“Beyond the Grand Bargain, two years on – taking stock of the recommendations of the UN High Level Panel’s Report on Humanitarian Financing”, organized by the Norwegian Refugee Council and the World Bank

Ms. Georgieva [CEO, World Bank],
Mr. Egeland [Secretary General, Norwegian Refugee Council],
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen:

A warm welcome to the Palais in the heart of the world’s humanitarian capital Geneva. Let me first of all thank the World Bank and the Norwegian Refugee Council for bringing together such a distinguished group of experts.

It has been two years since the publication of the UN High-Level Panel Report on Humanitarian Financing. The report’s title appropriately defined the magnitude of the challenge: Too important to fail.

Its recommendations were as straightforward as they were ambitious: shrink humanitarian needs; mobilize more funds; and improve delivery through a ‘Grand Bargain’ on efficiency.

The report was critical because it elevated essential truths about humanitarian financing: Truths such as that the best financing is fast and long-term, and that it must address the root causes of conflicts, not cover up their violent symptoms.

Unfortunately, the circumstances in which we seek to enact the ‘Grand Bargain’ have not become any easier in recent years.

On the contrary, as our Secretary-General warned at the start of this year: “in fundamental ways, the world has gone in reverse.”

Humanitarian needs are escalating on the back of deepening conflicts and more frequent and intense climate shocks.

Faced with these crises, the balance between tackling urgent needs versus root causes too often tilts towards the former. And this is why even as the amount of money spent has increased, the gap between needs and funding widened even more.

As conflicts deepen and needs escalate, the United Nations is responding by redoubling its efforts on prevention.

Prevention lies at the heart of our ambitious reform agenda to equip the UN with the tools necessary to tackle the challenges of the 21st century – focused more on people and less on process, more on delivery and less on bureaucracy. With a development system that is much more field-focused, coordinated and accountable. And with a peace and security machinery that is more cost-effective, more agile and more focused on preventing conflicts rather than managing them.

We have a long way to go, but the direction of travel so far is encouraging.

The other point of encouragement is the new spirit of partnership and collaboration that is spreading across the system and beyond. I for one have not seen this keenness for finding synergies, for breaking down silos and erasing outdated divides since I joined the UN almost 40 years ago.

The primary inspiration and integrative force behind this is the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – which really has become the common roadmap for all of us to get behind. And publications like the High-Level Report on Humanitarian Financing have played a critical part in this welcome and necessary change of mindsets.

With that, let me hand over to Ms. Lisbeth Pilegaard.

Thank you all very much.