The European Commission, through the The Directorate General for Humanitarian Aid (ECHO), have organised a Call for applications from individual experts for technical assistance to third countries in the area of humanitarian aid.

The Directorate General for Humanitarian Aid — ECHO is responsible for the management and financing of the European Community's humanitarian aid, the conditions for which are laid down in Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/96. In line with article 4 of this Regulation, ECHO's mandate includes, in particular, the following activities:

• Preparatory and feasibility studies for humanitarian operations and the assessment of humanitarian
• projects and plans,
• Operations to monitor humanitarian projects and plans,
• Measures to strengthen the Community's co-ordination with the Member States, other donor countries,
• international humanitarian organisations and institutions, non-governmental organisations and organisations
• representing them,
• The technical assistance necessary for the implementation of humanitarian projects.

Interested candidates must be included in the European Commission's list of experts. Those wishing to be included in the list must satisfy all the following conditions. They must:

• Hold a higher education diploma (degree or masters level) or secondary school leaving certificate.
• Possess a minimum of three years' professional experience in humanitarian aid and a minimum of two years' relevant experience in their chosen areas of expertise outside the European Union and other industrialised countries, other than their country of origin.
• Be proficient in at least one of the following languages: English, French or Spanish.
• Possess a valid driving licence.

Application

Interested candidates may apply at any time. However, the European Commission reserves the right to exclude candidates from this call for applications or restrict it to certain areas. Applications will be examined for their compliance with the inclusion criteria and candidates will be included on the list at four-monthly intervals beginning in July 2008. Any change in the frequency will be announced on the Internet.

Interested candidates must use the list of areas of activity published on the Internet in order to complete the on-line application form available on the Internet via the Europa server.

The main criterion for determining the basic salary will be years of professional experience, although other criteria such as the expert's level of training, quality of professional experience and the degree of difficulty or responsibility of the assignment may also be taken into account.

The basic salary will be increased by:

• 0 to 25 % of a reference amount (EUR 5 387 per month) according to living conditions at the location of the mission.
• 5 % of basic pay as a head of family allowance.
• EUR 263,11 per month for each dependent child.
• A daily settling-in allowance fixed according to the place of work and payable for up to two months.

All information about the Call for proposal is available through the European Commission website via humanitarian aid.