King Salman Humanitarian Center leads global humanitarian reform efforts

The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) yesterday hosted a high-level panel discussion in New York titled "Resetting Humanitarian Action and Responsible Transition: Safeguarding Resilience and Principle-Based Action." The event was organized in partnership with the European Union, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), on the sidelines of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Rabeeah, Advisor at the Royal Court and Supervisor General of KSrelief, participated in the panel. He emphasized that UN-led humanitarian reform presents an opportunity to make the humanitarian system more resilient and efficient, highlighting the need to link humanitarian, development, and peace efforts, especially amid protracted crises such as those in Yemen, Sudan, and Palestine.

Dr. Al Rabeeah noted that humanitarian needs are rising significantly while resources remain limited. He reaffirmed Saudi Arabia’s support, through KSrelief, for all initiatives aimed at strengthening the humanitarian system to serve those affected worldwide. He added that the center has worked with over 300 partners in more than 110 countries and continues to engage local and international actors from the earliest stages of any humanitarian intervention.

The importance of localization and building local capacity

Dr. Al Rabeeah added that localization must be a core part of humanitarian efforts, ensuring that international support complements local leadership, and stressing the need to build local capacities for fieldwork, particularly in high-risk environments. He explained that the role of non-governmental organizations becomes crucial in such contexts.

Examples of field initiatives

In this context, Dr. Al Rabeeah highlighted KSrelief’s experience in supervising, alongside UNDP, the rehabilitation of more than 30 bakeries across eight regions in Syria, aiming to restart operations and boost production capacity to meet ongoing needs.

Enhancing evaluation mechanisms and using artificial intelligence

The Supervisor General concluded the event by stressing the importance of reforming the humanitarian system, strengthening the link between humanitarian and development work, developing evaluation and oversight mechanisms, and leveraging artificial intelligence to help safeguard lives.