Navigating the Nexus: A Brighter Future for Children in Urban Contexts in Central America

The CA-4 region (El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua) of Central America contains some of the most acute fragility in the Western Hemisphere. Poverty is widespread, with the majority of the population working in the informal sector and relying on informal services to meet their needs. The region faces multiple complex and protracted crises with significant humanitarian, development and peace building needs. Particularly in urban areas, daily life includes interrelated challenges from poverty and inequality, high levels of violence, vulnerability to (increasingly) frequent natural disasters, and high levels of internal displacement and migration. Organised crime and violence in the region are leading to some of the world’s highest rates of homicide, femicide and gender based violence.

In response to the dire humanitarian situation in places like CA-4, a new approach has emerged that aims to tackle both the causes and effects of fragility by linking work across the humanitarian, development and peace building “nexus” at a programmatic level. This operational framework across the triple nexus, aims to overcome siloed, output-oriented aid operations through a coordinated effort between the relevant actors implementing these types of programming. By approaching humanitarian, development and peace building efforts as interconnected, it not only addresses immediate needs but also builds resilience to future shocks and intentionally works to weaken the drivers of fragility. Non-governmental organisations like World Vision are implementing this nexus approach to help ensure that improved child well-being is sustainably realised in fragile contexts, including in the unique contexts that fragile cities create for children, families and communities.