2025 Concordia Annual Summit

Partnerships for Scaling Humanitarian Impact

  • Advancing Human Rights & Social Progress
Shaila Manyam, Javier Garcia, Nate Mook, Rebecca Milner, Ann Lee

Session Summary

Important
Quotations

"Over 300 million people around the world are in need of humanitarian assistance. For the first time, the OECD has reported that global humanitarian assistance funding has fallen by seven percent."
Shaila Manyam
"We show up asking, 'How are you doing? Can I help you? What do you know?'"
Javier Garcia
"We are at a real transitional moment and we do not necessarily have a clear vision of what is coming next. I think the only way to get through this and figure out what comes next is by working together."
Nate Mook
"It is really important, as we respond to crises, that we strengthen the capacity that exists in communities. These health workers have been trained and they are the ones maintaining health services in their communities."
Rebecca Milner
"We need a revolution. There are no purely humanitarian problems, only political ones. So get to work."
Ann Lee

Key
Takeaways

  • The “1% Revolution” Movement: The panel introduced a groundbreaking concept of organizations committing 1% of their budgets to support vulnerable communities. This represents a paradigm shift from traditional funding models, with massive potential impact given that current global humanitarian assistance represents less than 0.3% of global GDP.
  • Focus on Problems, Not Organizations: A critical insight emerged around centering conversations on the problems being solved rather than organizational needs. This approach helps engage donors more effectively by demonstrating clear impact on specific challenges.
  • Community-Centered Partnerships: Successful humanitarian response requires recognizing communities as both beneficiaries and multipliers of resources. Organizations must approach with humility, asking “How are you doing? Can you help me?” rather than imposing external solutions.
  • Unprecedented Scale of Need: Over 300 million people worldwide need humanitarian assistance while funding has decreased by 7% for the first time. With one in five children in the United States being food insecure, this crisis extends beyond international borders.
  • Need for Communication Revolution: The sector has failed in communicating its importance to younger audiences. With influencers like Mr. Beast reaching one in three people globally, organizations must revolutionize how they tell stories and engage with digital-native populations.

Action
Items

  • For World Leaders and Policymakers: Embrace the 1% Revolution by dedicating 1% of public and private budgets to humanitarian aid, and prioritize addressing the political roots of crises, recognizing that sustainable solutions must be political, not purely humanitarian.
  • For Private Sector Organizations: Integrate strategic partnerships that go beyond donations, leveraging logistics and technology for humanitarian impact; assess disaster risks across operations; and actively collaborate with the public sector to become essential players in crisis response.
  • For Humanitarian Organizations: Adopt collaborative funding models to unify donor engagement, invest in long-term structural solutions over short-term fixes, and strengthen local resilience by training health workers, rebuilding infrastructure, and transferring leadership to communities.
  • For Youth Advocates Addressing Gender Inequality and Child Labor: Use cultural exchange to share solutions globally, harness digital storytelling and social media to drive awareness, and design economic empowerment programs that tackle gender and labor inequities at their roots.
  • For All Stakeholders: Commit to inclusive collaboration across sectors, prioritize community capacity building for resilience, and innovate communication methods to effectively engage younger generations and sustain public support.

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