In her speech, VP Georgieva evoked the amount of 125 million people in need of humanitarian aid and how the humanitarian crises today are not anymore localized and short-lived, but are global phenomena, that should be addressed also by providing education and hope. Moreover, according to the VP, climate change represents another challenge, considering the projections on the redoubling of displaced persons by natural disasters by 2025. She appealed then for a unity of purpose between the humanitarian and development communities.

Commissioner Georgieva met also with Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States of the Holy See and with the Cardinal Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin.

Commissioner Stylianides instead welcomed the outcomes of the London Pledging Conference on Syria and the resources guaranteed by the EU, but at the same time, he said that it is not enough for the current situation. He invoked also a "new Marshall Plan" for humanitarian assistance.

Among the other attendants at the workshop were the Head of the EU Delegation in  Rome, Ambassador Laurence Argimon-Pistre,, the UNHCR Commissioner Filippo Grandi, Mr. Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute and the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, President of Caritas International, Elhadj As Sy, Secretary General of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the Greek-Orthodox Metropolitan Emmanuel of France, Stephen O'Brian, Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator and Ms. Ertharin Cousin, WFP Executive Director.