The Foreign Service Journal, April 2016

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL 2016 21 field operations, I am hopeful the agency will live up to its stra- tegic and comprehensive responsibilities in a spirit that recalls its best diplomatic initiatives of the late 20th century to unlock greater protection for the many we serve. FSJ: Do you believe that the existing humanitarian infra- structure is able to respond effectively to current challenges? What outcomes would you like to see from the upcoming World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul? KTC: UNHCR has often said over the past couple of years that the humanitarian system is “broke, not broken.” Of course, we can do a lot to improve our ways of working and strive for greater efficiency. But the phrase captures something essen- tial—that the humanitarian system suffers from a lack of financial resources to address the scale of emergencies and ever-increas- ing needs and, more importantly, from the lack of political com- mitment to solve some of the world’s most intractable problems. 2016 promises to be a decisive year for humanitarian action. It may finally herald a change in the way that the international community responds to humanitarian emergencies by ensur- ing a development focus from the earliest stages. Practically, this means that refugees are included as economic producers and social assets, not just regarded as passive aid recipients; and that refugees and host communities become part of national develop- ment plans and have a voice in aid programs. In addition to involvement in the World Humanitarian Sum- mit, UNHCR will organize the High-Level Meeting on Global Responsibility-SharingThrough Pathways for Admission of Syrian Refugees in March, co-host a high-level event with the U.K. gov- ernment and the World Bank on forced displacement and help prepare for two major summits in September: the High-Level Meeting of the Plenary of the United Nations General Assembly on Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants, and the White House summit on refugees. Political attention is clearly being paid to this problem. Let’s hope that it will make concrete action happen to advance humanitarian diplomacy and aid the greatest number of forcibly displaced people in need that the world has seen since the Second World War. Global leadership to resolve conflicts and displacements is either lacking, or stymied. The events of 2016, including the World Humanitarian Summit can help us all to draw attention to the gravity and scale of the problems, and to come together in a spirit of shared, collective responsibility to address them. I also hope that we can secure commitments by nations and other actors regarding the centrality of protection to all our work, and the need to uphold humanitarian law and standards. We in UNHCR remain fully committed to doing our part to make our own workings more effective and to collaborate with other humanitarian and development partners—particu- larly national ones—on common services. We expect a deal to be struck this year between humanitarian organizations and donors, under which we further improve our working methods, and donors loosen earmarking and increase funding. FSJ: You’ve been involved with humanitarian diplomacy from two different vantage points: first as a practitioner working Aerial view of UNHCR’s Zaatari camp for Syrian refugees in Jordan, July 2013. U.S.DEPARTMENTOFSTATE