supporting generations of family members, kids trying to learn in shelters and refugee camps. But in all these places I also found the EU, with sleeves rolled up, working to help others with generosity and solidarity. These were all sharp reminders of the vital work we do to improve lives and bring hope. It also brought into focus the challenges our civil protection and humanitarian colleagues face every day.
Climate change is also rocking our planet. We are facing more intense and more frequent disasters than ever, as we have seen with the record number of Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM) activations in recent years due to floods and forest fires.
Only together can we tackle these complex challenges. That is why I am honoured to have such a dedicated team by my side. I have heard from so many people that DG ECHO is a community. And I have seen it time and again in my first weeks on the job. Civil protection is a vocation with a shared community spirit.
The Knowledge Network is a vital hub of this community, where we can all learn from each other – sharing research and best practices and ramping up our ability to act effectively. This newsletter is an excellent example.
Preparedness, as you know, will be a key priority in the coming months, with our new strategy. The interview with President Niinistö will delve into the rationale behind our preparedness strategy. The articles on science in civil protection – and our valuable teamwork with the Joint Research Centre – are also a fascinating window into how science saves lives by turning data into actionable solutions for managing crises.
Thank you again for your warm welcome into your Civil Protection family. I look forward to meeting you in the coming months. Together – we will achieve great things.