‘Humanitarian Work Saves Lives, Protects Communities, Creates Hope’, Says Secretary-General, in Video Message to Data Forum

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message to the Humanitarian Data Forum, taking place in The Hague from 12 to 14 June:

Welcome to the first Humanitarian Data Forum — a new platform to unlock the power of data to help people in need.

Humanitarian work saves lives, protects communities and creates hope.

With over 300 million people relying on our joint efforts, we must strive to do better and achieve more.

As an engineer by training, and a humanitarian at heart, I know that responsible data, analytics and AI (artificial intelligence) can help us advance our vital work.

These tools can provide earlier warnings and faster, more targeted assistance — where and when it’s needed.

This Forum is a chance to shape the future of humanitarian responses and build on the efforts of the Centre for Humanitarian Data, the Early Warnings for All Initiative and the Complex Risk Analytics Fund.

Together, let’s keep working to enhance how we collect, connect and finance data to save and improve more lives.

Thank you for joining us in this mission.