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             World Humanitarians Gather in Turkey to Take on Crises

   by VOA News

   Leaders from around the world gathered in Istanbul, Turkey, on Monday
   for a long-awaited humanitarian summit with hopes of instituting
   concrete protocols for dealing with future refugee crises.

   The United Nations-backed summit, which began Monday and will run
   through Wednesday, is billed to serve as a wake-up call for action in
   dealing with recurrent disasters and reducing the vulnerability of
   developing nations.

   "We have tremendous suffering in the world today. There is huge need
   for us to show solidarity with those who are affected by natural
   disasters and man-made disasters," U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Jan
   Eliasson told reporters during a Sunday press conference.

   More than 125 heads of state and government came together with
   representatives of the U.N. in host-country Turkey, which has been
   particularly hard hit by the ongoing migrant crisis in Europe. Turkey
   is currently providing refuge to around 2.7 million people fleeing the
   conflict in Syria, a point President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will likely
   emphasize as the event unfolds.

   While some skeptics have voiced concerns that the event will result in
   little more than a well-publicized focus group, U.N. officials hope it
   will serve as the catalyst for change that will help ease the suffering
   of millions of the world's poorest people.

   "This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to set in motion an
   ambitious and far-reaching agenda to change the way that we alleviate
   and prevent the suffering of the world's most vulnerable people," U.N.
   Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Stephen O'Brien said.

   Among those skeptics is the medical charity Doctors without Borders,
   which said the event risks becoming a "fig leaf of good intentions,"
   with little impact in the real world.

   "Summit participants, whether states or UN agencies or non-governmental
   organizations, will be asked to declare new and ambitious
   `commitments.' But putting states on the same level as non-governmental
   organizations and UN agencies, which have no such powers or
   obligations, the Summit will minimize the responsibility of states. In
   addition, the non-binding nature of the commitments means that very few
   actors will sign up to any commitments they haven't previously
   committed to," the group said in a statement.

   The idea for the summit came about four years ago when UN Secretary
   General Ban Ki-moon began consulting more than 23,000 people from 150
   countries to produce the Agenda for Humanity - a document that is now
   guiding the event's agenda.

   The Agenda for Humanity includes five core responsibilities for leaders
   to abide by: Prevent and end conflict, respect the rules of war, leave
   no one behind, work differently to end need and invest in humanity.

   More than 5,000 people are expected to participate in the summit.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/world-humanitarians-gather-in-turkey-
   to-take-on-crises/3341821.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/world-humanitarians-gather-in-turkey-to-take-on-crises/3341821.html