Triple Nexus in Pakistan - Catering to a Governmental Narrative or Enabling Independent Humanitarian Action?

he policy approach called Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus – also known as the Triple Nexus – envisions a closer collaboration and coordination among aid actors of the development, humanitarian, and peace realm to tackle overburdened aid systems more effectively and efficiently. Given the frequent exposure to recurrent climate-related and man-made disasters as well as extensive experience in civil-military cooperation, Pakistan offers an interesting case to study the Triple Nexus approach in practice.

This study traces contingencies of previous humanitarian interventions and how they shape today’s relations among different stakeholders critical for effective collaboration under a Triple Nexus framework. Interviews conducted in Pakistan, contribute to an understanding of current perceptions, practices and challenges that humanitarian actors face in delivering a Triple Nexus approach. Research findings indicate that due to the restricted and militarised context, a considerable threat exists that principled humanitarian action could be subsumed under a state-led framework and could thus be instrumentalised for political purposes. The vagueness of the peace element in practice results in a blurring of concepts of peace and stabilisation, potentially disfavouring positive, bottom-up approaches for peace. Lastly, the study focuses on the role of civil society actors in the United Nations Triple Nexus pilot process in the merged districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province.