President Michael D Higgins has said that the process to relocate tens of thousands of refugees to EU member states, including Ireland, should be accelerated, if countries are to meet their humanitarian responsibilities.
He was speaking at the first ever World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul.
The summit was organised by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in order to tackle a mounting array of humanitarian crises, exacerbated by declining funds and political will.
President Higgins, who was joined by 40 other heads of state and government, delivered three speeches in all, calling for nothing short of a fundamental rethink about how the world tackles development, about politics and about economics and trade.
The two-day summit is part of a process launched by Mr Ban to galvanise states and organisations to meet the stated goals of reducing poverty, conflict and the effects of natural disaster by 2030.
The task is overwhelming, especially given the current funding shortfall of €15 billion, and despite the humanitarian budget increasing 12 fold since 2000.
Following a four year process, a panel set up by Mr Ban concluded that too many aid workers and even hospitals are being targeted by combatants, too many relief agencies are competing for a dwindling share of resources, and not enough collaboration is done with local NGOs.
There have been pledges by a number of countries of more funding, but the realisation is that more and more conflicts, particularly in the Middle East, are causing deeper human suffering, and yet there is still not the political will by the parties involved to end those conflicts.
President Higgins said that of the 160,000 Syrian refugees that were supposed to be relocated to EU member states, including Ireland, only 200 had been successfully moved.
If there was a problem with the process, he said, then the process had to change.
In an address to some 40 heads of state ahead of the opening ceremony, President Higgins also called for a rethink of the theory and practice of economics, development and trade.
