17 January 2016: The High-Level Panel on Humanitarian Financing has highlighted a US$15 billion gap in financing for humanitarian needs, and called for greater focus on disaster risk reduction (DRR) and fragile states. It also notes that achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will depend on whether risk and fragility are adequately managed. The Panel’s work is expected to shape discussions at the first World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) in May 2016.
The nine-member Panel’s report to the UN Secretary-General, titled ‘Too Important to Fail: Addressing the Humanitarian Financing Gap,’ was launched on 17 January 2016, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
On the financing gap, the Panel reports that, despite a record US$24.5 billion being raised in 2014 for humanitarian action, the financing gap that year was also the largest ever, with only 62% of needs being met. This resulted in cutting of food rations to refugees from Syria and South Sudan, and closing UN-run healthcare services for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Iraq, among other impacts.
On the causes of human displacement, the report notes that in 2014, violence and conflict accounted for the displacement of 42,500 people every day, but this figure was outstripped by the impact of disasters. In the same year, 53,000 people were displaced daily by disasters, of which 90% were weather-related events.
The Panel recommends a range of approaches to financing, including: ensuring flexible multi-year funding to address humanitarian needs; taking account of the impacts of humanitarian crises on middle-income countries (MICs) such as Jordan and Lebanon, and improving their access to financing; promoting transparency of financing data; and increasing efficiency of aid delivery through harmonizing donor requirements and collaborating, rather than competing, on aid delivery. The report stresses the need to promote collaboration between humanitarian relief organizations and development NGOs, and to work more closely with local groups – noting, for example, that just 0.2% of reported humanitarian funding currently goes through national and local groups. The authors mention the potential for channeling Islamic social finance, including traditional alms and endowments such as zakat and waqf, towards humanitarian needs, given that the majority of conflict-affected populations are in Muslim countries. Recognizing climate change as a root cause of disasters, they also consider the possibility of linking climate change financing with DRR efforts.
Speaking at the launch event in Dubai, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the world is in a time of “mega-crisis,” but the humanitarian funding gap is a solvable problem. Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, on behalf of The Elders, commended the report, and called for including the recipients of humanitarian assistance in discussions. Ban appointed the High-Level Panel in May 2015. It is co-chaired by Kristalina Georgieva (Bulgaria), European Commission, and Sultan Nazrin Shah (Malaysia), Ruler of Perak. The other panel members are: Hadeel Ibrahim (UK), Mo Ibrahim Foundation; Badr Jafar (UAE), Crescent Group; Walt Macnee (Canada), MasterCard Worldwide; Trevor Manuel (South Africa), Rothschild Group; Linah Mohohlo (Botswana), Bank of Botswana; Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah (Sri Lanka), CIVICUS; and Margot Wallström (Sweden), Minister for Foreign Affairs.
In related news, the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) identified 12 elements of humanitarian effectiveness and proposed formulating a global accountability framework to track progress in the latest report in its series, ‘Leaving No One Behind: Humanitarian Effectiveness in the Age of the Sustainable Development Goals.’
The WHS will convene in Istanbul, Turkey, in May, and will represent a “once-in-a-generation opportunity to create a humanitarian aid system that will be able to meet the challenges of the 21st century,” according to the Summit website. [Publication: Too Important to Fail: Addressing the Humanitarian Financing Gap] [Report Summary Webpage] [UN Press Release] [UN Secretary-General Remarks] [UN Press Release, Launch Event] [Response of The Elders] [HLP Information] [Publication: Ten Things You Need to Know About the Report of High-Level Panel on Humanitarian Financing] [World Humanitarian Summit] [Publication: Leaving No One Behind: Humanitarian Effectiveness in the Age of the Sustainable Development Goals] [UNICEF Press Release] [UNHCR Briefing Notes] [UNHCR Press Releases]