A World on Fire: Strengthening Humanitarian Response
After Istanbul, Next Steps Toward U.N. Forums
Read the Event CoverageThe global humanitarian system is stretched to its limits. The world faces the greatest flood of refugees since World War II, and the United Nations is handling an unprecedented number of simultaneous crises. On June 2, the U.S. Institute of Peace and Oxfam America hosted discussion on how, in the aftermath of the May 23-24 World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul, to strengthen the humanitarian system and increase the ability of constructive national leaders and civil society organizations to avoid cycles of crisis, conflict and violence.
For 2014, the U.N. appealed for assistance to help 81 million people, including displaced people and others affected by protracted conflicts and disasters from natural hazards. In 2015, the U.N. Secretary-General noted that handling 10 major humanitarian crises at the same time “was rare and unprecedented in the 70-year history of the United Nations.” Climate change is expected to increase the frequency and intensity of natural disasters, thereby contributing to further humanitarian crises with impacts disproportionately felt by the world’s most vulnerable. The gap between the needs and the humanitarian system’s ability to respond is growing, and the inability to recover locks the world’s poor and vulnerable in a vicious cycle of crisis, conflict and violence.
This forum sought to reflect on the outcomes of the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul and identify the necessary next steps. Panelists offered recommendations for issues to be discussed at the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) High-Level Meeting on Refugees and Migrants and the Summit on the Global Refugee Crisis, initiated by President Obama, on the margins of UNGA in September. Continue the conversation on Twitter with #ReShapeAid.
Speakers
Ms. Nancy Lindborg
President, U.S. Institute of Peace
Mr. Thomas Staal
Acting Assistant Administrator of the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance (DCHA), USAID
Mr. Anwar Khan
CEO, Islamic Relief USA
Kim Ghattas
Journalist, BBC
Ms. Anne C. Richard
Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, U.S. Department of State
Mr. Fadi Hallisso
CEO and Co-Founder, Basmeh and Zeitooneh
Ms. Elizabeth Ferris
Senior Adviser to the UN General Assembly’s High-Level Meeting on Addressing Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants
Research Professor at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service
Howard LaFranchi
Journalist, Christian Science Monitor
Ray Offenheiser
President, Oxfam America
