Speaking at the Global Security Forum 2024 in Doha on 20 May, as Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator at the United Nations Martin Griffiths said:

“We once had a dream: a dream that we could come together to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war. That we could develop friendly relations between nations, strengthen peace, and solve international problems. That we could have justice, respect for international law, and a world in which we upheld respect for fundamental human rights and freedoms, and the dignity and worth of the human person, and you know, like I do, where those words come from.

“Yet over the past three years as Emergency Relief Coordinator of the humanitarian system, as well as head of the UN’s humanitarian office, I have witnessed, as you have, how persistent competition, animosity and aggression between nations has prevented that dream from becoming a reality for far too many people. How strategic competition has been the hidden – and not so hidden – hand behind the outbreak of seemingly endless conflicts. And how it has stymied efforts to prevent and resolve conflict.”

He then listed some of these conflicts and instabilities and mentioned how strategic competition and economic protectionism has prevented an adequate collective response to the climate crisis, to the COVID-19 pandemic and to persistent economic and social inequality, and went on:

“The result of all of this is that over the last few years, humanitarian needs have grown exponentially. This year, we estimate 300 million people are in need across the globe of humanitarian assistance. Of course, we’ve never come near that figure before.

“Displacement, acute food insecurity and malnutrition are all at historically high levels. Inequality and poverty – as I pointed to in the Syrian case – persist. And we are witnessing a surge in health emergencies, and, of course, impunity. I’m reminded about impunity by reference to health because of the endemic of attacks on health institutions in conflict as my colleague Dr. Tedros [Adhanom Ghebreyesus of the World Health Organization] has often described.

“So as you can see, I am not sugar-coating what is a desperate situation. But I do believe there is hope.

“I have hope because I have the fortunate privilege to see places of darkness and sorrow, and in these places, we also see the light of humanity. And I believe that light still burns brightly.

“We see this in the generosity of host communities, those communities to which displaced people have moved to find safety and who are always helped first by host communities – and then by the international community – who share everything with them. I remember visiting a small township in Burkina Faso – 300,000 people had descended on that small township of 80,000 people, and those 80,000 people cut off now by the war with the Al Qaida insurgent group in that part of Burkina Faso. Those 80,000 people had shared their food, their assets, their capital with their visitors until there was no food left to share. And the mothers in that community walked out each night across the front lines to find leaves and salt because there were no longer leaves in their villages to feed their own children as well as those of their new neighbours.

“Humanity exists everywhere with the same force and power as it always has.

“I have hope because there are many among you who still believe in the multilateral system, in which I am very engaged, who give their all to that grand idea of the United Nations Charter and those who engage in humanitarian diplomacy, and, as I said, by Qatar who sees the links between the two.

“We have recently defined humanitarian diplomacy, which is so commonplace and important in these perilous times, as having three elements.

“Firstly, the negotiations, like we’re seeing now in Sudan, to create the opportunities for agencies and communities to have access to healthcare and other forms of humanitarian aid.

“Secondly, the mediation – we heard from Dr. Al-Khulaifi – the mediation that ends battles and that ends wars.

“And thirdly, the promotion of humanitarian principles underpins both of those forms of activity.

“I have hope because in the fiercest conflicts, humanitarian diplomacy has appealed to the common good.

“I had the privilege of being involved in the mediation of the United Nations for the Black Sea Grain Initiative where, at a time of angry enmity and war, the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, those two parties, with the help of Türkiye and, of course, the United Nations came together for an agreement to protect the global need for food security. And they said to me, very often, in that mediation that is because this is for the global good that they were able to go through and eventually achieve that agreement, and we hope that agreement may yet be renewed.

“What has given me the most clearest evidence of hope over the past 3 years is the courage and determination of the humanitarian community – workers, international and national, many of them local community humanitarians, particularly important in the frontline in Sudan, those people in the Emergency [Response] Rooms in Khartoum who did not leave, who are still there, who are finding aid somehow to protect and feed and support their communities – these are remarkable people and are our heroes and they die in greater numbers, as we’ve seen in Gaza and elsewhere.

“As humanitarian needs continue to rise for the reasons I’ve outlined and as funding fails to keep pace, the world is not a rich place, despite the generosity of many of our donors, we all do continue to strive to make the world better.

“In the heart of these efforts is a resolve to do a simple thing: to do something of the greatest importance, and that is to listen to our neighbour, to listen to the people who know what they need and who know what they deserve – to listen to them and to be guided by them and to be driven by their voices.

“And it was absolutely clear in the conversation with Dr. Al-Khulaifi with Qatar’s approach to mediation and, I would say, to humanitarian diplomacy is indeed to put first, not necessarily the political position of the State of Qatar, but the opportunities for meeting the needs of people to be at the heart of the way they approach difficult, difficult negotiations.

“I understood very well, and I’m sure we all do, and I end by saying that humanity is not smaller today than it ever was.

“Humanity will outlive the decisions of bad leaders. Humanity remains the beacon that will drive us all.

“Thank you so much.”

Martin Griffiths has announced he will leave his post at the UN Office of Humanitarian Affairs at the end of June for health reasons.