INSIDE THE CRISIS: WHAT IS CHANGING IN THE HUMANITARIA WORLD

Organized by Intersos

Gianluca Brusco, Head of the Unit for International Humanitarian Emergency Interventions, Directorate General for Development Cooperation, MAECI; Sandro De Luca, President of Link2007. Moderator: Konstantinos Moschochoritis, General Director of INTERSOS

The current global humanitarian context is marked by unprecedented needs and growing complexity. Wars in Sudan, Gaza, Ukraine, the Sahel, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Yemen continue to generate millions of displaced people, hunger, and serious risks for civilians, while climate emergencies further aggravate the situation. Today, an estimated 305 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance—the highest number ever recorded—yet available resources are drastically shrinking. This gap forces the system to focus only on the most urgent needs, leaving many without support. At the same time, humanitarian action is increasingly hampered by the politicization of aid, the lack of respect for international humanitarian law, direct attacks on civilians and aid workers, and restrictions on access to affected communities. Disinformation and hostility towards those providing assistance further worsen these challenges. In this scenario, funding cuts are not isolated episodes but part of a global trend that questions the very future of humanitarian response. The panel will offer a concrete perspective on how these challenges affect the daily lives of those impacted and on the work of those striving to support them, while also opening a collective reflection on what the humanitarian community can and must do to face the sector’s crisis and rethink its future.