Providing humanitarian assistance is part of the Czech foreign policy. It is governed by the Act on Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid which entered into force in 2010. According to this law, the humanitarian aid is defined as a set of activities financed from the national budget, in order to prevent loss of life and damage to health, to alleviate suffering and to restore basic living conditions of people after an emergency, as well as to mitigate long lasting consequences of emergencies and to prevent their occurrence and negative consequences.

The provision of humanitarian assistance is globally guided by fundamental international humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence. The Czech Republic endorsed these principles in 2006, having joined the Good Humanitarian Donorship (GHD) platform. As a member of the European Union, the Czech Republic is also engaged in active participation of the European Union through the implementation of the European Consensus on Humanitarian Aid.

The Czech Republic recognizes the key role of the UN in the global coordination of humanitarian action. Within the UN system, in particular, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) which mission is to strengthen the coordination among UN organizations that provide help in emergency situations. The Office seeks to reach consensus between different organizations of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) on the question of division of powers, the establishment of coordination mechanisms, sending fact-finding missions, preparation of uniform calls for assistance and sourcing.

The Czech Republic also supports activities of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement based in Geneva. It is one of the oldest organizations in the world and its main field is the promotion of the International Humanitarian Law, which applies in times of armed conflict. It consists of the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. It brings together national organizations in almost every country in the world – including the Czech Red Cross. The Czech Republic is a contracting party of the Geneva Conventions on the protection of victims of armed conflicts  of 1949, and all its three additional protocols and other agreements from this field. The National Committee for the Implementation of International Humanitarian Law has been established by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to advise and assist the government in implementing and spreading knowledge of International Humanitarian Law.

Foreign humanitarian assistance is coordinated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while authorised ministries run individual projects – for instance the Ministry of Interior provides the humanitarian assistance in the field of migration and refugee policy.  Each year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs prepares Humanitarian Assistance Operational Strategy of the Czech Republic, the purpose of which is to provide an overview of basic humanitarian policy and response priorities, on the background of global humanitarian needs, accepted international commitments and recommendations. The MFA budget for the humanitarian aid provided abroad in 2017 is CZK 130 million. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs regularly publishes updated information about the use of the budget and submits to the government annual report of the humanitarian assistance provided to foreign countries.

More information on humanitarian aid of the Czech Republic can be found on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic.