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PHL CALLS FOR FOCUS ON EFFECTS OF NATURAL DISASTERS ON DEV’T AT WORLD HUMANITARIAN SUMMIT

Monday, April 4, 2016 - 10:00

 

       

(Left photo) UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Under-Secretary-General and Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O’Brien brief Member States on preparations for the World Humanitarian Summit. (Right photo) Philippine Ambassador Lourdes O. Yparraguirre, in her statement, stresses that the Summit is an opportunity to ensure equal attention given to humanitarian crises due to natural disasters. 

 

04 April 2016, New York – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon briefed Member States today on the ongoing preparations for the first World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) which will be held on 23 to 24 May 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey.

 

The WHS will bring together governments, humanitarian organizations, people affected by humanitarian crises (arising from both political strife and natural disasters) and new partners, including the private sector, to propose solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges and set an agenda to keep humanitarian action fit for the future.

 

As preparations for the Summit reach the final stages, the Philippines underscored the need for a balanced Summit agenda and called for equal attention to humanitarian crises brought about by natural disasters that have adverse effects on development.

 

“Indeed for us, the link between these humanitarian crises and our development agenda is concrete. Typhoon Haiyan in 2013, for instance, slowed down our GDP growth by 0.6% in the 1st quarter of 2014. Climate change has also increased the frequency and exacerbated the effects of these natural disasters,” Ambassador Lourdes O. Yparraguirre, Permanent Representative of the Philippines to the United Nations, stressed in her statement the briefing.

 

Ambassador Yparraguirre also called for more clarity on the commitments expected at the Summit.

“While form is important, we can no longer afford to dither for solutions. Let us muster a strong political will to come together, make the Summit a resounding success as a strong foundation for concrete follow-up actions, and help millions of suffering people reclaim their dignity,” she said.

 

The WHS will have a Leaders’ Segment for Heads of States and Governments which will focus on the five core responsibilities of the Agenda for Humanity. These five core responsibilities are:  Political Leadership to Prevent and End Conflict, Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity, Leave No One Behind, Change People’s Lives – from Delivering Aid to Ending Need, and Invest in Humanity.

 

Seven Roundtable sessions will also be convened which will provide venue for leaders from Member States, civil society and the private sector to focus on a number of challenges crucial to achieving the 2030 Agenda and other shared goals. 

 

The Summit’s outcomes will include a Chair’s Summary and a “Commitments to Action” document to be issued after the meeting. END