Stephen O’Brien, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, addresses the press after SC closed consultations on ME (Syria) and Other Matters.
By Stephen O’Brien
NEXT week (May23-24) at the first ever World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul, leaders from governments, international agencies, the private sector and civil society will gather to announce their commitments to address some of the most critical challenges we face today.
The needs for the Summit are clear: conflicts that know no end causing untold suffering, mass displacement, and political and economic turmoil; flagrant violations of international humanitarian law; eye-watering levels of hunger and child malnutrition; more severe and more frequent natural disasters linked to climate change; and growing inequality that is cutting off millions from development progress.