The 21st International Humanitarian Conference opened in Geneva on 18 February heard in two keynote speeches that "trying only to contain problems" in certain areas is not working anymore in this globalized world and that the international community "must converge" to tackle the root causes which presently include 33 armed conflicts and political repressions of one's own citizens.

Mr. Yves Daccord, general director of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), stressed in his keynote address that "no one of us should anymore think" that the problems like that of Syria can be be containted where they are. "This is no more the case", and urged the international community to anticipate and prevent root causes of problems "and not wait until they occur".

Organized by the Webster University campus in Geneva, the 21st IHC being held under the theme of "Toward the World Humanitarian Summit", the two-day conference in Geneva aims to review the agenda items as well as proposing next steps and solutions by the World Humanitarian Summit which is scheduled to be held in Istanbul, Turkey, in May 2016.

In a brief intervention at the first day of the meeting, Mr. Woldeyesus Ammar, foreign relations head of the Eritrean People's Democratic Party (EPDP), reminded the conference that the recent grant of millions of Euros to the Eritrean regime is part of the containment policy still upheld by Europe and hoped that this wrong approach to dictatorships could be discussed at the Istanbul World Humanitarian Summit.

The Geneva international humanitarian conferences were started in 1995 and they bring together practitioners and scholars, members of the Geneva-based international community and other officials and representatives of civil society to address current and future challenges.

The 21st IHC now in session head over 20 presentations and is scheduled to receive up to 12 speakers tomorrow, 19 February.

The primary themes of the conference include: 1. Improving the efficacy of humanitarian action, 2. Reducing human vulnerability and managing risk, 3. Transformation and innovation in humanitarian action, 4. Meeting the needs of people in conflict situations, including provision of protection, and 5. Identifying new avenues of cooperation between humanitarian agencies and other actors to enhance the resilience of people experiencing shocks and disruptions.