“We firmly believe that the primary homework of the First Humanitarian Summit held by his Excellency in Istanbul is to reach an appropriate position with regards to the alarming situation in our home, among others, and contribute to the development of perspectives to resolve such humanitarian situations”.
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The summit has been criticised by some, including Irish charity Trocaire for a lack of high level political buy-in, but the President has called for action instead of rhetoric to implement changes.
“Since 2004, China has provided a huge amount of humanitarian assistance with no political conditions attached, and helped 102 countries and their peoples overcome humanitarian crises”, he added. MSF Executive Director Jason Cone told NPR via email that an expensive summit eliciting non-binding commitments from governments may not be the best use of resources at a time when long-accepted humanitarian norms are being violated.
According to the United Nations, disasters, both man-made and natural, mean 130 million people need humanitarian aid, costing an annual $240 billion (CHF238 billion), a 12-fold increase since 2000 but still just 1% of global military spending.
“We can not exclude ourselves from humanitarian crises”.
During the summit, attended by more than 100 of the UN’s 193 member states and 55 heads of government, commitments to solving a rising humanitarian crisis were discussed. “Today we declare: We are one humanity, with a shared responsibility”.
Jan Eliasson, right, UN Deputy Secretary-General, and Stephen O’Brien, left, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs listen to a question during a news conference ahead of the World Humanitarian Summit, in Ist.
Mr Erdogan has also said funds promised by the European Union have not yet been released.
“It’s disappointing that some world leaders could not be here, especially from the G7 countries”, he said at a joint press conference with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has urged to cut the number of displaced people in half by 2030, and find better solution for refugees.
The summit and its host are under sharp scrutiny at a time when the migrant crisis dominates the global agenda and an EU-Turkey deal to address the problem faces growing controversy and the Syrian conflict grinds on. Only some countries take the consequences of the system and they can not find a solution.
Later in the day, Ban launched an ambitious scheme aiming to significantly improve the efficiency of humanitarian aid, as part of the efforts to bridge the funding gap.
She also called for a renewed global consensus regarding humanitarian principles, saying it is a “disaster” that leaders “need to talk about worldwide humanitarian law being adhered to” when schools and hospitals are being bombed in Syria. We must do more to prevent conflicts that takes up more than 80% of humanitarian funding.
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Addressing the summit on Monday, he criticised the UN Security Council, saying it should have more than five permanent members – the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China.
