UN humanitarian chiefs in Middle East, North Africa call for bold actions to end bloodshed

The UN humanitarian coordinators in the Middle East and North Africa urged Thursday global leaders to attend the World Humanitarian Summit and take bold decision that will affect change.

In a statement issued ahead of the World Humanitarian Summit, which is to be held later this month in Turkey, the UN humanitarian chiefs said that world leaders must assume their responsibility to find political solutions to end bloodshed, and prevent further suffering, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters here.

The UN humanitarian coordinators for Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, the occupied Palestinian territory, Syria and Yemen, said that "a staggering 55 million people" in the region need humanitarian assistance to ensure their basic survival, stressing that we all have a shared responsibility to end this tragedy and preserve people's basic dignity.

"Millions of people in the Middle East and North Africa are enduring intolerable human suffering," they said in a collective press release. "Widespread violence, conflict and extremism in Iraq, Libya, Palestine, Syria and Yemen are creating immense humanitarian needs, with the impact felt beyond these countries' borders."

"In other words, millions of girls, boys, women and men do not know where their next meal will come from," they said.

"They lack access to essential health care, whether to give birth safely, receive treatment for chronic illnesses or protect children from preventable diseases," they said. "They are unable to access safe water and ensure basic hygiene. Those displaced from their homes lack adequate shelter, sometimes forced to sleep out in the open."

Moreover, millions of families "do not sleep at night worrying about where the next bomb or mortar might fall and whether their loved ones will be caught in the cross-fire between warring parties or bear the brunt of extreme violence," they said.

"We have a shared responsibility to end this tragedy and preserve people's basic dignity. Our humanity demands no less," they said.

The UN officials said that in the lead-up to the World Humanitarian Summit, they consulted and listened to thousands of voices in the region.

"Their feelings and demands were clear: outrage at the staggering level of human casualties and suffering being witnessed and felt on a daily basis; disbelief in the lack of accountability for clear violations of international humanitarian and human rights law; disappointment in the humanitarian system for failing to support and strengthen local response capacity; and conviction that humanitarian aid cannot be a substitute for political action that addresses the root causes of people's suffering," the humanitarian coordinators said.

Calling on global leaders to attend the World Humanitarian Summit and "make it a success," the coordinators said that actions should include listening to the voices of the region and taking the bold decisions that will affect change.

The first-ever World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) scheduled to be held on May 23-24 in Istanbul, Turkey, aims to help displaced people since World War II, the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, Stephen O'Brien, said here Monday.

The WHS is seen as a platform for heads of state and government, leaders from civil society, the private sector, crisis-affected communities and multilateral organizations, "to announce their commitments to progress, and also to launch new initiatives and partnerships, and showcase innovative practices and ideas," rather than attend just another conference for pledging funds, he said.

A "pledging conference" immediately following every major humanitarian crisis should be set as an example of change, he said, adding that he would like to see it changed into a more efficient way of being financially prepared to deliver aid through a mechanism permanently funded. Enditem