Merkel and Erdogan’s meeting took place on the sideline of a humanitarian summit of world leaders in Istanbul.
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The first-ever World Humanitarian Summit opened on Monday in Istanbul with the attendance of United Nations member states and humanitarian agencies.
Despite the world contributing more than ever to such appeals – more than 12 times than it did in 2001 – resources are still more than $15bn short of keeping pace with rapidly increasing needs, according to United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-Moon.
Global leaders met in Istanbul on Monday to tackle a “broken” humanitarian system that has left 130 million people in need of aid, a near insurmountable task for a two-day summit that critics say risks achieving little.
A coordinated global response such as this is what Pope Francis called for when he asked for prayers to “save the life of every human being, no one excluded, especially the innocents and most defenseless”.
BEIRUT, May 19 (Xinhua) – Lebanon’s Social Affairs Minister Rashid Derbas confirmed Thursday that Lebanon will participate in the upcoming 1st World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul on May 23-24, where it will discuss the issue of Syrian refugees and the rise in its poverty rate.
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.
‘Let us seize this opportunity, let us make our mark as agents of change, ‘ said Ban.
In an address to some 40 heads of state ahead of the opening ceremony, President Higgins said that to reduce the level of humanitarian loss and suffering in the world, a profound rethink of worldwide politics was needed.
An ambitious summit to revamp humanitarian aid and global responses to modern-day crises opened on Monday in Turkey with lofty goals and financial targets overshadowed by concerns that key participants are violating refugee rights and humanitarian law.
Amnesty International Secretary General Salil Shetty said Monday the world is witnessing the “complete collapse of humanitarian law” and criticized the European Union for “looking the other way when it comes to rights violations in Turkey itself” and “abdicating its responsibilities” toward refugees.
Under the Grant Bargain, donors will agree to provide more and longer-term funding, spanning multiple years, while in return aid agencies will vow to deliver more transparency and efficiency in how these are used.
The commitments adopted by the states will be non-binding and while leaders like Merkel and HH Sheikh Sabah are attending the summit, many other prominent world leaders were conspicuous by their absence. The Secretary-General was alongside more celebrities at the opening of the summit, including Forest Whitaker, a peace-building advocate for the UN’s Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and Academy Award-winning actor.
In exchange for the visa deal, Turkey has agreed to fulfil the most controversial issue on the list: Taking back refugees, who used its territory as a springboard for reaching Europe.
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Goldring added: “Rich nations can not wash their hands of the suffering for which they are partly responsible and [must] do more to take in their fair share of the world’s most vulnerable people”.
