Human Wrongs Watch
Sudanese refugee children protest against food ration cuts at Touloum refugee camp in Chad | Credit: IRIN
“Let us not underestimate the gravity of what lies before us in these coming days: A once in a generation opportunity to set in motion an ambitious and far-reaching agenda to change the way that we alleviate, and most importantly prevent, the suffering of the world’s most vulnerable people,” O’Brien added to IPS.
Asked about most civil society organisations increasing concern that the financial resources the WHS is aiming to moblise would come at the very cost of current, already extremely short funding to longer-term objectives, such as the sustainable development goals, O’Brien said, “Not at all; we expect the international community fo be more generous.”
The Istanbul Summit is both about fresh thinking and building on the best, and the change that’s necessary to deliver for our fellow men and women who need us most, said O’Brien.
“Disasters, both man-made and natural, are becoming more frequent, more complex and more intense. More than 60 million people have been forced to flee their homes due to conflict and violence. At this summit, humanitarian partners around the world will commit to take concrete action to address this,” said UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliassonin at a press conference on the eve of the Istanbul Summit.
The United Nations estimates that more than 130 million people are in need of assistance and protection across the world today.
Every year, humanitarian needs continue to grow and more people need more help for longer periods of time. This also drives up the costs of delivering life-saving assistance and protection. UN-led appeals have grown six-fold from 3.4 billion dollars in 2003 to nearly 21 billion dollars today.
Representatives of 177 countries, including 68 heads of state and governments, and crises-affected communities, civil society organisations, the private sector and UN agencies attend this first-ever World Humanitarian Summit.
The WHS follows an extensive global consultation with 23,000 stakeholders world-wide to identify the key humanitarian challenges of our time.
Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General laid out the United Nations’ vision for the Summit in an Agenda for Humanity focusing on a set of core commitments: to prevent and end conflicts; uphold the norms that safeguard humanity; leave no one behind; change people’s lives – from delivering aid to ending need; and invest in humanity.
In addition to the Summit’s plenary sessions starting May 23, series high-level leaders’ round tables are scheduled on: Leaders’ Segment for Heads of States and Governments on day one.
The Leaders’ Segment will discuss the five core responsibilities of the Agenda for Humanity.
These five core responsibilities are: one, Political Leadership to Prevent and End Conflict; two, Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity; three, Leave No One Behind; four, Change People’s Lives – from Delivering Aid to Ending Need; and five, Invest in Humanity.
*Baher Kamal’s report was published in IPS. Go to Original.
*Baher Kamal, Egyptian-born, Spanish-national secular journalist. He is founder and publisher of Human Wrongs Watch.Kamal is a pro-peace, non-violence, human rights, coexistence defender, with more than 45 years of professional experience.Baher Kamal is also Senior Advisor to the Director General of international news agency IPS on Africa and the Middle East.
More articles by Baher Kamal in Human Wrongs Watch:
Africa, Resolved to Address African Problems With African Solutions
‘We Cannot Keep Jumping from Crisis to Crisis’
‘Human Suffering Has Reached Staggering Levels’
Now 1 in 2 World’s Refugees Live in Urban Areas
Middle East – The Mother of All Humanitarian Crises
Mideast: 1 in 3 Pays Bribe to Access Basic Public Services
Climate: Africa’s Human Existence at Severe Risk
No Water in the Kingdom of the Two Seas – Nor Elsewhere
Will the Middle East Become ‘Uninhabitable’?
Can an Animal Heist Fable Help Solve the Middle East Crisis?
A “Colombian Triangle” for Daesh in Libya?
‘Take My Iraqis and Give Me Some Syrians’ – Europe to Turkey
New Nuclear Hysteria in the Middle East
Africa Launches Largest Trading Block with 620 Million Consumers
Big War Lords Playing Brinkmanship Game in Syria
Cameron at large: Want Not to Become a Terrorist? Speak Fluent English!
Women’s Rights First – African Summit
Africa, Only If It Bleeds It Leads?
Seven Top Challenges Facing African Women
Once Auctioned, What to Do with the ‘Stock’ of Syrian Refugees?
Silence, Please! A New Middle East Is in the Making
The Over-Written, Under-Reported Middle East (II): 99.5 Years of (Imposed) Solitude
The Over-Written, Under-Reported Middle East (I): Of Arabs and Muslims
Egypt in the Rear Mirror (I): The Irresistible Temptation to Analyse What One Ignores
Egypt in the Rear Mirror (II): Who Are the Not-So-Invisible Powers Behind the Troglodytes?
Fed Up With Empty Promises, The Arabs May Abandon Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
Anti-Nukes Move from Norway to Bahrain
Middle East Nuclear Free Bid Moves to Finland – Yet Another Lost Chance?
Annual Spending on Nuclear Weapons, Equivalent To UN Budget For 45 Years
Watch The Sky–It May Rain Atomic Bombs
Save The Planet? Just Eat Cars, Drink Fuel!
Who Is Afraid of 300 Or 400 Or 500 Million Miserables?
Violence And Death For Millions Of Life-Givers
Whither Egypt (I) – Did You Say Dictatorship?
Whither Egypt (II) – Economic Bankruptcy
Politicians Promote Fossil Fuels with Half a Trillion Dollars a Year
Who Dares to Challenge a 32 Billion Dollars Business – Human Trafficking?
Palestine: Yet Another One Hundred Years of Solitude
Does Anyone Know Anything About A New Country Called South Sudan?
South Sudan: Yet Another Kitchen-Garden?
Somalia? Which Somalia? Some Facts About Everybody’s — Nobody’s Land
Requiem For Palestine (I): A Conflict Born With A Solution
Requiem For Palestine (II): Can Gruyere Be A Solution?
The Mediterranean Sea Is Sick, Very Sick
Baher Kamal
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 
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