Unlocking the Nexus in humanitarian settings: What does it mean in practical terms?

Session: The session will provide information through discussion with experts on how Global Clusters can engage with development and peace actors to foster and drive the HDPN approach and contribute to Collective Outcomes.

More concretely, the session will focus on contexts where collective outcomes are to be addressed within a 3 to 5-year timeframe, by complementing the different sectoral areas, development and peacebuilding activities. This requires immediate investment and capacity development so that diverse sectoral programmes can contribute to reducing needs and vulnerabilities, achieving the SDGs and sustaining peace. In the implementation of collective outcomes, all sectors need to engage meaningfully from the outset. Change requires investment in consistent “trilingual” manner, and the incentivization of better joined-up response planning and sectoral programming, as outlines in the new IASC Guidance for Clusters developped by the IASC TF on HDN, under the leadership of UNHCR and FAO.

Format: The session will consist of a Panel presentation lasting 45 minutes moderated by a facilitator, followed by a 45 minutes discussion in plenary. Main topics to be included in the session are:

• Context specificity – in some nexus settings there will already be greater capacity to deliver services.
• Incorporating protection and AAP-related commitments, ensuring doing no harm and conflict-sensitive approaches, and recognizing different pathways for sectors/clusters to potentially contribute to peace.
• Ongoing Nexus approaches – and how collaboration fits in with other nexus-related efforts already ongoing in a country?
• Existing capacities and tools for multi-hazard, multi-risk analysis for Nexus programming.
• Defining potential roles of humanitarian actors per sectors/clusters in contributing to collective outcomes.
• Defining what development actors could do to support each sector/cluster in the onset of an emergency.
• Articulating coordination mechanisms normally needed relating to different sectors/clusters contributing to collective outcomes, and links with the SG Action Agenda on IDP Solutions and other initiatives .
• Area Based Approaches (ABA) in Nexus contexts.

Target Audience: Cluster members, humanitarian and development practitioners, peace-building experts, and stakeholders in humanitarian settings, contributing to Collective Outcomes, and promoting “Trilingualism”.

Reference materials: “IASC Guidance Note : Advancing the humanitarian-development-peace nexus approach through IASC global clusters” , The guidancesupport cluster coordinators to facilitate the proactive design of responses that foster coherence and complementarity between lifesaving, development, and peace interventions towards collective outcomes. The adaptive Guidance Note builds on and complements existing frameworks, approaches and tools informing the respective areas of work in each cluster/sector and unpacks implications for the work of coordinators. It also provides coordinators with a checklist to help apply a nexus approach in clusters’ country-level assessment and analysis, area-based approaches and responses within the framework of the Humanitarian Response Plan, and in coordination with relevant development and peace actors.