HUMANIFESTO – EDITION 17

Goma, 26 June

I’m writing from Eastern DRC. This is a country ravaged by decades of conflict, and now slashed funding (our programmes here were 70% US funded) and climate change. I’m listening hard to try to understand how we change this cycle, despite brutal choices we are having to make over how to spend the money we get. As Jan Egeland says, can we show that what we do collectively makes a real difference to a woman in Kivu? Our brilliant teams are reaching over 2 million people a month with lifesaving support, but they challenge us to do more. What an extraordinary place. I met the authorities in Kinshasa and the de facto authorities in Goma to underline the need to protect civilians. Hoping for good news from the Washington meetings tomorrow. 

Like everyone, I’ve been watching the escalation in the Middle East, and staying in close touch with UN colleagues and our teams in the region. We have contingency plans in place for the potential scenarios, with the focus of supporting civilians wherever they are. The SG has been clear that we need to pull back from the brink.

Despite the distractions of the news cycle, we must also keep a focus on Sudan. The people of Sudan should ask us if, when and how we will start to deliver on the promises of the world. Their country has become a grim example of twin themes of this moment: indifference and impunity. Over the coming days we will try again to reach El Fasher with vital aid. We expect our convoy to be allowed to move unimpeded. I’m in awe of the courage of our colleagues who run such risks. 

Likewise in Gaza, where, as I’ve said in my latest statement, attacks on civilians – including the killing of hungry people seeking food and those delivering aid – continue. Without immediate and massively scaled up access to the basic means of survival, we risk a descent into famine, further chaos, and the loss of more lives. Hunger must never be met with bullets. We are in contact with the Israeli authorities to try to get minimum conditions in place for us to save more lives. I spoke to Al Arabiya English on the situation in OPT and the region.

Busy two weeks in New York, Washington and Geneva. We had a crucial meeting of the IASC, the umbrella body that brings together the humanitarian community. My Chair’s summary is here. As ever for reform, the challenge will not be to generate good ideas and public commitments, but to deliver on them. I am determined that we do so. We should defend action not architecture; lead the change rather than be changed by others; and give up space to others. Organisations that come through this period will be those that can identify what they do uniquely well and do that. 

We also launched our plan to get lifesaving aid to 114 M people in greatest need on the planet. A hyper-prioritization of our already prioritized 2025 Global Humanitarian Overview. We are asking for $29 billion to reach those in most urgent need – forcing us into a triage of human survival. This is just 1% of what the world spent on defence last year.

I also briefed Member States in Geneva on the reset, and was heartened by the response in their call to action, with thanks to Costa Rica for their leadership. In Washington, I met new colleagues at the State Department and on the Hill. As positions are filled there is much to work on together, as I’m seeing here in DRC. I got a grilling from Medhi Hassan and an interview with Greta Van Susteren of Newsmax, on what we are doing, why it matters, and why we hope the US will show humanitarian leadership.

Last week, I also had the opportunity to meet again the advisory group of our Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF). This is one of the fastest and most effective ways to get humanitarian aid to people facing crises. It is a fund for all, and by all, meaning receiving countries are often also donor countries. This type of aid will be at the forefront of the humanitarian reset – faster, leaner, and greener. I have just allocated $5.9M from the fund for people being pushed to the edge by insecurity in Burkina Faso and $6M to respond to the worst malnutrition crisis in Nigeria for five years.

This is also a period of farewells to senior colleagues. Achim Steiner has finished his incredible stint at the head of UN Development Programme. In the seven months we overlapped, he and I tried to demonstrate the close connection between humanitarian and development work, and to ensure it survives the cuts. Not always easy, when much of the way the system is set up pulls us in opposite directions. We spend too much time observing this challenge and not enough time meeting it. Achim has also been a source of huge wisdom and practical action on the IASC.

And Sigrid Kaag is coming to the end of a heroic period as the SG’s Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process. We have been in daily contact, and Sigrid combines immense experience of the region with immense courage and acute political antennae. She has been a vital communications channel with Israeli leaders, even during periods of real challenge for the relationship with the UN. She also leaves a huge gap.  

In follow up to the IASC meeting, I’m appealing for help on some of the big questions ahead. How do we scale up use of cash in humanitarian settings? How do we manage band and share data across the humanitarian community in the most effective way possible? How can we harness technology and AI to make us better alt what we do, and help us manage the consequences of technology and AI for communities we serve? How do we find and build a movement? 

I asked the team in DRC for this bulletin’s recommendations. They say we should try Amore by Fally Ipupa and  Pe by Innoss’B and watch Empire of Silence. Meanwhile, after several days on bumpy roads, I’m looking forward to Glastonbury (from a sofa) this weekend. I managed a life affirming swim in Lake Geneva on Saturday. And I’ve been reading Nobel Laureat Denis Mukwege and listening to The Rest Is History podcasts on the DRC. Looking forward to Thant Myint-U’s new book on his grandfather, U Thant, an extraordinary UN diplomat.  

All best,

Tom