Photo: Unprecedented aid crisis in Syria, Hosam Katan/Reuters

The first World Humanitarian Aid Summit to be held in Istanbul next week, comes at a crucial time. War and natural disaster has ripped apart families and displaced communities at levels unseen since World War II.

The topics to be covered at the Summit are daunting: how to stop assaults on human rights and human rights workers workers, and improve protection for people in need. Yet, those convening include governments guilty of serious rights violations, including hindering access to aid.

Also, the humanitarian system itself suffers from a ‘top-down’ structure. Those at the ‘top’ – donors and international organizations – make the rules, not the people or communities in crisis.

Doctors without Borders has pulled out of the Summit and a group of national NGOs has circulated a paper calling for ‘a more equitable and dignified humanitarian system’.