May 26, 2015/MasterCard

The Secretary General of the United Nations announced the establishment of a High-Level Panel on Humanitarian Financing, and that Walt Macnee, Vice Chairman of MasterCard and President of the MasterCard Center for Inclusive Growth, will serve as a member.

Despite growth in financial support for humanitarian aid from governments and individuals, the demand for humanitarian aid has far outpaced the supply over the last decade. This funding gap has been exacerbated by ongoing conflicts that have increased the number of refugees, as well as growing challenges around water and food supplies, rapid urbanization and others.

The High-Level Panel will examine humanitarian financing challenges and identify ways in which the gap between rising needs and the resources available to meet them can be closed. It will also work on generating solutions around the issues of more timely and predictable funding, as well as ways in which resources can be used more effectively.  Recommendations to the Secretary General are expected in November 2015 that will help frame the discussion at the World Humanitarian Summit in May 2016.

In addition, last year, MasterCard launched a new donations platform that allows all Poste Italiane MasterCard cardholders to automatically fund micro-donations in aid to the World Food Programme every time they use their card.