Agenda for Humanity Annual Synthesis Report 2018 - Staying the Course Executive Summary: Delivering on the Ambition of the World Humanitarian Summit [EN/AR/ZH]

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

“ We cannot achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development without redoubling our efforts to reach those left farthest behind: refugees, internally displaced people, women and girls, children and all people whose lives have been overturned by conflicts or disasters. […] The call to action set out in the Agenda for Humanity remains as urgent as ever.”

UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Statement on the first anniversary of the World Humanitarian Summit, 23 May 2017

The World Humanitarian Summit was a landmark moment that launched a vital agenda for change. Participants made thousands of commitments to deliver the Agenda for Humanity, a five-part plan to alleviate suffering, reduce risk and lessen vulnerability on a global scale. As the implementation of commitments progresses, stakeholders must stay the course in their ambition to deliver results for the millions of people affected by crises.

In the second year since the World Humanitarian Summit, 152 stakeholders reported on their efforts to achieve the changes called for in the Agenda for Humanity, demonstrating wide support for the aspirations set out by its five Core Responsibilities. The achievements recorded by stakeholders on the online Platform for Action, Commitments and Transformation (PACT, available at agendaforhumanity.org) between January and December 2017 contribute to the broader work of the international community to bring people in crises closer to the promise of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Although still in its early stages, the Agenda for Humanity is beginning to reshape global and local approaches to preventing, preparing for and responding to humanitarian crises, laying the foundations for greater changes to come. Humanitarian-development cooperation is being taken forward at the highest levels of the United Nations and reshaping Member States’ aid strategies, while at country level, the New Way of Working is gaining operational momentum. Stakeholders are responding to early warning by funding and delivering early action to mitigate the impacts of crises. A group of committed Member States and international organizations have adopted legal and policy changes that are enabling new approaches, including direct funding of local actors and multi-year funding in support of collective outcomes. International humanitarian actors are directing resources towards strengthening local and national capacities to prepare for and respond to crises, while working to make international action more transparent, efficient and effective. The Grand Bargain and other multi-stakeholder initiatives launched at the Summit—such as the Charter for Change, the Charter for Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action, Education Cannot Wait and the Connecting Business Initiative—have laid the groundwork for collective action in key areas.