Statement by Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher - Humanitarian Reset

Dear Colleagues,

Thank you for such a practical meeting yesterday. In advance of formal follow up, I wanted to share some personal reflections on our discussion.

The postwar international system faces the greatest test since its creation. The humanitarian community confronts a massive funding, morale, and legitimacy crisis. We took time to recognize the devastating impact that funding cuts will have on those we serve, our partners, and our teams.

In response, we must be calm, brave, principled, and united. We must win afresh the argument for international solidarity. We can draw confidence from extraordinary progress made by humanitarians over decades. The mission is right. Our allies are still out there. But the delivery system is struggling. We need to be lighter, faster, and less bureaucratic.

So, in a moment of challenge, we must do four things.

First, it is vital to be clear on why we are here: saving lives. We agreed to remain independent, neutral, and impartial. This does not mean we do not pick a side: we are on the side of those in greatest need.

Second, deliver. We agreed a bold plan to work much more effectively and efficiently, reduce duplication and bureaucracy. Donors must simplify too. We must innovate or become obsolete. We will prioritize robustly, and make the toughest choices. I have commissioned urgent work to identify how we could reach the 100m people in greatest need.

We will not be able to rely on traditional funding sources and governments. We will find new partners, including genuine partnership with the private sector and World Bank. I believe there is a movement of billions of people who care, and who want to act in solidarity with those in most need. We should launch a public campaign to fill in the gaps left by governments, targeting the equivalent of 0.7% for each country.

Much of the change we need is about the way we work. We agreed to be ruthless in eliminating turf wars, and challenging our organizations to work genuinely together. Each organization should focus on what it does uniquely well. We agreed to act collectively where possible, to share more information and data, to be proud of what we do well, and humble about where we can be better.

We agreed to strengthen humanitarian leadership, most importantly by giving much more authority to Humanitarian Coordinators in country. I met all our HCs before the meeting to hear what they need, and will gather them again to set out how we will support them.

Third, devolve. We will accelerate progress in giving more power and accountability to local partners (who are bearing the brunt of cuts), with humanitarian action much closer to the people we serve. Where we stop work, we will stop it well. Creating the chance for others to take up the effort. Doing no harm. Leaving the means to scale back up in better times.

Fourth, we will defend our work more robustly. We need to call time on the era of impunity: end attacks on civilians and aid workers; and hold perpetrators to account. We must communicate more clearly the impact we have and the cost of inaction, with humanity not institutions at the heart of the story.

If this group did not exist, this moment would demand that we invent it. We now need to reinvent it, and our time together left me confident that we will do so.

This is not a drill. We are underfunded, overstretched and under attack. But we have not lost the argument. Our cause is mighty, and our movement is strong.

Thank you for your leadership in tough times. And for all that your teams have done, are doing, and will do.

Best wishes,
Tom

Tom Fletcher
Chair of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee
UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and
Emergency Relief Coordinator