We Must Live Up to Humanitarian Imperative by Helping Millions in Desperate Need, Deputy Secretary-General Says at Launch of High-Level Panel Report on Financing

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, at the briefing on the High-Level Panel Report on Humanitarian Financing, in New York today:

Thank you all for coming together today on the critical issue of humanitarian financing.

We are very fortunate to have the European Union Vice President and Co-Chair of the High-Level Panel, Kristalina Georgieva, with us here today to present the report on humanitarian financing.  We know that you, Kristalina, speak both from conviction and experience on this matter, not least from your work as European Union Commissioner for humanitarian assistance for several years.

Your efforts and contributions were crucial for the United Nations and for millions of people in need around the world as witnessed by us, me and my humanitarian colleagues.  Let me express my gratitude on behalf of the Secretary-General to you, to the other Co-Chair, His Royal Highness Sultan Nazrin Shah of Malaysia, and to all the Panel members for an excellent report.

Today, after Co-Chair Georgieva’s presentation, we will also hear from Ambassador Lana Nusseibeh, Permanent Representative of the United Arab Emirates.  The Secretary-General is very grateful to Dubai for hosting the launch of the High-Level Panel Report two weeks ago.  We thank the United Arab Emirates warmly for its hospitality and leadership.

Since this report was commissioned, conditions on the ground have become even more dire.  At the same time, the World Humanitarian Summit has become even more important.  From Central America, Africa, Asia to the Pacific, millions of people face food insecurity, not least caused by drought, often related to the El Niño effect.  Millions more are at risk of ever more extreme weather events around the world.

Apart from these natural disasters, the world is trying to cope with a number of atrocious man-made catastrophes.  The suffering is enormous and international humanitarian law is being disregarded to a shocking degree.

The conflict in Syria has generated the worst humanitarian crisis of our time.  In recent weeks, we were all shocked by the images of suffering from the siege of Madaya.  Tragically, there are hundreds of Madayas throughout the country.  Humanitarian conditions in besieged and hard-to-reach areas are insufferable, and with time without relief, getting even worse.  The strains on neighbouring countries are serious.  Refugee flows are dramatic and heart-wrenching.  The social and political consequences are risking to be uncontrollable.

These developments and conditions are an affront to our common humanity and to fundamental principles of international humanitarian law.  We now need a mobilization to live up to the humanitarian imperative and to help the millions of men, women and children in desperate need around the world.  Tomorrow in London, the Secretary-General will co-chair the International Conference on Syria, together with the United Kingdom, Germany, Kuwait and Norway.  The Secretary-General has told me that he plans to raise a number of recommendations presented by the report we are discussing today, primarily the ones related to urgent financial needs and to the link between humanitarian assistance and development.

We have seen the power of global solidarity with the recent adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals.  We must make good on our promise to leave no one behind by taking bold action for the 125 million people who today depend on the international community to survive.  I wish it were an exaggeration to say that this is a time of unprecedented humanitarian needs.  It is a tragic reality, I must admit.  This Panel’s report offers specific ways to help reduce demand, cut costs and widen the resource base.

I count on all of you to press for the highest-level participation at the World Humanitarian Summit this May in Istanbul, to discuss this report and our vital issues related to the humanitarian imperative.  The World Humanitarian Summit is our opportunity to unite in the name of our common humanity — and to take a stand against the horrific levels of suffering and misery that we witness in the world today.

This week, the Secretary-General is officially presenting you with his vision for the Humanitarian Summit and the future humanitarian agenda.  He will call on you all to support a new agenda for humanity, one that puts people at the heart of global decision-making.

We must now stand in solidarity with the most vulnerable people of the world – and we must be committed to represent their interests at the Summit in Istanbul in May.  We count on you all to be part of this life-saving mission of solidarity in the spirit of the first three words of the United Nations Charter.

I know that Co-Chair Kristalina Georgieva and the Panel have worked in this spirit.  I know we all welcome her to New York and look forward to her presentation here today.

Thank you.