Global Humanitarian Policy Forum: Analytical Summary: Transforming for the Future

01. On 12 and 13 December 2013, humanitarian practitioners, academics, private-sector representatives, international organizations, and non-governmental and government representatives gathered in New York to attend the 2013 Global Humanitarian Policy Forum, convened by the Policy Analysis and Innovation Section of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The forum discussed the future of the formal international humanitarian system and where it would stand in 2025.
02. The forum comprised a public event, the Humanitarian Symposium, followed by a closed session, the Policy Conclave, to debate policy priorities for the coming years. It included four workshops representing the thematic platforms of the World Human- itarian Summit (WHS)1, which are innovation, risk management, aid effectiveness and serving affected communities (see the agenda for detailed information). Over 400 participants attended the Humanitarian Symposium, and a select 100 humanitarian policy actors attended the Policy Conclave and workshops.
03. As a follow-up to the forum, instead of a record of the meeting, OCHA has produced an analytical summary that will:
• Highlight some of the key challenges, concerns and opportunities for the system.
• Outline the beginnings of a common vision for the “ideal” humanitarian system(s)
in 2025.
• Present key work-and-research streams, which the humanitarian community can
rally around in the lead-up to the WHS and longer term moving towards 2025.