Development Actors at the Nexus: Lessons from Crises in Bangladesh, Cameroon and Somalia

This synthesis report summarises learnings from studies in Cameroon, Somalia and Bangladesh about operationalising the HDP nexus for longer term resilience in crisis settings.

Building on previous work by Development Initiatives (DI) analysing donor approaches to the nexus, this report explores, from the vantage point of development cooperation, how to operationalize the “triple nexus” of humanitarian−development−peace (HDP) action across five key areas: 1) partnerships and strategy, 2) coordination and joined-up planning, 3) programming, 4) financing and 5) organizational issues. This synthesis report brings together findings from three country studies carried out in 2020 on Bangladesh, Cameroon and Somalia and draws out common themes, lessons and considerations from the country studies. These can provide useful insights into how to operationalize new and better ways of working across the humanitarian, development and peace communities. More joined-up, coherent programming among humanitarian, development and peace actors requires these actors to understand each other’s language, systems, ways of operating, and the challenges they face when working in crisis contexts. This research was led by DI’s Crisis and Humanitarian team, in partnership with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). It represents an initial effort to scope out, from a humanitarian’s perspective, how development actors − such as multilateral development banks (MDBs), bilateral donors and United Nations agencies − approach and operate in protracted humanitarian crises as a way to identify both the differences and areas of synergy, and to foster mutual understanding among HDP actors.