Title
General Assembly: UN Humanitarian Chief sets out priorities for global event
Title
General Assembly: UN Humanitarian Chief sets out priorities for global eventBody
World leaders are gathering in New York this week for a series of High-Level Meetings timed to coincide with the 69th UN General Assembly. The week will be dominated by a number of issues: the impact of ISIL in Iraq, the continuing conflict in Syria, the growing threat of Ebola in West Africa, and the momentum that is building around a new global accord on climate change.
UN Humanitarian Chief Valerie Amos talks about some of the major humanitarian priorities for this annual convergence of Presidents, Prime Ministers and global influencers.
Q. This is such a busy time at the UN. How do you go about getting humanitarian concerns and messages heard when there are so many other issues being discussed?
Valerie Amos: The General Assembly is the time when we have the most people in New York and at the UN, in terms of Foreign Ministers, Development Ministers, and Heads of State. The agenda is extremely crowded, but it is very, very rich in terms of the conversations that happen … We do have some opportunities to get our messages out there.
There will be a couple of headline stories. Ebola, of course, it is absolutely crucial that we stem the spread (of the disease). It requires a huge effort from across the UN. By doing this we avert a major humanitarian crisis. There are some very important messages there about humanitarian work: what we can contribute in terms of our coordination expertise, our information management expertise, our ability to do things quickly which is a key part of the response effort.
Q. And Iraq as well…
VA: I’ve just been in Iraq. There is a really crucial people centred element to this crisis: the violence and brutality meted out against ordinary women, children, men – the fact that they have had to flee their homes, that so many of them are living out in the open.
I saw people living under highways, living in unfinished buildings out in the hot sun. They were terrified, absolutely terrified about what had happened to them. Everybody had a story.
So, part of what we have to do this week is, in the midst of all of the discussion about the military activity against ISIL – the security elements of all this – is to really remind people that there is a humanitarian story that is unfolding. And that if we don’t deal with it then it will also escalate.
Q. The continued crisis in South Sudan will also be a major focus during the General Assembly. What will it take to effect real change there?
VA: With South Sudan, I very much hope that we have been able – with the rapid action that we took this year – to avert a famine. It may be too early to say that, but I very much hope we’ve been able to do that, and I hope there is recognition of that.
But at the same time: the rapidity with which we saw the crisis escalate – the way in which the different forces on the ground paid absolutely no attention to the impact of that on ordinary people in South Sudan – is something that I still find extremely shocking.
What I hope we will get out of our Side Event (on date 25 September) on South Sudan and the other conversations that will happen is reminding President Salva Kiir and (former Vice President) Riek Machar that they need to put their people first, that they need to abide by the peace agreements that they have signed.
They really need to look hard into themselves, as to what they themselves should be doing, and the responsibility that they have in terms of contributing to this crisis. And I hope that the leaders gathered here next week, and those with influence over the South Sudanese leadership, will make those points.
Q. There has been criticism that the international community has not done enough to bring this crisis to an end. Is this fair?
VA: If we are going to really make a difference for the people of South Sudan then we have to work at a number of different levels. We have to work at the level of the United Nations as a global organization. We have to work closely with the African Union as a continental organization, we have to work closely with IGAD (the Intergovernmental Authority on Development – the eight-country Eastern Africa trade block) as the regional organization, and we have to work with the neighbouring countries that have influence.
That work has been going on for months. (But) not everything happens in the public domain. And I think that sometimes criticisms are made because people cannot necessarily see the impact of the work that we do. If we avoid or prevent something, or prevent something escalating, that’s not necessarily recognized.
I think we would agree that we could do more. Whenever a crisis isn’t resolved or a situation gets worse, we all look to ourselves. We all constantly think: what more is there that we could do? How can we best use the tools at our disposal? Nobody wants a crisis like this to drag on.
Below is an overview of the major humanitarian-related events happening this week at the UN Headquarters, in New York:
Tuesday 23 September:
- UN Climate Summit: #climate2014
- 11 am : Informal Ministerial Consultation on the humanitarian situation in Syria and neighbouring countries
Wednesday 24 September:
- 1:30 pm : No Lost Generation in Syria High-level event
- 3 pm : Fostering Resilience to Crises, #ReshapeAid
Thursday 25 September:
- 9 am : High-level panel discussion on 'Health Care and Violence: the need for effective protection'
- 11 am: High-level meeting on Ebola
- 12 pm: High-level meeting on South Sudan
Friday 26 September:
- 1:15 pm : High-level meeting 'New Partnerships for Humanitarian Action,' focused on Somalia and Yemen
- 3:30 pm: High-level meeting in the situation in the Central African Republic, #CARcrisis
Follow @UNOCHA / @UNOCHA_fr and the hashtag #UNGA2014 to be a part of the discussion happening worldwide.
Find more information on the General Assembly website
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