THE HUMANITARIAN-DEVELOPMENT NEXUS: THE FUTURE OF PROTECTION IN THE ELIMINATION OF FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION

As the global community increasingly faces complex, protracted crises – large-scale refugee and migration crises, natural disasters and public health emergencies – a humanitarian-development nexus approach (nexus approach) provides a potential solution for transcending the humanitarian-development divide by addressing the immediate needs and long-term vulnerabilities of girls and women at risk of or affected by FGM. In 2019, UNICEF issued a board paper and a procedure committing to strengthening and systematizing its approaches to linking humanitarian and development programming. As a dual-mandate agency, and based on its experience in child protection programming that spans from child protection in emergencies to building national child protection systems, UNICEF is well positioned to implement the nexus approach.

The purpose of this technical note is:

• To facilitate the exchange of knowledge about the impact of humanitarian crises on FGM
• To explore the adoption of the humanitarian-development nexus approach for the elimination of FGM by 2030.

This technical note is not a comprehensive guide to designing and implementing programmes based on the nexus approach. Instead it draws on key UNICEF programme and operational strategies for linking humanitarian and development programming to illustrate how they may be applied to ensure FGM is addressed regardless of the needs, risks and vulnerabilities of girls and women along the humanitarian-development continuum.