The Humanitarian-Development Nexus is the concept of increased collaboration between organizations working in short term humanitarian aid and long term international development promoted since 2016.[1][2]

The concept is supported by European governments, but has been met with both praise and criticism by humanitarian practitioners.

Background

Traditionally, the two areas of humanitarian aid and international development have operated separately,[3][4] with the former working on short term life saving goals and the later working on towards longer-term objectives including the Millennium Development Goals.[5] Humanitarian organizations follow the humanitarian principle of independence from government action, in contrast to international development work which is done in close proximity with governments.[1]

Launch

The concept of the Humanitarian-Development Nexus came to prominence at the 2016 at the World Humanitarian Summit when it was promoted by government funders of humanitarian aid.[6][5] At the summit, it was stated by government donors that collaboration between humanitarian agencies, and international development actors, should be encouraged and programs that work towards addressing humanitarian needs and longer-term development goals should be funded.[6]

Critical reception

The encouragement of humanitarian aid agencies working closer with international development institutions was met with strong resistance by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Médecins Sans Frontières, and the International Committee of the Red Cross, with the later two expressing concern about contradictions between the Nexus and humanitarian principles.[5]

Triple Nexus

In February 2019, the OECD stated their collective intent to fund complimentary humanitarian, development, and peacebuilding actions.[7][8]

Critical reception of the Triple Nexus

The New Humanitarian reported concerns of tension between the humanitarian imperative of working independent from government, and of the risk that by trying to do three things simultaneously each would be done badly.[9] Lorenzo Angelini of the European Peacebuilding Liaison Office expressed concern about varying definitions of peacebuilding, specifically the common confusion with use of military force.[9]

Both the UK's Department for International Development and German's Federal Foreign Office expressed enthusiasm for the commitment to the Triple Nexus.[9]

Harvard Humanitarian Initiative's analysis of applying the Triple Nexus approach in Mali concluded that humanitarian organizations should push in the "opposite direction" of the Triple Nexus,[10] and recommended a "urgent introspection" of the new way of working.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b Stamnes, Eli (2016). "Rethinking the Humanitarian-Development Nexus" (PDF). Norwegian Institute of International Affairs.
  2. ^ Strand, Arne (2020-09-17). Humanitarian–development Nexus. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-43114-0.
  3. ^ "Searching for the nexus: It's all about the money". The New Humanitarian. 2019-12-03. Retrieved 2022-01-07.
  4. ^ Cherrier, Cécile (2021-08-10). "The humanitarian–development nexus". Handbook on Social Protection Systems: 295–306. doi:10.4337/9781839109119.00041. ISBN 9781839109119. S2CID 238679937.
  5. ^ a b c Lie, Jon Harald Sande (2020-12-10). "The humanitarian-development nexus: humanitarian principles, practice, and pragmatics". Journal of International Humanitarian Action. 5 (1): 18. doi:10.1186/s41018-020-00086-0. ISSN 2364-3404. PMC 7725665.
  6. ^ a b "Searching for the nexus: The view from the ground". The New Humanitarian. 2019-09-24. Retrieved 2022-01-07.
  7. ^ OECD Legal Instruments. "DAC Recommendation on the OECD Legal Instruments Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus" (PDF). OECD.
  8. ^ "Learning Stream: Navigating the Nexus, Topic 1: The "nexus" explained - World". ReliefWeb. 2 August 2018. Retrieved 2022-01-07.
  9. ^ a b c d Redvers, Louise; Parker, Ben (2020-05-13). "Searching for the nexus: Give peace a chance". The New Humanitarian. Retrieved 2022-01-07.
  10. ^ Tronc, Emmanuel; Grace, Rob; Nahikian, Anaïde (2019-06-14). "Realities and Myths of the 'Triple Nexus': Local Perspectives on Peacebuilding, Development, and Humanitarian Action in Mali". Rochester, NY. doi:10.2139/ssrn.3404351. S2CID 198824931. SSRN 3404351. ((cite journal)): Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
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