World Humanitarian Summit: A call for accountability

Early action, protection, and flexibility are critical to a humanitarian system that puts people at the centre and leaves no one behind.

In the last year, five of the world’s “level three” emergencies, which are the global humanitarian system's classification for the most severe, large-scale crises, were directly related to conflict: Yemen, Syria, Iraq, South Sudan and Central African Republic. The number of people displaced by violence in the past year totals about 60 million, the greatest number since World War II. In 2014, 329 humanitarian workers were victims of attacks, mainly in areas of conflict. In fact, attacks targeting aid workers have tripled over the past ten years.

"We have witnessed an alarming upsurge in human suffering and unprecedented threats to international humanitarian law in the past few years,“ said Action Against Hunger-USA Chief Executive Andrea Tamburini, who is attending the World Humanitarian Summit. “We must seize this opportunity to strengthen and reform the humanitarian system from within, and demand a mechanism that holds each of us accountable for the commitments we make over these two days."

"The summit in Istanbul is an excellent opportunity to put all these challenges on the table—and exert pressure on the humanitarian system to adapt to a rapidly changing landscape.  The stakes are high," said Action Against Hunger-Spain’s Director of Advocacy and Institutional Relations, Manuel Sánchez-Montero.

Action Against Hunger is participating in the World Humanitarian Summit to announce three vital commitments to the Agenda for Humanity outlined by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in his report on the summit.

Upholding international humanitarian law

Action Against Hunger calls for the creation of a Special Rapporteur of the United Nations for the protection of humanitarian aid workers, especially national staff, with the aim of combating the impunity of attacks on humanitarian workers, raising awareness, investigating and recording such attacks. 

Read more in: World Humanitarian Summit (ACF UK)