Asian Disaster Preparedness Center in collaboration with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation organized a workshop on Rethinking the Humanitarian System: Opportunities, Challenges, and Considerations in Local and National Engagement in Bangkok on 21–22 April. The workshop provided a timely opportunity for stakeholders to discuss the opportunities and barriers faced by local NGOs in the humanitarian field in preparation for a side-event at the First World Humanitarian Summit, which all participants will attend.

Workshop attendees from Asia, Africa, and Latin America examined recent trends in humanitarian financing as well as the shift from the delivery of aid to building capacity at the local level. They also reflected on ways to strengthen local institutions’ resilience towards natural disasters through improving their preparedness and recovery abilities.

Participants engage in a brainstorming session in the WHS pre-event Workshop.

The workshop acts as a precursor to a side event of the same name hosted by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation at the First World Humanitarian Summit. The objective of the pre-event workshop was to bring various players of the humanitarian sector together to analyze how partnerships can work together more effectively; to give each participant a voice and platform to express challenges and offer creative solutions to strengthen local and national capacity; prepare for the First World Humanitarian Summit side event; and for each participant to understand their key roles during the discussions.

ADPC will participate in this side event at the First World Humanitarian Summit with other key regional and local NGO representatives as a member of the side event panel discussion. The side event will take place on-May 23rd, at 15:00-16:30, in Rumeli Hall 2, Lüfti Kirdar Convention and Exhibition Center (LKCC) building, Istanbul, Turkey.

The workshop brought together key local and international actors from various organizations across the globe.