At a time when women continue to be disproportionately affected by humanitarian emergencies, women still continue to be ignored when it comes to discussions on how to address and prevent such events.
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As the two-day conference ended on Tuesday, outgoing U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who convened the summit, appealed to Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States to act.
Nancy Lindborg, head of the U.S. Institute of Peace, said the United Nations lacks the tools to prevent and end conflict, describing “paralysis” on the Security Council.
“The call was heard and heeded”.
Christian Aid has welcomed the commitment by major aid donors and NGOs to ensure 25% of humanitarian funding goes directly to local organisations on the front line of disaster relief. “Let us strive to realise the great promise of security, prosperity and human flourishing that can flow from a comprehensive and positive shared global solution to the great challenges and the great opportunities of our times”.
“The absence of these leaders from this meeting does not provide an excuse for inaction”, Ban said.
Ahead of the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul, Guy Ryder, director-general of the ILO, spoke to Anadolu Agency Monday morning regarding the refugee situation.
“We need to be more focused on the people who we are not reaching”, Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, told reporters.
“It has proposed a China option for stopping violence, ceasefire and political reconciliation and offered humanitarian aid worth RMB 685 million (105 million US dollars) to the Middle East”, he said.
Noting that he is coming from an European Union member state which has been experiencing violent division for 42 years now, Anastasiades said he hopes the leaders of interested parties will show the necessary courage to make decisions within the UN-led negotiating process aiming at reuniting the island.
Disasters, both man-made and natural, mean that 130 million people need humanitarian aid, costing an annual $240 billion (£164.1 billion), a 12-fold increase since 2000 but still just 1 percent of global military spending, he said.
At the Summit this week, 175 countries are represented including 57 heads of state and 6000 senior aid workers.
Change people’s lives: From delivering aid to ending need.
Doctors Without Borders pulled out of the summit in early May, calling it a mere “fig-leaf of good intentions”.
He said: ‘The current system falls short. the burden is shouldered only by certain countries, everyone should assume responsibility from now on.
“Turkey is a country that knows this weakness and experiences it in a bitter way”, he said, adding that while Turkey has spent around $10 billion on humanitarian aid for around 3 million refugees on its soil since the beginning of the conflict in Syria, the worldwide community spent around $455 million.
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The NGOs have always been arguing that “empowering of local communities” would be a better way to cope with humanitarian crises.
