Written by May Tan-Mullins.
I am not a fan of big summits and conferences. I find it a waste of time and money, which could be better used to help the world’s poor, sick, hungry and insecure. However, big summits are becoming a necessity in today’s globalized world, to harness global leaders and institutions, to identify and prioritise issues, and to agree on big solutions to solve these problems. The recent success of the Conference of Parties (COP) 21 in Paris left many people euphoric. However, the World Humanitarian Summit currently taking place in Istanbul Turkey seems to embark on a different trajectory.