A/71/279 E. Investing in humanity 54. The Summit reinforced the crucial role of financing as the key enabling and catalytic factor towards meeting and reducing needs relating to internally displaced persons. Significantly enhanced resources are required to meet the challenge of reducing internal displacement. The Special Rapporteur has consistently encountered challenges to assistance and protection for internally displaced persons and to making progress towards durable solutions directly linked to funding shortfalls and too-short funding cycles that restrict the potential for longer-term planning and programmes. Without significant changes to the funding system the resolution of displacement will be severely hampered in practice. 55. There remains a vital need to increase direct, timely and pr edictable humanitarian financing across protection and related humanitarian sectors, including food, health, basic needs, water and sanitation. Funding must also be enhanced for neglected sectors, including livelihoods, social cohesion and early recovery. In the Syrian Arab Republic and Iraq significant funding shortfalls have reduced the ability of the United Nations to provide essential assistance, leaving internally displaced persons and others in dire need. As at 6 December, the 2015 Syrian Arab Republic humanitarian response plan had received only $1.17 billion (41 per cent) of overall funding requirements. The United Nations has raised its 2016 global humanitarian funding appeal to a record $21.6 billion from $19.7 billion. 9 By the end of June, the 2016 appeal had so far received only a quarter of the total amount requested. 10 56. New financing modalities are needed to support the Summit’s vision of new ways of working and to ensure that funding is available for emergency humanitarian response, development work, and for the earliest transition into the recovery without time lags. An important Summit outcome was a commitment to a “grand bargain” to promote and increase predictable, multi-year, unearmarked, collaborative and flexible humanitarian funding towards greater efficiency, effectiveness, transparency and accountability of humanitarian action. It seeks to ensure that more funds reach national and local partners who are well placed to work with local communities, and that more donor money reaches tho se most in need. This has importance for the optimum utilization of funds, potentially allowing more flexibility for cash transfers and recovery programmes. 57. The primary responsibility of the State to protect and assist internally displaced persons extends to funding. While some States are among the poorest and require significant international support, others are middle income and must allocate appropriate resources from national budgets to meet their needs. The international humanitarian and development community should not be long-term primary deliverers in situations where the State can step up and bear the cost of its own responses. This helps to ensure that international support is targeted where it is __________________ 9 10 16-13413 According to an analysis group, Development Initiatives, the amount requested through United Nations appeals in 2015 was $19.8 billion, a slight drop from the previous year, but contributions fell by considerably more, leaving an unprecedented shortfall of 45 per cent ($8.9 billion). Humanosphere, “United Nations increase 2016 humanitarian appeal to record $21.6 bil lion”, 29 June 2016, available from www.humanosphere.org/basics/2016/06/u-n-increases-2016humanitarian-appeal-to-record-21-6-billion/. 15/25