Project Syndicate: Aid in a World of Crisis
António Guterres, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees

“…Protracted wars, environmental disasters, and state failure have stretched the international humanitarian aid system passed its breaking point. If the UNHCR and other relief agencies are to address the unprecedented amount of human need, they will have to broaden their base of support. Without a massive scaling up of private sector involvement, both in terms of shared expertise and funding support, we will fail to provide for millions of people who have lost almost everything. … The crisis in Syria has exposed the failure of the old approach to humanitarian aid. It is time to get serious about establishing a new one” (1/22).