Today, the world is witnessing one of its biggest humanitarian crises. The U.N. refugee agency recently reported that the number of people forced to flee their homes around the world has exceeded 50 million for the first time since World War II.Turkey is among the most affected counties of this humanitarian crisis, hosting almost two million refugees and spending more than $5 billion. Moreover, in May 2016, Istanbul will also host the World Humanitarian Summit (WHS), which is the first global summit on humanitarian action of this size and scope. According to the U.N., the goal of this summit is to bring the global community together to commit to new ways of working together to save lives and reduce hardship around the globe. While preparations are underway for this milestone event, we talked with Dr. Jemilah Mahmood, chief of the WHS Secretariat during their regional consultation meeting in Budapest.Mahmood praised Turkey's initiative to host the WHS, and said that this summit will help the world recognize Turkey's response to these crises and also help Turkey improve its partnership with other international partners.What is the importance of this summit?The WHS is a landmark. It is the first time the whole world will come together to discuss the challenges we are facing today and how they are going to get better and meet future challenges. It is a unique process because it will bring all the different stake holders together who are involved one way or another in humanitarian action. Traditionally, we have governments, the U.N. and international non-governmental organizations, but for the WHS, we are also bringing national non-governmental organizations, local civil society organizations and the private sector, diaspora groups and academics together.Will this summit be a new beginning for the world's response to humanitarian crises?You are absolutely right. What we are seeing in the world is that needs are increasing. Even though donors are generous and increasing their funding because the needs are so high, we have a widening gap between the needs and available resources. Not only that, the number of actors who are involved in humanitarian actions is so diverse now. So we need to be more inclusive.The summit is going to be a critical historical moment when we begin the process of looking at how the system can adapt to change to become better and face all the challenges. The summit is not an end point, and as you said, it's a beginning of change.How did this idea for a summit come about?The idea came about because U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is very concerned about the different challenges the world is facing today and we need to be able to engage a more broad scope of ideas to find new solutions. Therefore, he announced that the world humanitarian summit will take place next year. We are very fortunate that Turkey stepped forward to host the WHS.Turkey's decision to be the host of this summit is so important in so many ways. First of all, we are breaking tradition. We are holding a very large world humanitarian event that is not the usual location for humanitarian discussions take place, which is usually Geneva and New York. So it's a fresh new perspective. Turkey's emergence as a donor is very important for the world humanitarian system, and it has now became the third largest humanitarian donor globally. Turkey also has to face its own humanitarian crises and, as you know, is hosting almost two million refugees. So it's a very strong signal to the world that we all have a responsibility in humanitarian action and Turkey is becoming a good role model.What contributions do you think Turkey can make as a role model?Hosting the WHS is a very large contribution, and I think Turkey can be a very strong voice as a non-Western actor to share its perspectives that may be different. Because Turkey has a very rich culture and a different culture compared to the West, it can bring a unique perspective. Turkey is also a melting pot that can bring together all the different nations in Istanbul for the 2016 WHS, and Turkey must push for all the different governments, U.N., non-governmental organizations and private sector companies to come together to rethink how we can reshape the world's humanitarian action.Turkey's position is also unique as it is a crossroad between Europe and Asia and this is a very strong message in terms of solidarity. We also hope that beyond 2016, some of the recommendations that will come out from the summit will be important, and Turkey should push some of these ideas to demonstrate that it's not all about talk, but about action.So you are saying that there will be a pre-summit and post-summit period in world humanitarian action?Absolutely. This will be the first world humanitarian summit and it will go beyond 2016 and I'm sure there will be a second summit in the following years.Which specific areas will the WHS outline?First of all, it will address the question of how the world humanitarian system can become more effective. The most important thing is putting people at the center of all we do, because people are our priority. Therefore, questions of how we can make sure that people can have a voice in decision-making processes in the services that are given to them, how to make sure what we need to be accountable for them, are important.The second thing is how do we make humanitarian mechanisms more efficient and cheaper. We know that we cannot keep increasing the resources all the time, so we need to look at ways to make our work more efficient.In recent crises, we have experienced once again that many local actors have the experience and the capacity to deliver humanitarian assistance, so experience transfer with local actors will be another area that we will be looking at as well.We need to strengthen local institutions and ensure that humanitarian responses localize and conceptualize because many local consultations we have had emphasize the importance of providing assistance relevant with their contexts, culture and lives. We also need to be able to bridge the humanitarian development divide. Right now, the assistance there is, is giving humanitarian and development aid, and we know that development cannot be achieved if you don't have good resilience in community. We know that every time there are crises, development gains are lost. So we need to get all sectors to come together and figure out how to approach the risk together, look at joint planning, joint risk management and more strategic approaches.We cannot rely on the same donors all the time. Therefore, how to look at flexible financial mechanisms will be another question that will be addressed at the WHS. In addition, we also would like to learn how we can use the expertise of the private sector in humanitarian crises. How, for example, does the private sector use technology efficiently and how the use of technology increases efficiency and event profits in various sectors. So we will also look at how we can leverage the expertise of the private sector.Lastly, do you have any particular message for Turkey?First of all, I would like to congratulate the Turkish government and especially the Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Agency, AFAD, for leading the first WHS. Turkey has undertaken a role to lead, to look at new solutions, and Turkey needs to be a really strong partner, not only for the summit, but for following through with the summit, following through on recommendations and ideas. Turkey has experience in dealing with humanitarian crises and Turkey should be able to share this valuable and unique experience with the rest of the world. I hope the WHS that will be take place in Istanbul will light the flame of humanity.Turkey is recognized as a very important humanitarian country now. Turkey can inspire other countries that have not been in a leadership role. Turkey must be an inspiration for counties that normally never have a voice and sit at the table. The WHS will help the world see Turkey's response to these crises and also help Turkey to improve its partnership with other international partners.