ABSTRACT
The structure for future humanitarian action requires substantial reform. The most serious deterrent to developing a more effective global humanitarian community is triage, the process of separating those who can and must be helped from those who require no help and those who cannot be helped. The major unfinished business is creating a more effective global humanitarian system faithful to the principle of responding to need wherever it exists. Given the range and complexity of the challenge to preserving a sense of humanity in times of war, the global humanitarian community needs greater creativity in orchestrating its various components. This will require increased attention to the tasks to be performed, a conductor who gets the best out of the musicians, and a new sense of commitment to the whole by all of the parts. In resource mobilization, there is a clear role for the United Nations on behalf of the global humanitarian community.
