How UAE's growth inspires former UN official to look at poverty as opportunity

Khaleej Times

08-04-2025

On Tuesday, a humanitarian expert and former UN official in-charge of Zaatari refugee camp proposed that the world look at poverty as an opportunity rather than a problem.
'What if we look into disadvantaged regions of this world which seem poor, disconnected, as territories of opportunity and the future,' questioned Kilian Kleinschmidt during the World Crisis and Emergency Management Conference (WCEMS) in Abu Dhabi.
According to the World Bank, 3.5 billion people are below the poverty line around the globe. "What if the 3.5 billion people who are today living in poverty are transformed into what we could call prosumers — producers and consumers?' he pointed.
That shift in mindset, he said, struck him just a day earlier while visiting Dubai. 'It occurred to me that this place, this region, the Emirates, developed into the future within a few decades. How did that happen? On paper, 40 or 50 years ago, this sand, water and a few people… And today, this is the world of our future.'
If it can happen here, he argued, it can happen anywhere, whether it's an economic desert or a literal one. 'So, what if we look at our globe and those regions which are today desert, sand, arid zones, or not developed at all, as the territories of the future?'
Kleinschmidt also took aim at the global humanitarian funding model, questioning why the system keeps relying on donations rather than turning to investment. 'We have heard the figure of 350 million people last year, or so, in need of humanitarian aid. Well, yes, it's a significant portion of our world, yet these are people who again will move forward and can move forward if equipped with right resources.'
He questioned why resources are always perceived as money. 'Isn't there a possibility to move towards innovative financing rather than the system we have been applying to respond to crisis… moving money from here to there, spending it, and then asking for new money.'
He raised the possibility to invest in the future through hedge funds, stable coins, and 'all the various mechanisms the financial experts know better.'
He provided 'a concrete example' of the funding gap when it comes to humanitarian disaster response. According to the UN, he said, such funding reached about $25 billion last year. 'What is that money for? What are the expensive response sectors which require a lot of money? [Is it] shelter?'
Speaking from experience, Kleinschmidt recalled managing the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan in 2013, where around $100 million, including funds from the UAE, was spent on emergency shelters. He said much of that money went to companies supplying temporary structures, but could have instead been invested in more durable, sustainable solutions. Rather than treating shelter as an emergency expense, he suggested it could be a long-term market, and the same thinking should apply to other high-cost sectors like food and nutrition.
He also pointed to Africa's energy gap as a prime example of how needs can be reframed as investment opportunities. The World Bank and African Development Bank are mapping energy access across the continent, where 600 million people still live without electricity, waiting to be connected; 'it's a need, but at the same time it's an opportunity.' Kleinschmidt, who works in renewable energy, said this should be seen not as a crisis but a chance to connect people and build markets. Turning global requirements into opportunities for both public and private investment is one of the clearest ways forward, he concluded.