City Haven (brief)
On February 18, 2016, Emergency Humanitarian Relief Coordinator and UN Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, Stephen O’Brien, welcomed guests to the United Nations in New York City for a special event entitled City Haven: People on the Move • Harboring the Displaced. The event highlighted the challenges and opportunities of responding to urban emergencies, including the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and the Syrian refugee crisis. It sought to change our perceptions of displaced people and propose new ways to ensure towns and cities are safe and inclusive places for all – including refugees and migrants. Referencing the urban context as it relates to both Sustainable Development Goal Number 11 and the UN Secretary-General’s five core responsibilities for the upcoming World Humanitarian Summit, O’Brien started the discussion by stating that, “we will commit to a concrete set of actions and commitments that will enable all – including member states, affected populations, civil society, and the private sector – to better prepare for and respond to crises, and to become more resilient to shocks.” In order to put these commitments in to practice, O’Brien announced that a new form of collaboration, the Global Alliance for Urban Crises, will be launched during a special session at the World Humanitarian Summit. The Alliance joins a diverse group of actors, who do not currently work together (including municipal authorities, urban professionals and humanitarian and development agencies) to deliver humanitarian responses in urban areas.
