World Humanitarian Summit: More Criticism than Trust

• 05.25.2016, 22:50
•  World

humanitarianu.com

On May 23 - 24, 2016 sixty-five heads of state and governments, along with thousands of aid workers, politicians, civil society members journalists and celebrities participated at the first-ever World Humanitarian Summit, which took place in Istanbul, Huffington Post reports.

According to the official website of the Summit, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arranged the summit around five key commitments – prevent and end conflicts, respect rules of war, leave no one behind, working differently to end need, invest in humanity.

"The World Humanitarian Summit has been a unique event, in form as well as substance," Mr. Ban said in Istanbul stressing that "We have the wealth, knowledge and awareness to take better care of one another. But we need action, based on the five core responsibilities of the Agenda for Humanity."

Though the summit had been organized t a very high-level and during the 2 days the representatives of 173 UN member-state countries were discussing the ways to solve humanitarian problems, the overall impression is that the Summit will not be able to change the current situation. It is enough to mention that only Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany from G7 leaders have participated in it. And where were the other 6? Or is it possible to solve world humanitarian issues without their engagement?

According to the UN News Center, in total, the Summit brought together 173 Member States, 55 Heads of State and Governments, some 350 private sector representatives, and over 2,000 people from civil society and non-governmental organizations.

"It is a bit disappointing that some world leaders could not be here. Especially those from G7 countries, except Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany. I urge their greater engagement," UN Mr. Ban said at a joint press conference with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday. "The absence of these leaders from this meeting does not provide an excuse for inaction. They have a unique responsibility to pursue peace and stability," stressed UN leader.

Despite all the criticism and distrust the UN Secretary General said that change is possible, if there is a will of world leaders, especially those, who were not present in the Summit.

The UN leader suggested that states spend less money on weapons and war, and more on humanitarian needs. "The money we are trying to mobilize is just 1 percent of global, annual military spending," he said. "We can find it if there is political will."

Finally, the most criticized and misunderstood, illogical part of all this remains the fact that the international particularly the UN, decided to discuss the issues concerning humanity in a country, which itself violates human rights, and which causes most of all humanitarian issues in the world. Perhaps this is one of the factors that increases the distrust and suspicion towards this summit and the process at all. Moreover, no special criticism was heard against Turkey, which would be the first step for solving humanitarian issues.