ON Monday, leaders from governments, international agencies, the private sector and civil society will gather at the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul, to address some of the most critical challenges we face today. The need for the summit is clear: conflicts that know no end causing untold suffering, mass displacement, and political and economic turmoil; flagrant violations of international humanitarian law; eye-watering levels of hunger and child malnutrition; more severe and more frequent natural disasters linked to climate change; and growing inequality that is cutting off millions from development progress.

The statistics are staggering: more than 130 million people need access to humanitarian assistance and protection and the numbers keep on rising. Over 40.8m people are displaced within their own country as a result of conflict and violence and a further 20.2m people have sought refuge in other countries. In 2015 alone, 19.2m people were displaced due to natural disasters in 113 countries.

Prioritising the most vulnerable, the United Nations and our humanitarian partners are seeking almost $21 billion to provide aid for 91m people in 40 countries. Yet, almost halfway into the year, $17bn of that vital $21bn is still missing, denying our ability to assist people who in many cases have lost everything.

When UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called for the first-ever World Humanitarian Summit he recognised that the status quo cannot continue. The timing for such a gathering has never been more acute. World leaders must grapple with the reality of humanitarian needs spiralling out of control.

We now have an opportunity to set in motion an ambitious agenda to change the way that we alleviate, and most importantly prevent, the suffering of the world’s most vulnerable people. To succeed, the secretary general in his ‘Agenda for Humanity’ calls for commitments and actions that focus on catalysing change.