World Humanitarian Summit Opens in Istanbul to Tackle Crisis

ISTANBUL— An unprecedented summit to revamp humanitarian aid and global responses to modern-day crises opened on Monday in Turkey.The first World Humanitarian Summit is being convened in Istanbul in a bid to better tackle what the United Nations has ...

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, left, and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, centre, along with other leaders pose for a photograph at the World Humanitarian Summit, in Istanbul, Monday, May 23, 2016. World leaders and representatives of humanitarian organisations from across the globe converge in Istanbul on May 23-24, 2016 for the first World Humanitarian Summit, focused on how to reform a system many judge broken. AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis

ISTANBUL—An unprecedented summit to revamp humanitarian aid and global responses to modern-day crises opened on Monday in Turkey.

The first World Humanitarian Summit is being convened in Istanbul in a bid to better tackle what the United Nations has described as the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II.

The two-day gathering was conceived four years ago by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. In preparation, 23,000 people were consulted in over 150 countries, according to U.N. officials.

“We are here to shape a different future,” said Ban Ki-moon at the opening of the summit. “Let us resolve ourselves here and now not only to keep people alive but to give people a chance at life in dignity.”

An estimated 125 million people worldwide require humanitarian assistance, among them 60 million people displaced from their homes.

Ban urged those gathered to commit to reducing the number of people displaced from their homes by half by 2030.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, 3rd left, and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, 3rd right, along with other leaders pose for a photograph at the World Humanitarian Summit, in Istanbul, Monday, May 23, 2016. AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis