 We basically brought this panel together to provide, first of all, an overview of the state of humanitarian action in 2015, also to identify some of the challenges faced in responding to these multiple simultaneous concurrent crises, which are fairly unprecedented in my memory. And thirdly, to look a little bit at the manner in which we as a humanitarian community are adjusting our operations to this current very fluctuating humanitarian environment. Now this discussion is taking place in a context that we've mentioned several times here, but I'll repeat again, marked by unprecedented levels of forced displacement across the world, 20 million refugees and counting, and 40 million internally displaced persons and counting in a period when there seems to be very little in the area of negotiations and political work to resolve any of these, to offer us any hope. So this is happening on, it's a global crisis, not just the Mediterranean. In fact, I'm going to Bangkok next week in order to take part in a similar crisis resolution session of the Andaman Sea in the Bay of Bengal. We're all expected, of course, to respond to this global reality with a multi-dimensional approach, and this will require short, medium and long-term interventions that don't necessarily fit within traditional humanitarian frameworks. So in this context, we're very interested in exchanging views, having the views of the panel, exchanging views with you, taking on board your perspectives, so that we are approaching these adverse circumstances more or less in the same fashion. This means we're going to have to mobilize new resources, whether financial or human. We're going to have to consider probably structural adjustments to the way in which we've been conducting humanitarian assistance, and some of the areas to be considered will involve reflections on humanitarian financing itself, humanitarian principles, and the role of the Interagency Standing Committee in steering the international community's approach to humanitarian aid. In some ways, I hope that the panel itself will be at least a modest contribution to the World Humanitarian Summit coming up next year. We recognize at IOM that this humanitarian action to be effective means that we have to have partnerships, innovative partnerships. We have to look beyond the traditional aid approach. We need to be discussing the whole issue of nontraditional actors that will be of particular interest, and help us to engage with those stakeholders much more effectively, whether they're governments or charity organizations. So best practices, lessons learned, et cetera. So we've engaged in discussion, including the ISC and member states, on the delivery of humanitarian assistance to vulnerable and stranded migrants. Last of all, the whole question of partnership, renewed efforts to deepen our own engagement with key partners, particularly UN agencies, European Union, African Union, funds and programs, and with humanitarian donors, including such agencies as the OFDA at USAID, DFID, the EU Humanitarian Aid, Civil Protection Department, et cetera. So I'm very happy then to introduce to you our panel. I'm very happy to have Ambassador Hisham Yousef, the Assistant Secretary General for Humanitarian Assistance of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, OIC. Good to see you again, sir. In July 2014, Ambassador Yousef joined the OIC as an Assistant Secretary of General for Humanitarian Affairs. Prior to that, he was a senior advisor to the Secretary General of the Arab League, Dr. Nabil El-Arabi, on issues pertaining to crisis management, as well as the reform of the Arab League. Ambassador Yousef first joined the League in 2001 as official spokesman, and then as the Chief of Staff of former Secretary General, Amamusa. On my left, I have also a good friend, a new arrival here, Ms. Kelly Clements, the Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR, who was appointed last June. And prior to that, we remember her very well as holding the position of Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration in the U.S. She has been Deputy Assistant Secretary of State since 2010, with responsibility for humanitarian issues in Asia and the Middle East, but she has a long career with the State Department and the PRM's Office of Policy and Resource Planning, where she was responsible for the Bureau's strategic planning, policy development, and financial resources to protect and assist refugees, conflict victims, and vulnerable migrants worldwide. She was also Acting Deputy Chief of Mission at our U.S. Embassy in Lebanon during 2014. The Deputy High Commissioner has been closely involved with refugee and displacement issues for some considerable period, about 25 years, so brings a lot of experience to UNHCR and to Spain. Another good friend on my right is Mr. Jean-Louis de Brouwer, who currently is the Director of Humanitarian and Civil Protection Operations at ECHO in Brussels. We're happy that we could snare him away from other obligations at the last minute. He could join us. He's been with ECHO since November 2012. We knew him previously, of course, as the Director in charge of the Coordination of Employment Politics in the Department for Employment and Social Affairs and 18 years in the Justice and Home Affairs Department, where we work particularly closely with him on migration and asylum questions, laterally as he was also Director in Charge of Border and Visa Issues. And before joining the European Commission, Mr. de Brouwer worked in the Belgian Civil Service in the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Ministry of Home Affairs. I see you're done. OK, and Jeremy Konendike, the Director of the Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance in the US. Jerry, good morning. Nice to see you. He's joining the discussion via video link. Jeremy Konendike has been Director of USAID's Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance since September of 2013. As Director of this lead federal office responsible for coordinating US government's responses to international disasters, he oversees OFDA's global program and the office's responses to an average of 70 disasters in 50 countries every year. Since assuming his position, Mr. Konendike has led the US government's humanitarian response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in the Mount of River Union area. The 2015 Nepal earthquake, the Iraq crisis, Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, and the resurgent conflict in South Sudan, and of course the ongoing five-year war in Syria, among other crises. Finally, another good friend, John. You're down at the, John Gengit on my left, Director of Coordination and Response Division of OCHA. John was appointed as Director of the Operational Division at OCHA in February of 2011. He's one of those people with whom IOM has worked the very closest in these disasters over the last four years. He is overseeing the day-to-day management of all OCHA field offices worldwide and on behalf of the Emergency Relief Coordinator. And he is the Emergency Relief Coordinator's day-to-day focal point for supporting humanitarian coordinators. Mr. Geng is also the lead advisor to the Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs on operational decision-making. So with that, I think we should start. Perhaps I'll start by two quotes to describe the humanitarian situation in 2015. The first is a quote from a colleague who was in Yemen. And he said, the situation is beyond despair. And the second quote is from one of the affected communities in Somalia, who said that as long as there is no famine, the world doesn't care. I think this is a summary of the situation, of the humanitarian situation in the world today. And I also think that it is probably the worst that it has been since World War II. Half the population of Syria have been forced to leave their homes, either inside Syria or beyond its borders. And these are around 12 million people. And 21 out of 26 million Yemenis are in need of humanitarian assistance of one form or another. And we have a number of countries that are suffering and may break down as a result of the problems in their neighborhood and not problems of their own. Lebanon is hosting 1.5 million Syrians. Jordan is hosting a similar number. Turkey is hosting over 2.3 million Syrians and Iraqis. Chad is hosting refugees from Nigeria, Central African Republic, and Sudan, making it one of the top 10 countries hosting refugees in the world. And we have a devastating humanitarian situation in Iraq, in South Sudan, Central African Republic, Myanmar, and the list is long. As you mentioned, Director General, tens of thousands have been forced to resort to death boats, not only in the Mediterranean, but also in Southeast Asia. And the humanitarian system is continuing to pay the price of failure in resolving conflicts politically. 80% of the humanitarian assistance is in conflict areas. And the vast majority of this assistance is for protracted conflicts. In facing this gloomy picture, we at OIC decided that we will join hands with partners in almost everything that we do. We've been going on joint missions with Ocha to Iraq, to Chad, where we were also joined in Chad by the African Union, and the number of member states, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, and members of the international community, the United States, Germany, and the number of NGOs. We went to Gaza with the Islamic Development Bank. We're working with the Arab League on assistance to Syrian refugees, and on a plan to visit Pakistan and Afghanistan in the not too distant future with Ocha as well. We're also working on getting our house in order through establishing a mechanism for coordination of humanitarian assistance in the organization of Islamic cooperation because of our unique membership that has some of the most generous donors in the world, and also failed state, vulnerable states, and those who are most in need of humanitarian assistance. We're also working on establishing the Council for Humanitarian NGOs who enjoy a consultative status with our OIC and the network with those that go beyond this group. We're forging our partnership with Ocha, UNHCR, ICRC, World Food Program, UNESCO, and other organizations, and also with a number of countries, including the United States, European Union, Australia, and many others. We worked with ICRC and published a book about the compatibility between international humanitarian law and Islamic Sharia. Similarly with UNHCR, we worked on a similar book on international refugee law and Islamic Sharia. We also worked with UNRWA to avoid an imminent crisis that threatened 500,000 kids of not being able to go to school because of lack of funds. So the list of challenges is huge and we hope that we can work in the World Humanitarian Summit in order to be able to solve some of these issues. We have a number of clear objectives in relation to where we want to go in the future and what would constitute success for the World Humanitarian Summit. The first issue is reform. How we can reform the system? Because we think that the system can no longer cope. Only a decade ago, we had to deal with 30 million refugee and displaced persons. Now we have to deal with 60. Our ability to reform the system is crucial in order for us to be able to face future challenges, whether they are resulting from conflicts, natural disasters, climate change, or many other challenges. The second challenge is localization. We have to ensure that first responders, those who are underground, are more capable, they are involved in decision making, and not only subcontractors. And this is not a fight or a power struggle between local and international NGOs. Absolutely not. It is how to take advantages of the best of both worlds. Somalia has been in trouble since 1991. We don't have strong civil society organizations in Somalia until today, and this is something that we have to change. The third area is protection and access. I think we have to do much better in reaching those who are in hard-to-reach places and provide more effective protection to those who need it, including humanitarian workers. And we also need to ensure that the humanitarian principles are upheld. And at the same time, that counter-terrorism legislation does not put undue obstacles to a legitimate humanitarian effort. The fourth point is resources. As long as we're failing to resolve conflicts politically, then we have to make resources available for those who are in need. Too many people died last year in winter as a result of severe weather conditions. And the lack of necessary funds. This happened in Iraq and also in Syria, and this should not be allowed to happen again. The last area is building resilience. And we've made progress on resilience in Hyogo and Sandai, but more needs to be done, including on the nexus between humanitarian work, development, and climate change. We hope that the coming World Humanitarian Summit would be able to make a difference. To the three million Syrian children who did not go to school in the last five years. To the tens of thousands who had to face death in boats that are unfit. All for the millions who are living in areas under the control of Daesh, Boko Haram, without any protection, and with little access to humanitarian assistance. Thank you very much, Mr. Assistant Secretary. Jen, you've given us a lot of food for thought to start this off on terms of partnership. In terms of resources, the need for systemic reform, which we all know we have to do, the whole question of trying to deal, make sure that we allow those who are locally capable of also being the first responders and the first participants in this. And a number of other important points. I want to use that then as a platform to move forward. And if I may now ask our Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees, Ms. Kelly Clements, to take the floor. Thank you very much, Director General, fellow panelists and distinguished representatives here. I'm gonna focus very much on the partnership, actually, that UNHCR enjoys with IOM, which it's deep, it's lasting, and it's grounded on mutual respect. And it's been forged over decades of operational collaboration. It's truly important to us. Ambassador Swing and his keynote, actually at the last IASC working group and many other public events over the last few months has highlighted the challenges stemming from the multiplicity of crises with no foreseeable political solutions and the consequences of an overstretched and underfunded humanitarian system. We share these concerns greatly. In his remarks to UNHCR's Executive Committee meeting last month, the High Commissioner presented an unflinching picture of the magnitude of the problem, which both the Ambassador and the Director General have echoed this morning, which currently affects 60 million refugees and internally displaced persons as a result of conflict alone. Obviously, these numbers are far greater if we include natural disasters. Last year on average, 42,500 individuals every day were displaced by conflict alone. It's quite a staggering reality and one that we are seized with. Many of today's conflicts are highly complex and carry with them a regional dimension. The obvious example is the interconnected mega crises in Syria and Iraq, which have been discussed this morning, which has already displaced 15 million people. But there are other examples, notably South Sudan, Yemen, the Bay of Bengal and the Adamansi to name a few. Further compounding these problems is the growing number of protracted emergencies that also require attention and sustained assistance. And at the same time, humanitarians are increasingly feeling the strain of a global funding shortfall. All of these factors make it imperative for humanitarians to engage fully with development partners in an effort to address these problems holistically. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development provides this kind of an opportunity through the combined efforts of IOM and OCHA and OHCHR, UNHCR and the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons sent a joint letter to the Secretary General. The 2030 Agenda now speaks of inclusion, equality, leaving no one behind, and considers displacement to be a development issue as well. This is a real turning point and one in which an opportunity that we should seize. The High Commissioner underscored this point at the Global Forum on Migration and Development last month, stating that for development policies to be soundly formulated, those must take into account the humanitarian dimension, which is why we think this is an important subject for this event here. On the issue of migration, the current movement of people, which is the highest on record, UNHCR aligns with IOM's call to governments to recognize migration historically has been a positive force that has helped to build nations and contribute to human progress. International cooperation among countries of origin, transit and destination is important, not just for border management, but also to focus on development cooperation policies on conditions for people to have a future in their own countries and for them to use migration as a choice rather than a desperate option. We consider IOM the preeminent experts on international migration in the world today and commend IOM for highlighting the operational gaps in the humanitarian system, particularly but not exclusively as it relates to migrants. Indeed, recent experience has shown that the humanitarian response to the needs of migrants is inadequate and ad hoc. There was broad recognition of the shortcoming at the last IASC working group, as well as support for IOM's proposal to integrate the needs of migrants in humanitarian response plans, which we support fully. For our part, UNHCR is pleased to be working closely with IOM on the regional refugee and migrant response plan for the crisis in Europe, aimed at delivering a comprehensive response to this enormous challenge. This marks a continuation of our joint efforts, most notably the 2013 Western Balkan Initiative on Refugee Protection and International Migration Management and the crisis in the Bay of Bengal and Adaman Sea earlier this year. UNHCR also supports IOM's Migrants in Countries in Crisis, MICIC initiative. We are pleased to be able to contribute to the development of a policy for this initiative and have worked closely with IOM on it since its conceptualization. Our interest emanates from our joint experiences in several crisis situations. Migrants may lack adequate means to ensure their own safety when caught in a country in crisis, and they can fall through the cracks because no protection frameworks exist that delineates the responsibilities of state and other actors, as is the case with refugees. We believe the MICIC initiative will complement UNHCR's work and will support the creation and strengthening of referral measures for migrants. Turning to other areas of our partnership, we enjoy a strong relationship with IOM in our co-leadership of the Global Camp Coordination and Camp Management Cluster, where both agency strengths contribute to increased capacity and resources devoted to the cluster. At the same time, such capacity requires continuous commitment so that the responsibilities at the global level and more importantly, the implementation of leadership at the national and local levels in conflict situations and in the natural disaster context is well understood by all partners. And importantly, that it leads to a predictable and efficient delivery of protection and assistance to affected populations. IOM has long been a partner in protection and reintegration, working in sectors that support the durable return of internally displaced persons and refugees. Our recent collaboration on housing, land, property issues is helping to draw attention to and address an important root cause of displacement. And last but not least, IOM is an essential actor in global refugee resettlement. Without IOM, we could not advance the goal of finding solutions for some 1.2 million refugees that we estimate to be in need of this form of protection in 2016. We're grateful for your leadership in so many areas and our deep partnership in addressing unprecedented humanitarian challenges in the world today. Thank you. You say I'm very grateful to you for that reaffirmation of our longstanding partnership and friendship. We were sort of joined at the hip in 1951. High Commissioner always likes to say that we were joined at the hip but they lost our birth certificate. And that's partly what's being discussed now in the IOMU and relationship but we value very greatly the partnership and you've underlined a number of areas in which we have to continue to do our best to work together. I'm just thinking of the increasing demands we've got now for the resettlement of Syrian refugees. We have the Canadian announcement one by President Obama and several others who would mean that we will be surging our response capacity. We should now perhaps go to Washington if we want to. I think Kelly working on displacement tracking in Iraq and Nigeria, disaster risk reduction in Asia to be amazing because IOMS an organization that we know we can consistently turn to to help solve problems and thinking about new and creative solutions we need to be thinking about new ways of working together as them as under. So I was asked to, we have found IOMS because of IOMS focus on displacement which aligns closely with the tool in ensuring we have good visibility on informed major roles in the Ebola containment effort. Really critical. You'll remember that a number of countries were closing their borders and putting new controls on their borders and there was a great fear that the disease to be exported. So it was a new partnerships and new ability. We also work closely with IOMS. What we're moving towards is the default response should be and support from the international supporting the two and reduce the burden on the international system, increase local ownership where possible of, so I want to just say a few more words about that as well. The summit is an important opportunity. It's hugely, hugely important. We can't really continue to just look at displacements respond to reactively. We need to look at it also as a development issue to be responded to proactively and that's a major priority for the U.S. heading into the summit. We are also very focused on some reforms of the humanitarian. We feel there's been great progress made over the last, no wonder means we need to go even further. And I think we've also seen in the past partially and neutrally and objectively is crucially, crucially important and too often is eroded or disrespected in the environments we see today. We're also very focused on resources and financing and in that vein it will be particularly important to bring, think about how we broaden the ownership of the international, particular protection needs of women and girls in crisis. And this is going to lead us to a huge distance we still need to go. What we want to do with all of this and a major U.S. overarching priority of all these things is we need a humanitarian system that can really respond in a cohesive collective way. One could say that at this point we have a team but not a system. We have a lot of different agencies pursuing different agendas, sometimes in close coordination and sometimes going their own way. What we need to move towards is a system that will still be made of a lot of different constituent parts is able to act in a, it can take an approach that's driven by problem solving. Thank you very much, Mr. Director. We greatly appreciate your joining us at this hour, early hour of the day for you. You're a key player for us all and we want to continue developing that partnership. Along the lines that you mentioned particularly, trying to make sure that we are using that local response adequately and helping develop it further, the whole relationship between humanitarian development, the resources and financing question. I think the reform, I think we're all hitting more or less the same themes. Now I think we need to make sure that we have an action program to put that in force. Let me move right along here now and ask our next speaker, if I may, Director Jean-Louis de Brouwer, if you would please take the floor. Thank you, sir. Thank you very much, Mr. Director General. And by the way also, thank you very much in your introduction for having reminded me of my long history of cooperation with IOM in different capacity. I would not have liked to miss this opportunity, which is a bit of a turning point by any means. I even managed to get out of the besieged area this morning, to get out of Brussels, I mean, to join you today. With your permission and in a rather exceptional way because I know that in this kind of international gathering of English is now becoming the working language of all of us and I would normally have delivered my presentation in English. But for the sake of paying tribute to one of our member states, which has been badly hit by a tourist tragedy two weeks ago, after and following Russia, Tunisia and Turkey, many others, and before again, Tunisia and Mali, I would say a few words in French, as I understand that there are some translation facilities and interpretation facilities to all of us. Louis M. Arwen has become, in the humanitarian field, one of Eko's main partners at the moment. In funding terms, you are among the top five of our partners. We work with you, not only in mega crises that have been referred to by previous speakers, but also quite remarkably on far smaller operations that are of a very specialized nature. By the way, IOM's expertise has been highly appreciated and effective in Vanuatu, Thailand, the assistance for Rohingya and the people, and Laoui, the flooding. In these very or fairly small crises compared to many of the crises we've been talking about, we've been delighted with the way which cooperation with IOM has taken place. So it's very important for us today. To see IOM adopting a humanitarian strategy which we can fully subscribe to. It's based on common principles, principles that we also subscribe to. Focusing on the most vulnerable people putting needs at the very heart of its strategy, rather than status, which is a vital aspect when you're talking about different populations who may have been displaced for a number of different reasons. And I think one of the IOM's essential characteristics is its capacity to draw from its operational experience and come up with some general guidelines as a result of that, based on its field knowledge. It also has a capacity for identifying the relevant sectors where it can bring more added value. So that IOM can target its expertise to where it's most needed and most effective. So we welcome the adoption of this strategy and we congratulate you on that. What's already been said is that IOM's objectives are very much consistent with the IOSC. Humanitarian objectives. And we are talking about a number of different partners with the Red Cross, the GEOs. We should also set up a new category for the IOM. But quite apart from institutional matters, which are not all talking about it, you're involved in activities of major humanitarian activities will facilitate intervention and coordination rather than make things more complex from the point of view of coordination. Now, I will also add that we see IOM as having a very specific aspect and that is that you work very closely with your field staff and its IOM field staff who are involved in implementation in the field. And that gives you a key advantage for both donors. I'm sorry to have to remind you of that and in terms of monitoring and accountability because we know that IOM is responsible for each link in the chain and that's very reassuring for donors and it's also a very good thing for accountability terms. I would not dwell on consideration about the size and magnitudes of the challenges that we are all confronted with. Needless to say, and I will not further elaborate on that at least in this initial intervention but we can come back on that during the discussion afterwards, that the European Union feels pretty much at the centre of everything which is happening for the time being. All these crises are unfolding at our doorsteps and they are translating into what for the Union is also an unprecedented crise existentielle, I would say. I was referring earlier to the terrorist attacks which hit Paris after so many other cities. Some people in the audience might say it has nothing to do with what we are dealing with today. Of course it has to do with what we are dealing with today. Kelly said it very eloquently. We are confronted with very complex man-made crisis and this interconnectedness is part of the complexity of the situation we are dealing with. Last but not least, expectations with regard to the World Humanitarian Summit. World Humanitarian Summit for us, if it's successful will be the beginning of a process. It will not be the end of a process. We expect the WHS to launch a process that might indeed lead us to the dramatic changes that were advocated by my predecessor and that we advocate ourselves. But it's quite unpredictable and I do not think that the humanitarian world will be radically different after the closing session of the WHS in Istanbul from what it was before. This being said, we have also, as Jeremy did, as Ambassador Youssef did, we have to identify our priorities and what we think that should be on the agenda of this adjornamento of the humanitarian aid that we are all advocating for. We are somewhat more modest. Ambassador Youssef called five priorities. We would have three, but they are quite similar. First, reaffirmation of the basics. Principle humanitarian aid, aiming at supporting and shouldering the situation, improving the situation of the most vulnerable, needs-based, principled and protection-oriented. These are old grand words and I could not agree more with what Ambassador Youssef said in this conclusion. No slogans, action. And therefore, we have now to think in terms of OK, how, for instance, are we collectively, locally and internationally ensuring that basic principles in terms of protection, which are grossly violated today in Syria, Iraq or someplace else, are met. It's not about drawing a new agenda. It's not about inventing new things. It's about delivering on this and making sure that people are protected where they need and that we put to an end this kind of constant violation, this blatant ignorance. We are even dealing with entities which main aim, you would say, which main strategy is to violate these principles or are we dealing with that and now we're doing that in a very operational way. Humanitarian finance and resources, of course. It's key, it was quoted by everybody. There we have some expectations. I would say also because one of the co-chair of the high-level panel is my former boss. He is now the Vice-President of the Commission, Kristallnage Ogeva. There have been a presentation yesterday, I think, or the day before yesterday, of the anticipated contribution of this high-level panel in New York. We might have there, we might have there one of the operational short-term deliverables of the WHS and we are supporting and we are looking very carefully as a donor at the conclusion of this panel and the way they are going to be possibly taken over in whatever comes out of the WHS. And as part of this agenda, broader than this agenda, the Humanitarian Development Nexus. It's all over the place, including inside the Union, by the way, and we try to do our best, but we have to achieve this. I mean, again, no slogan, action. For instance, one of the first test case for us when we take place before the WHS, I understand that a few states, including EU member states, United Kingdom, Norway, Germany, and Kuwait are planning a funding event in London on the 4th of February as a consequence of the publication of the appeals on the 7th of December, if my memory is correct, by the UN. I understand, but we'll see that they want to take a completely new approach, move one gear up, go beyond what can be delivered or what cannot be delivered by humanitarian donors and making actually real connections, actual connections between different funding streams, funding instruments. It's not only about donors, it's about also funding streams and instruments. This could be a test case. We are going to follow that very closely. We are going to try to support that and maybe we could draw lessons from this for further development. So, to have the IOM on board of all this discussion is in a way reassuring because, I mean, many of our colleagues have used quotes. I would use also one in my conclusion this time, quoting you, Mr. Swing. When you say that migration is not only inevitable but also necessary and highly desirable provided that it is properly managed, how could we ignore this in a globalized world? How could we think one second that in a world where goods, services, information are traveling, are moving at the speed of light, all of a sudden, the one and single entity which would become stuck would be human beings? Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Mr. Der Rauer. It's always very stimulating and delighted that you missed the other crisis you were going to join us here today. A lot of very important lessons there. We're running a little short on time and we still have a lot to hear from John Ging so I will not even attempt to summarize your remarks. Everybody has taken them on board because you gave it in such a very animated way and I appreciate that. John Ging, if you would now, by no means to last but are basically our coordinator. Please, John. Mr. Director General, fellow panelists, excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, being the last to go, I'm in danger of only being able to repeat what my distinguished colleagues have already said, but that's good because it means I can be brief. Let me just bring a few additional perspectives and absolutely join everything that has already been said without repeating it. First thing I'd like to highlight to this forum today is the exemplary role that IOM plays in humanitarian action. Over 20 million people benefit directly from IOM last year, this year and in a way that, as I say, when we talk about the expectations of reform and new innovative ways of working, I think IOM sets us a very clear standard to emulate. IOM is fast, IOM is responsive, IOM is adaptive and IOM is effective. I've seen that myself in my travels globally. Just a couple of weeks ago, I was in South Sudan and I saw the IOM staff there in Malakal. They were in charge of the protection of civilian site inside the UN mission compound and they were dealing with it in such an effective way. I was just so inspired. The dignity of people was central to their consideration and the results were very impressive in the way that they were able to operationalize in the face of what would otherwise have been an overwhelming circumstance. I remember very clearly when we declared level 3 crisis in the Central African Republic, IOM was first up. A lot of organizations struggled to become operational quickly in that particular crisis. But IOM stood out and they were there in the airport doing a heroic job in facilitating the repatriation of those who were in a very vulnerable situation and they again were doing it at speed but again also in the way that they were conducting their action again dignity and humanity was at the center of their considerations. I also remember when the UN Security Council passed a resolution to authorize cross-border operations into Syria. Again within a matter of days IOM was out in front for our community with delivery of vital humanitarian assistance across the borders into Syria. I just want to again make sure that people realize that they're not just platitudes, there are very real examples on a daily basis of IOM setting the, what I would say is the gold standard for response in speed, efficiency and effectiveness on a daily basis throughout the world. I'd also like to join my fellow panelists in highlighting of course the importance of the World Humanitarian Summit and recall for us all that this is not a summit by choice, this is a summit of necessity. The world today is most definitely on a very devastating and negative trajectory and there is a real necessity to refocus to reflect on the direction that we're going and then hopefully to set a new course. In the first instance we would hope that there will be more humanity in political decision making at the global level. You know there's no deficit of humanity in this world among civil society and that's why we started with the summit consultations with consulting 20,000 plus people but we didn't even have to do those consultations. Go to the poorest country on the Human Development Insects Niger and go to the poorest part of that country, Diffa and see there the humanity of the local population in embracing the refugees who are fleeing for their lives from the neighboring countries and again those people having very little themselves but they have again exemplary generosity they've exemplary humanity and again that's what we need to remind ourselves of is that we need to have that humanity central to how we act and how we decide and when we look at the at the global political landscape with all these man made conflicts and they are man made I cannot think of a single conflict that is woman led we need to take that on board because we also make big commitments in terms of the inclusion of women and we fall very far short in terms of implementing those commitments particularly in conflict resolution so again we have a lot to do at the global level at the political level to bring humanity back into its central place as the foundation for decision making and again we would hope that this will translate into action that people will feel at the grassroots level and as I say there's a lot of humanity out there but unfortunately the brutality of conflict is resulting in what my colleague Jean-Louis de Bruyre was highlighting as the first priority of our focus is the protection of the innocent so how can we really do much better to protect the innocent across the globe and tap into the humanity that does exist across global civil society to ensure that the decisions that we make are much more humane and that leads into prioritization making the decisions that prioritize people and their interests and it leads us very quickly into the whole issue of financing for humanitarian action we don't want financing for humanitarian action to be in competition with financing for development and that's why we have this sequence where we now have the SDGs and financing for development and we move on then to the complimentary endeavor which is humanitarian because it has to be humanitarian and development but we would say that there is of course a competition out there for resources there's no doubt about that decisions have to be made as to where resources go and we would like again to see some reflection on the entirety of the international spend I was just in preparation for this meeting having a look at the spend of the three biggest member states in terms of their contribution to humanitarian action a combined total of 7.7 billion US dollars we thank them most sincerely for that but then if you look at their spend on military action it's 97 times higher so that's 746 billion dollars and the historical question is is the positive impact of that military spending in terms of global and national stability and security and economic well-being is that 97 times more than the humanitarian impact and the spending on the humanitarian side or the development side for that matter so we really have choices to make one example I agree with my fellow panelists that the World Humanitarian Summit must be the beginning of a new direction and that will give hope to people around the world that the world is on a different trajectory we are in the business of creating hope so we don't despair we shouldn't be naive but the world is enormous but we do have the coming together at the global level positively this year in the 70th anniversary of the United Nations 154 heads of state came to New York we also saw the adoption of the SDGs we are looking forward to the climate summit in Paris and then with that positive outlook we hope that the World Humanitarian Summit next year will indeed put us on a new trajectory and fulfill the ambition that we all have and most importantly the hope that so many tens of millions of people depend on the success of this upcoming summit thank you very much