The event is taking place in New York on September 22–23, alongside the High-Level Week of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly.

On September 22, Anzhelika Bielova, President of the Voice of Romni, joined the Humanitarian Response Working Session – a working discussion focused on the future of humanitarian response and how it must evolve in the context of protracted and complex crises. Representatives of civil society, governments, business, and philanthropy are coming together to discuss the most pressing challenges facing humanitarian response and explore partnerships capable of addressing them effectively.

For the Voice of Romni, this is first and foremost an opportunity to bring Ukraine’s experience into the global conversation — the experience of a country where the humanitarian crisis has no clear end date, and where people’s needs continue to evolve alongside the war. Ukraine clearly demonstrates that humanitarian response cannot be limited to helping people survive one more day.

One of the key messages Anzhelika is advocating for is the need to move beyond the “life-saving” approach toward a broader framework – one that protects human dignity and creates fair conditions for recovery. For people who have lived for years under the threat of shelling, moved from one city to another, lost their jobs, humanitarian assistance cannot be limited to food, water, medicine, and temporary shelter. What is needed is a holistic approach: access to education and healthcare, social and legal services, psychosocial support, and livelihoods. Communities need to recover comprehensively and become more resilient to future challenges. This is precisely what we see in our work with Roma communities, internally displaced people, and residents of frontline areas.

Protracted crises require a different architecture of assistance – one in which local organizations are not merely implementers of humanitarian programmes, but full partners in decision-making. It is equally important to localize funding so that resources can reach local organizations directly, on a long-term and flexible basis. Our goal is to ensure that the voices of vulnerable and often underrepresented groups are meaningfully reflected in these processes.

For the Voice of Romni, it is particularly important to raise these issues now – in a space where international donors, governments, businesses, and civil society come together. There are still a number of meetings, working sessions, and opportunities to build new partnerships ahead in New York. We will continue to bring Ukraine’s experience to the global conversation and work to ensure that the voices of communities that are too often invisible are heard. We are proud to stand alongside strong Ukrainian organizations advocating for sustainable and equitable funding for Ukraine and Ukrainian civil society organizations, as well as for their meaningful role in shaping decisions.