The 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.

Fire 5931-X3.jpg
Pictured left to right, Kim Ghattas, Ray Offenheiser, Anwar Khan, Thomas Staal

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

Related Publications

The Latest @ USIP: How Civil Society is Addressing Haiti’s Crisis

The Latest @ USIP: How Civil Society is Addressing Haiti’s Crisis

Monday, March 25, 2024

By: Dr. Marie-Marcelle Deschamps

In the past few years, life in Haiti has been dominated by gangs’ growing control over huge swathes of the capital, Port-au-Prince. For Haitian families, this crisis has meant extreme violence, pervasive unemployment, lack of education for children and reduced access to health care. 2023 Women Building Peace Award finalist Dr. Marie-Marcelle Deschamps serves as the deputy executive director, the head of the women's health program and the manager of the clinical research unit of GHESKIO Centers in Port-au-Prince. She spoke to USIP about how her work helps women and their families, and what the global community can do to help Haitian civil society address this devastating humanitarian crisis.

Type: Blog

Conflict Analysis & PreventionGender

Myanmar’s Fateful Conscription Law

Myanmar’s Fateful Conscription Law

Monday, February 26, 2024

By: Ye Myo Hein

Earlier this month, Myanmar’s ruling junta enacted a compulsory conscription law that had been dormant since 2010. General Guan Maw, a leader of the Kachin Independence Organization, greeted the junta's decision by comparing it to the 2021 military coup: "If February 1, 2021, was the beginning of the end, the law enforced on February 10, 2024, can be said to mark the end of the end.” As popular reactions to the new conscription plan roll out across the country, General Guan Maw’s pronouncement becomes increasingly prescient.

Type: Analysis

Conflict Analysis & Prevention

Report of the Expert Study Group on NATO and Indo-Pacific Partners

Report of the Expert Study Group on NATO and Indo-Pacific Partners

Monday, February 19, 2024

By: USIP Expert Study Group on NATO and Indo-Pacific Partners

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and its four partner countries in the Indo-Pacific—Australia, Japan, the Republic of Korea (ROK), and New Zealand—have entered a period of increased engagement. This engagement is taking shape in the context of the war waged by the Russian Federation (Russia) against Ukraine, NATO’s growing awareness of the security challenges posed by the People’s Republic of China (China), and important structural changes in the international system, including the return of strategic competition between the United States and China and Russia. It is occurring not only in bilateral NATO-partner relations but also between NATO and these Indo-Pacific countries as a group.

Type: Report

Conflict Analysis & PreventionCivilian-Military RelationsGlobal PolicyMediation, Negotiation & Dialogue

View All Publications