In the face of a broken humanitarian system, one group wants more than “a fig-leaf of good intentions.” Malaysia’s corruption scandal calls development donations into question, and water scarcity threatens global economic growth. This week in development news:
Medecins Sans Frontieres, or Doctors Without Borders, will not attend the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul later this month, the group announced Wednesday. MSF, which last year saw 75 hospitals it manages or supports bombed, issued a strongly worded vote of no confidence in the summit’s potential to deliver real solutions for a humanitarian system that is overstretched and in desperate need of reform. “We no longer have any hope that the WHS will address the weaknesses in humanitarian action and emergency response,” the group said in a release. The announcement comes despite the United Nations Security Council’s unanimous adoption of a resolution this week to protect health care workers, hospitals and patients in warzones. MSF’s central concerns are that the summit will not put enough responsibility on states — as opposed to NGOs — to deliver results, and that since commitments are nonbinding, they will not amount to anything truly new.
In other humanitarian news, Academy Award-winning actress Cate Blanchett is the United Nations refugee agency’s newest goodwill ambassador.
About the author
Michael Igoe@AlterIgoe
Michael Igoe is a Senior Reporter with Devex, based in Washington, D.C. He covers U.S. foreign aid, global health, climate change, and development finance. Prior to joining Devex, Michael researched water management and climate change adaptation in post-Soviet Central Asia, where he also wrote for EurasiaNet. Michael earned his bachelor's degree from Bowdoin College, where he majored in Russian, and his master’s degree from the University of Montana, where he studied international conservation and development.
