The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs is organizing the Warsaw Humanitarian Expo – an international exhibition of humanitarian aid and development assistance, the first event of its kind in Central in Eastern Europe. The three-day event is expected to bring together stakeholders in the humanitarian and development aid sectors, as well as the private sector.
The Warsaw Humanitarian Expo, due to take place in Warsaw on 11-13 June, will serve as an opportunity to network with top decision makers from the humanitarian and development sectors, including UN organizations and agencies, the EU Commission, as well as major Polish and international NGOs. The event will consist of a fair, the Responsible Business for Humanitarian Emergencies conference, a procurement forum, and the Humanitarian City – a platform for meetings and debates.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland is inviting the private sector interested in establishing and developing relations with leading organizations in the humanitarian and development sectors to present their offers at Expo.
”The private sector’s engagement in humanitarian and development work can ‘fill the gaps’ where traditional donors, international organizations and NGOs lack expertise,” explained Maciej Lang, Undersecretary of State for Economic Diplomacy, Development Cooperation, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East Policy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland. ”For example, companies can enhance our capacity in terms of service delivery, transportation of relief supplies, civil protection, providing innovative solutions, and many others. In some aspects business organizations – especially small and mid-sized companies – are more flexible and fast-reacting in comparison with the public sector and NGOs. It is obvious that reaction time is crucial in providing humanitarian aid. The private sector is often associated with cost-effectiveness and innovations, factors which cannot be overestimated.”
The Warsaw Humanitarian Expo aims, among others, to showcase the potential of Polish (but not only) businesses offering products and services, present best practices and enable the exchange of views on possible forms of involvement, and present the vast offer of the development and humanitarian assistance market.
Representatives of the European Commission, FAO, WFP, UNICEF, WHO, UNHCR, UNDP, Oxfam, International Committee of the Red Cross and many others responsible for purchasing and tenders for development and humanitarian projects in their organisations will share their knowledge on how best to participate in the projects, how to prepare, what to focus on and where to look for information.
”We plan to strengthen regional private sector participation in the market of projects and procurement of international organizations. We want to achieve this by educating WHE participants on how to successfully participate in tenders for the provision of services and delivery of goods to international organizations.” said Maciej Lang.
Background
Poland has consistently built its development and humanitarian assistance capacity for more than two decades. In 2017, Poland spent over PLN 2.5 billion on Official Development Assistance. Moreover, Polish humanitarian aid spending has increased almost ninefold, from PLN 20 to 174 million in the past three years. Read more about Poland’s development cooperation strategy in the interview with Mr. Maciej Lang.
Check and download the programmes for the Responsible Business for Humanitarian Emergencies Conference and the Warsaw Procurement Forum.
