UN’s Ban Ki-moon urges ‘fixing’ of humanitarian funding gap

“We need to provide more direct funding to local people and  communities and fix the persistent humanitarian funding gap and investing in building stable and inclusive societies,” Ban said, speaking at the first-ever World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul on May 23.  

In 2014, the U.N. reported that around $540 million of the roughly $135 billion global aid budget was spent on decreasing disaster risk.        

“I call on humanitarian organizations to work more closely together based on shared priorities to meet [the needs] of millions of people in crisis,” Ban said.        

“We declare that we are one humanity with shared responsibilities. Let us resolve, ourselves, here and now, not only to keep people alive but to [give] people a chance at life in dignity,” he added.        

The U.N. secretary general, who urged the international community to cut the amount of internally displaced people by 50 percent by 2030, is also expected to push for an increase in world spending on reducing disaster risk at the summit.