HUMANIFESTO – FIRST EDITION

Port Sudan, Sudan, 25 November 2024

Dear Humanitarian Community,

Thank you for your warm welcome this week, for the encouragement and – most importantly – ideas on how we can work together to build a stronger humanitarian movement. I said in my arrival message that I would try to write each week. Here is the first attempt. It will evolve in response to your feedback on what you want more (or less) of. 

I had three days in New York, meeting Permanent Representatives and the OCHA team, and interacting with colleagues in country offices and frontline responders. I’m especially grateful to humanitarian workers in Gaza and Port Sudan for our discussions – my first calls in the job. They gave me a clear message on the need for protection of civilians, genuine partnership, and delivering on our commitment to ensuring local voices are at the heart of what we do. I also held calls with senior officials in Ukraine, where we have just passed 1,000 days of war. It was superb to see the OCHA NY team in action. I’ve heard so much about them, and they deserve the praise. Special thanks to my new PA, Rania, who has somehow kept all the plates spinning in a hectic week. 

I’m now writing this from my first mission, to Sudan and Chad. The top objectives are to scale up access to those we need to support, increase the visibility of the crisis, back our HCs and teams in country as they grip coordination of vital aid, and listen and learn. There has also been a chance to continue my predecessor Martin Griffiths’ trademark humanitarian diplomacy. The crisis is dire, with over half of the Sudanese population in need of help, and 20,000 people displaced every day, on average. In a camp for displaced people in Kassala, Sarah told me how she had to leave her hometown Sinja while pregnant and forced to flee three times, often on foot and while suffering serious complications. Tragically her baby passed away shortly after her birth. That’s why we need to do our utmost for people in Sudan. We have to keep Adre and other key crossings open, get more cross line delivery, build on progress on humanitarian flights, ensure our teams are properly resourced, and double down on humanitarian diplomacy. 

We passed a grim milestone this week, with the 281st death of a humanitarian worker this year, making it the worst ever. Behind that number are 281 people, each willing to take the risks to pursue the humanitarian mission. Their commitment and compassion have been met with bullets and bombs. I salute them, and everyone who heads towards the sound of gunfire, in order to try to stop it. I pay particular tribute to our OCHA colleague Sadig Adonso, killed this weekend in El Fasher, Sudan. 

My colleagues are also as busy as ever. Edem Wosornu is leading a mission to the Middle East, focusing on regional support for Gaza, the most dangerous place in the world for humanitarian workers, and where life for civilians has become unfit for survival. The entire population of North Gaza is at risk of violence, starvation, and disease, with no end in sight. My teams have been reporting that our system is almost at breaking point. They are determined to stay and deliver. But it is becoming almost impossible to deliver. 

Next week I’ll head to Geneva, to meet our teams and partners there, convene the IASC (our mechanism for bringing together NGOs and key UN agencies) Principals, and launch a sobering Global Humanitarian Overview, in which we will set out chapter and verse on the scale of the crises we face. Our system and our values are under sustained attack. I will share more on why our analysis fills me with shame and dread, but also – amidst so many challenges – hope.  

This week I’ve been listening to an excellent podcast interviews with some of my predecessors: Jan Egeland, John Holmes, Valerie Amos, Mark Lowcock and other humanitarian leaders. Highly recommended as we seek to build on their work. I am indebted to all of them, and Martin, for their advice and support as I prepared for this role. I am also grateful to Jan for giving up his time to work alongside Joyce Msuya on our four-week anti bureaucracy blitz, looking at where we can simplify our processes and liberate humanitarians to be humanitarians. 

My book recommendation this week is ‘The Idealists’ Survival Guide: 75 Ways to Avoid Burnout’ by Alessandra Pigni. It has great tips, specifically for keeping the human in humanitarian. She argues that busyness cannot be the measure of what we do; and that too much stress is caused by unnecessary process and a gap between our values and the lived experience in some workplaces. There is great advice on setting boundaries and habits to ensure we burn without burning out. 

Wherever this work is taking you this week, my solidarity, and thanks.

All the best,

Tom