This is the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II -- and here's what we can do about it

Next month, I am convening the first-ever World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul, Turkey, to address the humanitarian crisis that the global community is facing – the worst since World War II.

Around the world, more than 125 million people need humanitarian assistance, yet we are seeing the largest shortfall in the funding needed to help in decades. The Istanbul Summit aims to bring about a sustainable framework to provide assistance to these women, men and children, including nearly five million refugees from Syria.

With this in mind, I recently embarked on a ‘Mission for Humanity’, visiting countries that are home to vulnerable populations and where humanitarian needs are many. I wanted to hear directly from the people affected by humanitarian crises, as well as those delivering life-saving support.

Pumping water at a borehole, Oromia region, Ethiopia (UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe)

My first stop was the Oromia region of Ethiopia, where people are suffering the worst drought in 30 years. The ground there is hard as a rock and cracked, the air often filled with dust. I witnessed first-hand the daily reality of thousands of families there and heard from people in despair; having spent years feeding their families thanks to their cattle and crops, they are now dependent on emergency food assistance.

At a health post, a water borehole and a food distribution and cash transfer point, I was also able to see how the Government, the UN and humanitarian agencies are working together to help the Ethiopian people. But more funds are urgently needed so that food distribution can continue and people do not go hungry.

With students at Bwerangula Primary School in Kitchanga, eastern DRC (UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe)

In North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, where violence has forced approximately 42,500 people to flee their homes, I visited a UN-funded primary school at the Mungote site for internally displaced persons. I heard from the students there and shared with them my own experiences as a child displaced during the Korean War. Most of all, I encouraged them to keep on learning against all odds -- because they are the leaders of the future.

I also met women survivors of gender-based violence. These brave and resilient women are slowly putting their lives back together and achieving economic empowerment through employment at the camp bakery. One of them, Claudine Ntawanga, explained that the bakery allows the women to pay for some of the children’s school fees and also helps reduce sexual assaults because, without it, the women’s main source of income would consist of collecting firewood in the forest -- where women are often attacked.

Claudine’s message to me and the rest of the world was a plea for peace. “We really want to go home,” she told me.

 At the Shifra Medical Centre in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (UN      Spokesperson/Stephane Dujarric) 

At the pediatric nutrition rehabilitation unit at the Shifra Medical Centre in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, I saw the concrete results of efforts to reduce malnutrition and end chronic food insecurity. The number of children in Burkina Faso suffering from acute malnutrition who benefit from treatment has tripled, rising from 40,000 in 2011 to 120,000 in 2015. Thousands of lives are being saved each year, avoiding terrible human suffering and helping to ensure the country’s future. 

With students at the Mazouzi Mohamed Primary School, Algiers (UN  Spokesperson/Stephane Dujarric) 

The United Nations believes in investing in young people, and hopes to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. At Mazouzi Mohamed Primary School in Algiers, I told the young students there that when we promise that the Global Goals will leave no one behind, we are speaking to them -- to the children of the world. With access to a quality education, they will become creative and productive citizens, capable of bringing about change.

Syria is in agony. After nearly 5 years of crisis, 250,000 people are dead and 4.5 million people were forced to flee the country, most of them to neighbouring countries. In Zataari refugee camp in Jordan, where I travelled along with my wife, Yoo Soon-taek, and World Bank President Jim Kim, I met 17-year-old  Zaad, from Syria. Zaad told us her story and shared with us her dream of becoming an interpreter. Few things have motivated me more than the hope and optimism that I saw on the face of this inspiring young woman.

With Zaad, a young refugee from Syria, in Zataari camp, Jordan (UN Photo/Mark Garten)

In Northern Lebanon, I visited the Hay El-Tanak settlement, which is home to vulnerable Lebanese and some 2,400 refugees from Palestine and Syria. I stressed my firm commitment to support the Syrian refugees temporarily hosted in Lebanon, until the moment they feel they can return safely and securely to Syria and said that Lebanon can count on our full support for its vulnerable citizens as well as Syrian refugees.

At Nahr El-Bared camp in Lebanon, I spoke with one woman who is waiting to return home. She broke down in tears. No words of sympathy could console her because words are not enough. What is needed is action. 

In these countries and the others I visited on my mission, I heard the same hopes expressed by all of the women, men and children I met. Those who are displaced want nothing more than to return home; those facing food insecurity want to be able to work to feed their families; those deprived of an education want the opportunity to learn; those who have suffered violence want to live in peace. They want what everyone deserves -- the opportunity to live a life of dignity. We must not fail them.  

• World leaders have the power to close the gap between the world that is and the world that should be. Visit impossiblechoices.org and ask your leader to come to the World Humanitarian Summit and take bold action to stop human suffering.
• Get details on the World Humanitarian Summit.
• Learn more about the UN's humanitarian efforts. 
• Find out about the Sustainable Development Goals.

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