The first-ever World Humanitarian Summit, set to take place in Istanbul on 23-24 May 2016, is a global call to action by the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

The Summit has three main goals:

1. To re-inspire and reinvigorate our commitment to humanity and to the universality of humanitarian principles.
2. To initiate a set of concrete actions and commitments aimed at enabling countries and communities to better prepare for and respond to crises, and be more resilient to shocks.
3. To share innovations and best practices that can help to save lives around the world, put affected people at the center of humanitarian action, and alleviate suffering.

Side Event: Improving Cross-Sector Responses to Humanitarian Crises

The ETC will be participating in a Side Event session on Tuesday 24 May, 11:00 local time, within the theme 'Working Differently to End Need'. The panel discussion, titled Improving Cross-Sector Responses to Humanitarian Crises explores how the private sector has joined industry, humanitarian and cross-sector networks to increase the resilience and reduce the vulnerability of disaster-affected and at-risk populations. Panellists include:

• Alpha Bah, Chief ETC and WFP IT Emergency Coordination branch, World Food Programme (WFP)
• Espen Barth Eide, Head of Geopolitical Affairs, Member of the Managing Board, World Economic Forum
• Simon Gray, Vice President of Humanitarian Affairs at Eutelsat, Director of the Global VSAT Forum (GVF), elected ESOA Working Group Coordinator
• Ed Martinez, UPS Foundation
• Butch Meily, President, Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation
• Pedro Rodrigues de Almeida, Head of Basic Industries, Member of the Executive Committee, World Economic Forum
• Lawrence Yanovitch, President, GSMA Foundation

See the full session description