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Inside Gov: Why Jersey’s Role in Global Humanitarian Leadership Matters, by Ed Lewis, Executive Director, Jersey Overseas Aid
When I sat down to host the latest Inside Gov podcast, the humanitarian community was facing unprecedented challenges. Global aid cuts had drastically reduced agencies’ ability to deliver – just as climate emergencies, conflict, and displacement were driving needs to record levels. Aid workers faced growing risks on the ground, while humanitarian principles and international law came under strain. With UN representatives visiting the Island, I wanted to shine a light on both these challenges, and the important leadership role Jersey is playing.
Jersey’s leadership on the global stage
“From aid recipient to humanitarian leader, Jersey’s journey inspires us all”
Acting Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator at UN’s Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Joyce Msuya
In 2024, Jersey was appointed, alongside Italy, as co-chair of the UN OCHA Pooled Fund Working Group. This international body brings together donor governments, UN agencies, and NGOs to improve how Country-Based Pooled Funds operate. For the first time, a non-UN Member State was given this responsibility – putting Jersey at the heart of global humanitarian action.
In June this year we hosted the Working Group’s bi-annual meeting in St Helier. Over two days, senior figures from 17 countries, including Germany, Canada, Norway, Kuwait, and the UK, joined UN officials and NGO representatives from crisis-affected countries such as Yemen, Ukraine, and Myanmar. Sitting around the table, people were deciding how to make humanitarian funding faster, more effective, and more accountable. Hosting this discussion, I saw first-hand the weight of the decisions being made around the table.
Why this Matters
The Yemen Humanitarian Fund team conducts a field visit to the in Yemen in October 2024 Picture: UNOCHA/Fares Noman
Hosting the Pooled Fund Working Group in Jersey, rather than in traditional humanitarian hubs like New York or Geneva, sends a powerful message: our Island is trusted to convene global conversations and influence international policy. It showed that smaller, non-traditional donors have a voice and can play a role. And it strengthens Jersey’s reputation as a responsible, outward-looking jurisdiction that takes its global responsibilities seriously.
Jersey is far more than the one-dimensional jurisdiction it is often labelled. We have a strong and unique identity, shaped by lessons from the past and by the belief that we should stand alongside people in crisis today, just as others did for us over 80 years ago.
It’s a powerful message – one not lost on those unfamiliar with our history:
“From aid recipient to humanitarian leader, Jersey’s journey inspires us all.”
Acting Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator at UN’s Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Joyce Msuya
Listen to the podcast hosted by Ed Lewis, Executive Director, Jersey Overseas Aid with guests, Alice Armanni Sequi, Chief of Pooled Fund Management Branch, UN OCHA headquarters in New York and Deputy Carolyn Labey, Minister for International Development and Chair of Jersey Overseas Aid.