U.N. Meeting on Humanitarian Aid

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/24/opinion/un-meeting-on-humanitarian-aid.html

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To the Editor:

Re “Thin on Influence, U.N.’s First Global Aid Gathering Will Tackle Aid Crisis” (news article, May 22):

The debate over the usefulness of the first World Humanitarian Summit being held this week seems to conflate the relevance of a process with the very purpose of humanitarian action, namely saving lives.

Legitimate frustrations are loudly expressed, making the case that root causes of major humanitarian crises, notably the failures to prevent or resolve deadly conflicts, are shamefully ignored. Hence, there are compelling demands for more focus on measures by world leaders toward international peace and justice.

At the same time, soul-searching is running deep within the humanitarian constellation for better ways to execute emergency responses. That requires a serious review by multiple stakeholders, ranging from donors to those on the front line.

At the end, though, everyone should coalesce around the premise so frequently invoked at the Security Council by managers of humanitarian operations: There are no humanitarian solutions to humanitarian crises, only political ones.

PIERRE BERTRAND

New York

The writer is former director of the New York office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.