Exploring the Humanitarian-Development Nexus

Today’s crises are increasingly complex and the number of people in need worldwide is rising as a consequence of man-made and natural disasters.

The EU is focusing on finding a response to these crises and the humanitarian development nexus is seen as the tool for reinforcing the links between the two sectors, increasing the complementarity of their actions in order to address the root causes of the crises and reduce needs. But what are the challenges and the opportunities of this approach? We have asked our NGO members to contribute to the debate on this important topic.

After a quick overview of the history and the key definitions to introduce the nexus approach, ADRA Denmark opens this edition by writing about the Danish Strategy for development policy and humanitarian action, identifying the positive elements that could inspire the EU approach while also highlighting its limits. Several of our members analyse the nexus from a different perspective: Tearfund writes about localisation as a key strategy in connecting humanitarian and development programming while World Vision analyses the financial aspect of the nexus and the importance of multi-year planning and funding. The International Rescue Committee explains their view on cash-based assistance as a way to bridge humanitarian and development programmes.

For the ’View on the EU’, Care EU and Care France question whether EU trust funds represent the best modality for the humanitarian-development nexus. To better understand the EU’s work on the nexus, we have interviewed Ms Cabral, Head of the Unit for Fragility and Resilience in the Directorate General for International Cooperation and Development of the European Commission. Together we discussed the nexus, the EU’s new Strategic Approach to Resilience, and the 6 pilot countries chosen to start the operationalisation of the nexus.

Finally, the “Field focus” is written by Norwegian Church Aid and concerns Darfur and the critical situation of this protracted crisis.