The first World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul
The first World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul will involve a paradigm shift.
The humanitarian system faces huge challenges, with complex and prolonged crises increasingly dictating humanitarian aid work. More and more people are dependent on humanitarian aid, while last year was the first time that more than 60 million people were on the run worldwide. As a result, the need for humanitarian aid has grown further. The World Humanitarian Summit from 23 to 24 May 2016 in Istanbul will explore how this demand can be met and how efficient and forward-looking humanitarian aid can be delivered.
Non-government stakeholders on equal footing with government representatives
At the invitation of United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon, a World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) is to be staged for the first time. The WHS stands out among the many summit formats, the majority of which are intergovernmental, in that it allows broad civil society participation: non-government humanitarian aid stakeholders such as aid organisations will be meeting on an equal footing with government representatives in Istanbul – the aforementioned challenges can only be overcome if all the stakeholders involved undertake joint efforts.
This demands new approaches to humanitarian aid, for example when it comes to funding, an area in which Germany is particularly engaged. New, non-conventional donors need to be found, while a “grand bargain” is to help close the considerable gap between what is needed and the aid funding that has actually been promised. This involves a fundamental paradigm shift in humanitarian aid: moving away from a mere reaction to acute crisis scenarios that have already occurred and towards a more forward-looking proactive approach and longer-term planning in line with humanitarian principles. From the outset, Germany has supported the WHS and the humanitarian aid innovations that the summit process will entail.
It is hoped that the discussions that will take place during the WHS will result in a declaration by the UN Secretary-General that all the participants support and that contains concrete obligations to which the participants will commit. If so, the WHS will be able to send out an important signal to strengthen the humanitarian system – thereby helping to even better combat human suffering in humanitarian crises.
World Humanitarian Summit from 23 to 24 May 2016 in Istanbul
