Zainab Salbi

The Refugee Crisis: Rising to Meet the Moral Challenge of Our Time

Mary Hart, Simon Henshaw, Peter Laugharn, Saed Moujtahed, Zainab Salbi, Caryl Stern

A Milken Institute panel convened global leaders and philanthropists to address the escalating crisis of forced displacement, revealing that 50 million children are currently on the move while host nations face systemic strain and security misconceptions. The discussion highlighted critical failures in current aid models, noting that refugees spend an average of 18 years in limbo with only 0.2% of funding reaching local organizations, prompting a pivot toward long-term strategies like cash transfers, employment rights, and rebuilding war-torn economies. Ultimately, stakeholders called for a transition from reactive crisis management to proactive systemic reform, leveraging private and public capital to restore dignity and stability rather than relying on emergency shelters.