Greater accountability to crisis-affected people underpins regional consultation in Tokyo: Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos

(Tokyo, 24 July 2014): United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Valerie Amos, concluded a three-day mission to Tokyo today. During her visit, she co-hosted the North and South-East Asia Regional Consultation for the World Humanitarian Summit, along with the Governments of Indonesia and Japan.

“We recognize that global humanitarian action is changing and needs to change: there are new groups, new technologies, new partnerships, new approaches, and new challenges,” ERC Valerie Amos told more than 100 people working on disasters and humanitarian assistance at the second regional consultation in the lead-up to the global World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul in 2016.

With Asia-Pacific the most disaster-prone region in the world, humanitarian funding requests steadily increasing, and more people needing more assistance than ever before, humanitarian action is challenged to keep up with these developments. During the two-day event in Tokyo, participants from affected communities, humanitarian organizations, governments, businesses, academic institutions, and other organizations providing humanitarian assistance discussed these challenges and identified key recommendations to address them.

Being more accountable to crisis-affected people – and placing them at the centre of any humanitarian response – was emphasized throughout the event, with a focus on moving towards greater investment in empowering people to live with dignity.

Government leadership on overall emergency coordination, which is fully inclusive and supported by legal frameworks, was identified as a key recommendation. Investment in partnerships, with a focus on understanding the economic impact of disaster risk reduction, was also prioritized. This will support joint efforts in risk analysis, planning, financing and advocacy by humanitarian, development and climate change organizations.

Together with nine other major consultations taking place around the world, the North and South-East Asia Regional Consultation played an important role in finding new and innovative solutions to pressing global issues as well as better responding to recurring disasters and crises in the region, such as typhoons in the Philippines, earthquakes in Indonesia, and inter-communal violence in Myanmar.

“The World Humanitarian Summit is our opportunity to reshape the international humanitarian system and broaden the scope of humanitarian action. It is our chance to explore how we can work differently and more effectively in the future – to save lives and reduce suffering,” said Dr. Jemilah Mahmood, Chief of the World Humanitarian Summit Secretariat.

The results and recommendations of the North and South-East Asia Regional Consultation will contribute towards reshaping humanitarian action in Asia and feed into the global World Humanitarian Summit consultation in 2016.

To learn more about the World Humanitarian Summit: Please visit http://worldhumanitariansummit.org/ or follow @WHSummit and #ReShapeAid on Twitter Contact Breanna Ridsdel: Tel. +1 917 783-9336, ridsdel@un.org