Top UN humanitarian official urges new US administration to remain 'engaged with the world'

It is vital to global interests that American leadership and influence does not step back, says Ocha's Tom Fletcher

Tom Fletcher, UN Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Markus Schreiber / AP

The UN’s leading humanitarian official, Tom Fletcher, has urged US President Donald Trump to remain engaged with the world.

The UN's Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Ocha, told The National that “my message is simple to Donald Trump: you don't build a golden age by retreating from the world. You build it by engaging with the world”.

He called on Mr Trump not to "orphan this international system".

"The crises out there are not going to go away”, he added, listing pandemics, the climate crisis, economic crises and conflicts that need American engagement.

Mr Fletcher is attending the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, where global leaders and chief executives have discussed the importance of continued international aid at a time when questions abound over US support for international organisations, especially after Mr Trump withdrew the country from the World Health Organisation.

Asked what America brings to the world, Mr Fletcher said: “They bring money, they bring heft, power and influence." He added: “That's the way you lead in the world, and America has done that for decades. And I think the world wants America, needs America, to continue to play that role." That American role was on display with the ceasefire brokered last week between Israel and Hamas. The US mediated the agreement alongside Qatar and Egypt.

Mr Fletcher said: “It's vital the ceasefire holds … I pay tribute to the mediators. We needed this ceasefire so badly, but most important, the people of Gaza needed this ceasefire ... it should have happened months ago."

Ocha is among the organisations working to get aid to Gazans. “For me now, the priority is we get those trucks in, hundreds of trucks of aid, 600 on day one, 900 on day two, 900 yesterday. We've got to keep that flow of aid."

In addition to humanitarian relief, providing shelter, accommodation, education and health care will be necessary for Palestinians in the enclave. Mr Fletcher’s message at Davos on Gaza was: “We've got to help them rebuild their lives, as well as their homes." Mr Fletcher also recently visited Damascus and met Syria's de facto leader Ahmad Al Shara. “I was encouraged by our conversation," Mr Fletcher said. "We spoke late into the night about his vision, his way of governing, his plans for the country."

The UN official asked Mr Al Shara to ensure his country's borders remained open to aid, telling the Syrian leader to “really give us the chance to deliver for the Syrian people”. Mr Fletcher is among the senior officials watching the Syrian interim government's actions to assess co-operation. He explained that he told Mr Al Shara: “You will judge us on whether we can do that and we'll judge you on whether you run an inclusive government and really ensure that there is a role for women and girls, especially in Syria's future”.