Humanitarian Coordinator for South Sudan, Eugene Owusu, remarks to the press on the World Humanitarian Summit at the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management

Juba, South Sudan, 26 May 2016

1. The first World Humanitarian Summit on 23-24 May 2016 in Istanbul convened 9,000 participants from 173 Member States, including 55 Heads of State and Government, hundreds of private sector representatives, and thousands of people from civil society and non-governmental organizations. The United Nations in its 70 years has never come together at this scale, with this many different stakeholders, to discuss the pressing challenges that are resulting in so much human suffering today.

2. At the Summit, global leaders recognized the centrality of political will to prevent and end conflicts, to address root causes, to reduce fragility and strengthen good governance.

3. They also stressed the critical importance of enhancing the protection of civilians in armed conflict, recognizing that the fundamental norms embodied in international humanitarian and human rights law provide a universal safeguard.

4. World leaders and people from all segments of society affirmed that those who are most at risk of being left behind - including the more than 60 million people displaced worldwide, 2.3 million of them in South Sudan - will receive the global attention and support they deserve.

5. The Summit also reinforced support from all stakeholders to go beyond meeting humanitarian needs, by changing people’s lives through ending needs, as well as the vital importance of gender equality, women’s empowerment and women’s rights becoming pillars of humanitarian action.

6. Finally, the Summit reinforced the crucial role of financing as the key enabling and catalytic factor towards both meeting and reducing needs.

7. All of these issues are of course particularly pertinent in South Sudan today, where the formation of the Transitional Government of National Unity (TGoNU) brings hope that the needless suffering of so many civilians may finally come to an end.

8. As Humanitarian Coordinator, I am delighted that South Sudan was strongly represented at the summit – both from government and civil society – and it is my sincere hope that the participants, some of whom are here, will bring the lessons they have learned at the Summit, and the inspiration of the commitments made by global leaders, back here to help the people of South Sudan.

9. We must capitalize on the momentum generated by the Summit, to ensure that the global community does not allow South Sudan to become a forgotten crisis. The humanitarian appeal is today just 29 per cent funded. We need more contributions urgently in order to reach people in dire need across the country as they seek to regain their lives and livelihoods.

10. I am delighted that the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Hussein Mar Nyuot, and the Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul were present at the Summit. It was a pleasure to be part of the delegation.