8 December 2022
[Pre-recorded video]
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
It brings me no joy to share with you that humanitarian needs are at an all-time high.
We were told that 2022 would be the worst year for humanitarian needs, but the forecast for 2023 has scarcely improved.
Recent years have seen a cascade of overlapping, intersecting and recurring global challenges.
The General Assembly is in crisis management mode.
From the wide-ranging effects of COVID-19, through the boding climate emergency, to rekindled geopolitical tensions and full-blown wars – these challenges must be addressed as a whole.
These crises converge, and they exacerbate human suffering all over the globe.
A burden disproportionately borne by the most vulnerable segments of our 8 billion constituents: minorities, migrants, refugees, the internally displaced, and, in many cases, women, girls and children, to name but a few.
The gravity of the challenges we face is further supercharged by global inequalities.
The result is an acute disparity in people’s ability to cope with and recover from emergencies.
If we do not step up to address humanitarian needs, our world will end up in a perpetual and untreatable state of humanitarian emergency.
As it stands, the growth of global needs will painfully outpace the increase of global resources – leaving an inundated humanitarian system ever more struggling to meet even a fraction of needs.
But, ladies and gentlemen, you know as well as I do that none of this is new.
The root causes of humanitarian crises are still the same: inequality, systematic human rights violations, underdevelopment, weak governance, and, quite often, indolence to do good.
The choices, commitments, and actions taken by leaders today can reduce the vulnerability and the needs of tomorrow.
But that requires Member States to move away from ideologically driven decisions and to adopt data and science-based solutions.
To tackle the dramatic rise in humanitarian needs, we need an international humanitarian system that embodies humanitarian values and principles.
A system that strengthens community resilience and reinforces local responses.
A system that acts early and effectively, focuses on those most at risk, saves lives, and reduces humanitarian need.
I hope that your conversations today will put the spotlight on the concrete steps to address the humanitarian needs of tomorrow.
And that you will follow the advice of the early American patriot Patrick Henry: “never let your door be closed to the voice of suffering humanity”.
In that spirit, I wish you every success, and I thank you.
