Turkish FM calls for attendance at UN Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul

ISTANBUL

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Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has called on all world leaders to come to Istanbul for the United Nations Humanitarian Summit and work with Turkey to find solutions for those who desperately need humanitarian assistance.

In an article penned for Canada’s The Globe and Mail, Çavuşoğlu said he was “calling on all leaders of the world to come to Istanbul for the U.N. Humanitarian Summit and to work with us to find solutions for those who desperately need humanitarian assistance.” 

The World Humanitarian Summit will be held in Istanbul on May 23-24 for the first time. 

“While major natural disasters continue to be a significant cause of death and displacement, what is most alarming today is that a great majority of humanitarian crises are conflict-related and of a recurrent or protracted nature,” he said.  

“There are simply too many lives at stake and inaction is not an option,” he said, referring to the 125 million people around the world who are in need of humanitarian assistance and 60 million displaced people, a figure which has almost doubled in just a decade.

The World Humanitarian Summit is aimed at providing a vital platform to address the challenges burdening the humanitarian system, according to the Turkish foreign minister, who said that pressing issues such as ensuring sustainable, reliable and predictable humanitarian financing will also be examined.

The summit will also address other questions, such as what innovative methods could be used, or how to promote localized humanitarian responses through more tailor-made and user-friendly approaches, as well as the question of dignity and safety in humanitarian action.