World: The Humanitarian Reset and Responsible Transitions - Global Leaders at UNGA81 Take Stock of Progress Launch "Humanitarian Reset" to Shift Power to Local Communities

EXTRACTO DEL FEED · ATRIBUIDO AL MEDIO

Country: World

Source: UN Development Programme

NEW YORK - The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief), the European Union (EU), the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) co-hosted a high-level side event on the Humanitarian Reset and Responsible Transitions during the High-Level Week of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly in New York.

The event convened Member States, UN agencies, international financial institutions and non-governmental organizations at United Nations Headquarters in New York for a moderated discussion on the strategic direction of the Humanitarian Reset and responsible transitions at a moment of widening needs and declining financing. On Thursday 24 September, panellists focused their interventions on the importance of shifting responsibility, resources and decision-making toward national and local systems and on ways in which regional cooperation and more predictable and diversified financing can better support nationally and locally owned and led transitions, recovery and resilience.

Discussions also highlighted the importance of connecting humanitarian response with early recovery from the outset, strengthening national and local capacities and restoring essential services and livelihoods in ways that can reduce vulnerability and humanitarian need over time. Participants emphasized that responsible transitions require international support to increasingly align behind nationally and locally identified priorities and development solutions.

“The Humanitarian Reset,” said HE Dr. Abdullah Al Rabeeah, Supervisor General of KSrelief, “is a key component in enhancing the ways in which governments, humanitarian organizations, donors and other stakeholders meet increasing needs with insufficient funding during times of unprecedented numbers of crises. We must empower local actors by involving them in implementing the solutions that will produce the best outcomes in their communities.”

“We need to shift power and decision-making to crisis-affected communities. The UK is pushing for a system that aligns international support behind their priorities and strengths, with more funding reaching local actors, strengthening their leadership and preparedness.” said Kirsty McNeill MP, Minister of State for International Development, UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

“The EU’s support for the Humanitarian Reset and the UN80 initiative is an integral part of our commitment to effective multilateralism. Delivering on these reforms will make the humanitarian system more efficient, accountable and firmly anchored in local realities. Keeping the rights, protection and agency of women and girls at the centre of the humanitarian response is without alternative. The EU will continue our work to maintain the multilateral consensus on principled humanitarian action and to advocate for dignified responses in emergencies, in full respect of International Humanitarian Law and the humanitarian principles.” said European Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management, Hadja Lahbib.

Alexander De Croo, UNDP Administrator said: “A family pulling their belongings from the rubble does not care who coordinates the response. They need it to work, and to keep working after the emergency teams leave. A humanitarian reset must therefore be about more than reorganizing the system. We need to organize around recovery from day one, putting resources and decisions closer to the national and local actors who will still be there years later.”

“As we race to reach millions of people caught up in crisis, the Humanitarian Reset is how we’re bridging the gap between deepening needs and dwindling resources,” said Mohamed Yahya, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator. “Our determination to deliver is ironclad. The humanitarian community will keep pushing to make the work we do faster, fairer, and more firmly rooted in local action – with an eye toward the future: the transition from the aid that saves lives to the development that sustains them.”

The opening segment was followed by an interactive high-level panel bringing together H.E. Raed Al-Saleh, Minister of Emergency and Disaster Management of the Syrian Arab Republic; H.E. Åsmund Grøver Aukrust, Minister of International Development of Norway; Carl Skau, Acting Executive Director, Deputy Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of the World Food Programme; Dr. Issa Faye, Director-General for Global Practice and Partnerships at the Islamic Development Bank; and Hibak Kalfan, Executive Director of the Network for Empowered Aid Response (NEAR).

The subsequent discussion highlighted localization and stronger national leadership in response, more predictable and diversified financing, and closer coordination between humanitarian, development and peace efforts to reduce the levels of need over time. It also underscored that responsible transitions are not simply a handover at the end of a humanitarian response: early recovery and development considerations need to be integrated from the outset, with national and local actors leading solutions that restore services and livelihoods, strengthen institutions and resilience, and create pathways towards longer-term sustainable development.

For UNDP, this means working alongside governments, local authorities, communities, humanitarian partners and financing institutions to help connect immediate humanitarian response with early recovery and longer-term development, while strengthening national ownership and supporting solutions that reduce recurrent humanitarian need.

The co-hosts agreed to keep working together to translate the Humanitarian Reset and responsible transitions into measurable operational change, strengthening principled humanitarian action while supporting nationally and locally led recovery, resilience and sustainable development.

About KSrelief

The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief) was established under the guidance of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. Inaugurated in May 2015, KSrelief has provided impartial humanitarian aid and relief to over 100 countries in cooperation with local, regional and international organizations.