Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos calls for global collaboration to reshape aid as needs rise

(Budapest, 3 February 2015): UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos said today that increased collaboration on a global scale is imperative to cope with rising levels of humanitarian need.

“There are 78 million people in 31 countries requiring humanitarian support to survive. They are the most vulnerable people in the world and that number will grow as natural disasters strike during the year,” said USG Amos at the opening of a regional consultation meeting in Budapest ahead of the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit.

Humanitarian needs have more than doubled in the past decade and reached unprecedented levels in crises such as Syria, Iraq, South Sudan and the Central African Republic.

These challenges will be discussed by representatives of governments, humanitarian relief organizations, the private sector and community organizations during the two-day consultation in Budapest. The event is the fourth in a series of worldwide consultations, and brings together participants from Europe, the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

“Together we need to find new solutions to the way we respond to humanitarian crises, safeguard our principles, expand our partnerships, and ensure a firm policy and evidence base for our work. No one organization can do this alone,” said Ms. Amos.

The results and recommendations will feed into the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul in 2016, convened by the UN Secretary-General. The goal of the summit is to set a forward-looking humanitarian agenda, focusing on ways to keep pace with growing humanitarian needs triggered by natural and man-made disasters and exacerbated by the impacts of global trends such as climate change, urbanization, population growth and the rise of extremism.

Despite sustained donor support, funding to help millions of people has not kept pace with the unprecedented levels of humanitarian need.

For further information, please call: Jens Laerke, OCHA Geneva, laerke@un.org, Cell: +41 79 472 9750 Breanna Ridsdel, WHS Secretariat, ridsdel@un.org, Cell: +1 917 783 9336