Launch of the Global Humanitarian Appeal 2015

Emergency Relief Coordinator Amos
High Commissioner Guterres
Dear Colleagues and Friends:

A very warm welcome to the Palais des Nations for the Launch of the Global Humanitarian Appeal for 2015. This event highlights our enduring shared responsibility to address the needs of the most vulnerable people - women, men and children affected by disaster and conflict. They are at the heart of our humanitarian action.

Humanitarian needs around the world are growing as a result of conflict, and natural disasters. And we have to be realistic: the needs will only continue to grow.

The number of organizations and people involved in our humanitarian action is increasing in response to these trends. The diversity of the participants at this Launch shows the impressive palette of different actors involved in meeting the needs of millions of fellow human beings across the world.

Our humanitarian workers are often supported by colleagues from private sector companies, who inter alia are maintaining vehicles and planes, delivering vital supplies and building telecommunications systems to track what is needed, and where and how we can get it to people as quickly as possible, not to mention the multitude of NGOs who are our implementing partners.

The only way we can meet the expanding needs is by finding new ways of working together - by forming partnerships that enable us to reach greater numbers of people more effectively and with lasting impact. This is the number one priority for our global humanitarian system, and it is one of the main reasons why the United Nations Secretary-General will convene a World Humanitarian Summit in 2016 in Istanbul.

I strongly believe that the new global governance - a global governance that is built on inclusive, cross-cutting multi-stakeholder partnerships - can contribute to address the multiple risks and sources of insecurity that the most vulnerable have to deal with on a daily basis. This new global governance is the hallmark of our International Geneva and our collective work here helps to change lives for the better, every day. It is a privilege to host the Global Humanitarian Appeal as part of that work, here in the world’s humanitarian capital where so many of the critical actors are based.

Our humanitarian debate today will address the “The Price of Saving Lives” and could hardly be more timely. While humanitarian needs have increased, funding has not kept pace. Humanitarian disasters are not one person’s problem; confronting them is a collective obligation. And as we are looking at the price of saving lives, we also need to consider carefully the price of not saving lives - a price that we will all be paying in lost human potential and lost contributions to a better world. It is a far higher price to pay in the long term. I therefore strongly encourage you to support the vulnerable people who need and depend on our help.

Now, it is my pleasure to welcome Ms. Lyse Doucet, BBC’s Chief International Correspondent who will be moderating the discussion this afternoon. Ms. Doucet needs no introduction, as many of you will have seen her on BBC World News or heard her on BBC World Service radio. Ms. Doucet has covered countless crises and reported from the frontlines of humanitarian disasters across the world. She has in-depth knowledge of the humanitarian challenges that we face, of the incredible work that humanitarian workers perform on a daily basis and of the need to ensure that they can continue their efforts for those who need them.

We could have not have wished for a better moderator. It is a pleasure to hand over to Ms. Doucet.

Thank you very much.