World humanitarian summit urges better response to crisis

Ankara, May 23: The first world humanitarian summit opened in Turkey on Monday with United tions Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urging governments, aid groups, the private sector and other stakeholders to act to improve the global humanitarian system. In his opening remarks to the two-day summit, Ban called on the participants to make concrete commitments in five areas — conflict prevention and resolution, strengthening the protection of civilians, leaving no one behind, ending humanitarian need and ensuring funding for humanitarian actions, Xinhua news agency reported. He put a particular emphasis on the issue of displaced populations, calling on the world to significantly reduce the number of the displaced in the years to come. (IANS)