On 5 May 2014, the World Humanitarian Summit’s online consultations launched to gather ideas and solutions from people around the world to shape the future of humanitarian action, in the lead up to the global summit in 2016. The online consultations serve as a place to identify and prioritize global solutions around improving humanitarian effectiveness, increasing innovation, addressing needs of people in conflict, and reducing disaster risks.
The summit, convened by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, will bring all interested humanitarian stakeholders together to set out a new course for how we collaborate in the vital effort to prepare for and respond to natural disasters and man-made crises around the world. The online consultation will involve dialogue and debate as to how we can come together to save more lives and reduce suffering. Findings from these online discussions will be included in the reports and recommendations that the summit will consider. The summit process is being managed by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), and is supported by a broad group of champions including over 35 countries and 50 organizations who are working to improve global humanitarian action.
As we have seen from the conflicts and disasters of the past few years, we now have to expect and be prepared for emergencies of overwhelming scale and scope. The time has come to rethink how we respond. We need to work with a broader scope of partners. And we need to work in more innovative ways with businesses, regional organizations, local governments, community groups, and global volunteers. The Online Consultation will provide a way to bring these actors together.
Please invite your colleagues, partners and friends to participate and add their ideas and solutions, as we work to ensure that the WHS is an inclusive process. The first round of discussions for West and Central Africa and our Global Forum will conclude in June 2014, and findings will be compiled and shared on the site and through social media. Additional online consultations will continue until 2016.
For more information about the World Humanitarian Summit, please contact info@whsummit.org or visit www.worldhumanitariansummit.org.