United Nations - Today, IOM’s Director General William Lacy Swing took part in a high-level event on the World Humanitarian Summit, “Humanitarian Action: A Forward-Looking Agenda” calling for all stakeholders to work together to ensure migration is humanely managed for the benefit of all, including people affected by humanitarian emergencies. The event, organized by the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General and the Government of Turkey, is part of the 70th session of the UN General Assembly. IOM leads the call to address the humanitarian dimension of migration: ending the failure to protect and assist vulnerable migrants.

The international community must remember that one ultimate goal is common to both agendas – bettering the lives of all people around the world through alleviating suffering and enhancing opportunities, especially for the world’s most vulnerable populations. The international community must break down the artificial boundaries it has created between development and humanitarian action, ensuring that funding and operational planning more closely reflect realities on the ground.

As well as building on previous humanitarian reforms, any actions instigated by the World Humanitarian Summit should take into consideration the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. An improved humanitarian agenda cannot happen in isolation. Those involved in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda have a responsibility to ensure that the international community is accountable to people affected by crisis, includingmigrants. 

Sustainable development cannot be truly achieved if 57.5 million people are left behind--the estimated number of people in need of humanitarian assistance at the beginning of 2015. The World Humanitarian Summit already serves as apromising example, with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, of what the international community can achieve when working together towards a common goal.

IOM is committed to the World Humanitarian Summit process. As with the 2030 Agenda, IOM will continue to advocate for the rightful inclusion of migrants in any future humanitarian agenda.

For more information, please contact Leonard Doyle at IOM New York. Tel. + 41 79 285 7123, Email: ldoyle@iom.int