World Humanitarian Summit: strengthening humanitarian action

KEY POINTS

The strategy has 2 overall priorities:

1. principled humanitarian action and
2. effective humanitarian action.

Under those priorities, there are 7 action areas.

Action areas under the first priority:

• Reaffirming humanitarian values :
  • dignity, integrity, and solidarity, as well as humanitarian principles;
  • obligations under international law; and
  • the commitment to keep humanitarian work distinct from political agendas.
• Ensuring access to humanitarian assistance: governments and humanitarian actors should facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance in crises zones.
• Putting protection at the heart of humanitarian response: because humanitarian crises often make the affected population vulnerable to ill treatment and exploitation, protection should be systematically integrated in humanitarian response.

Action areas under the second priority:

• A global consensus on the basics of humanitarian effectiveness: creating a common framework needs assessments, quality and results, and accountability to affected populations.
• Subsidiarity and solidarity: building partnerships between local, national, regional and international actors can help foster interaction and interoperability to minimise gaps and overlaps.
• Sufficient and efficient funding:
  • ensuring that every euro of aid is spent in the most efficient way;
  • broadening the donor base.
• Partnership with the development community: humanitarian aid and development cooperation should be more interlinked to better anticipate, prepare for, and respond to humanitarian crises.