Somali farmer grows watermelons in Puntland

HDP Nexus

Humanitarian-Development- Peace Nexus Approaches in the Arab region


The humanitarian-development-peace nexus (HDP nexus, or Triple nexus) approach is a way of working with the populations affected by crisis to reduce their humanitarian needs by addressing key root causes and decreasing risks and vulnerabilities they face.

The HDP nexus strives to enhance the coordination, collaboration and coherence of humanitarian, development and peace actions, particularly in protracted crises and conflict settings.

First conceptualized as the ‘New Way of Working’, it was proposed by the United Nations at the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit and further elaborated by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development in 2019.

Four key components of the Humanitarian-Development-Peace (HDP) Nexus:

1. Coordination complexity 

Strong coordination is essential, supported by senior management and focused on programmatic alignment. This ensures synergy, coherence, and greater impact, enhanced by peer-learning opportunities.

Involving local communities, governments, and NGOs in consultations promotes shared ownership of strategies and ensures inclusive decision-making, which supports long-term sustainability.

3. Risk Mitigation and Capacities 

Support national authorities and local actors by adapting interventions to their capacities and investing in strengthening their skills, especially in conflict-affected areas. Inclusive decision-making ensures that responses are context-appropriate.

Conduct joint risk assessments and identify collective outcomes to ensure all three Nexus pillars—humanitarian, development, and peace—are equally considered.

2. Financing, Development Investments, Quality Funding & Climate Financing Comparative Advantage 

Streamlining funding at the country level is crucial for improving coordination between development and humanitarian agencies and donors, enabling a unified response and better resource allocation.

Flexible financing mechanisms, such as pooled funds, promote collaboration across humanitarian, development, and peacebuilding sectors.

It is also important to integrate climate financing to address climate-related vulnerabilities and risks.

4. Leadership and Accountability 

Aligning global policies with on-the-ground actions, while establishing clear accountability mechanisms.

Develop measurement tools, such as an HDPN index, to assess the progress and impact of Nexus initiatives. This provides data for informed decision-making.

Embed principles like conflict sensitivity, gender equality, and "do-no-harm" from the start, while systematically adopting principled programming.

Include peacebuilding and prevention strategies within humanitarian and development responses to address conflict drivers and strengthen social cohesion for lasting peace.

The crisis academy

The Crisis Academy is designed to build crisis-ready talent, motivated to deliver innovative and development-oriented solutions to complex, high-risk crisis contexts through anticipation, response, recovery and preparedness actions.  

The Crisis Academy offers learning opportunities (including trainings, self-paced courses, open houses, crossover events) in six thematic areas: Surge, Stabilization, Nexus, Infrastructure, Prevention and Data hub. 

Standard operating procedures

UNDP engages in the midst of and throughout crisis to sustain development engagement. UNDP supports local authorities, communities and people affected by crisis, and initiates early recovery processes, bridging towards longer-term structural transformation, resilience-building and sustainable development, with a focus on green and equitable recovery pathways. 

A Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) is in place to provide a robust institutional and operational framework so that critical decisions

The Nexus academy

The Nexus Academy was set up in 2021 with the objective to foster a common understanding of the Humanitarian Development Peace Nexus approach through a wide range of stakeholders and partners, including bilaterals, multilateral agencies, and NGOs. 

- Hands-On Training: The Nexus Academy offers training to equip individuals with practical skills and tools to apply nexus approaches in their everyday work—whether at headquarters or in the field. This helps ensure global, regional, and local efforts are aligned.  

- Peer Learning: The Academy encourages knowledge-sharing through peer-to-peer exchanges, improving policies, partnerships, and programs in crisis contexts. 

- Boosting Support for Country Programs: By scaling up technical assistance within organizations and across systems, the Academy helps improve coordination, programming, and financing to drive nexus approaches forward.  

LEARNING RESOURCES  

The Humanitarian-Development-Peace (HDP) Nexus Essentials Online 2-hour course provides an overview of the Nexus landscape. The course is designed by the Nexus Academy to help develop a common understanding of Nexus approaches across the HDP pillars. It's an introduction for anyone working on HDP in crisis-affected contexts, newcomers to the Nexus and a refresher for seasoned Nexus professionals. 

The course is available in: Arabic and English

Events

Significant initiatives have been conducted in the past months, demonstrating substantial interest in collaborating on the Humanitarian, Development, and Peace Nexus (HDPN) within the Arab States region. 

1. Humanitarian, Development and Peace Nexus (HDPN) Deep Dive in the Arab States region (Amman, 17-18 April 2024).   

The Regional Governance and Peacebuilding team at the UNDP Regional Hub for Arab States (Rbas) in collaboration with other teams including the Sub-regional Response facility (SRF) organized a HDPN two-day deep dive workshop, gathering some Deputy Resident Representatives and senior technical colleagues from ten Country Offices (Syria, Somalia, Sudan, Libya, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Yemen, PAPP, and Lebanon). This workshop, designed to facilitate experience-sharing, featured specialized inputs from Regional Hub colleagues, Crisis Bureau, and a session with external partners.  

Please find the posts on Facebook, Linkedin En, Linkedin Ar, Instagram, and X Arabic, X Arab States of the workshop.   

2. Humanitarian Network Partnership Week, HNPW 2024 (Geneva, 29 April to 10 May 2024).  

Representatives from four Country Offices (Lebanon, Libya, Syria, and Yemen), along with the HDPN & Aid Management regional specialist, presented various HDPN cases from the region during the event. These discussion sessions, coordinated by the Crisis Bureau, addressed key topics such as HDP nexus, disability inclusion in post-crisis recovery, area-based development, partnerships for disaster risk reduction and crisis response.   

3. "Decent Work across the Humanitarian, Peace, and Development Nexus" Workshop (Amman, 9 – 12 September 2024) 

This event, organized by the Nexus Academy in partnership with ILO, Sida and UNDP RBAS, gathered key stakeholders from across the Arab region to discuss essential strategies for advancing decent work amidst ongoing crises. 

 

The Nexus Focal Points

a group of people sitting on a bench


UNDP RBAS 

Sergio Triana, Technical Specialist, HDP-Nexus and Aid Management 

Giordano Segneri, Governance and Peacebuilding Regional Team Leader  

Rawhi Afaghani, Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding, Programme Advisor  

Filippo Di Carpegna, Regional Rule of Law Specialist 

Abdallah AL-Laham, Programme Manager   

Nada Nohra, Livelihoods and Economic Recovery Specialist  

Barbora Sakho, Gender Equality Specialist Gender Seal and Crisis Coordinator   

Eugenia Onesti, Fellow 

 

UNDP  EGYPT 

Deena Refai, Programme Analyst  

Reem Elsawy, Programme Analyst 

 

UNDP IRAQ 

Leanne Rios, Strategic Advisor 

Judy Wakahiu, Project Manager  

 

UNDP LEBANON 

Denise Sumpf, Chief Technical Advisor  

UNDP JORDAN 

Stuart Kefford, Individual Contractor  

Rula Kattan, Programme Analyst 

Danakhan Malhas, Programme Specialist 

 

UNDP LIBYA 

Osama Matri, Programme Specialist 

 

UNDP Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People  

Iman Husseini, Assistant Special Representative Programme  

Federica Vaghetti, Strategic Coordination and Gender Analyst 

Luai Khalaf, Programme Manager 

Chitose Noguchi, Deputy Special Representative 

 

UNDP SOMALIA 

Massimo Nicoletti Altimari, Migration, Displacement and Development Technical Specialist  

UNDP SYRIA 

Andreas Nord, Programme Officer, Early Recovery & Livelihood 

Anas Mansour, HLP Officer 

Sahar Issa, Area Manager 

UNDP YEMEN 

Michele Dibenedetto, Technical Advisor                     

Petrus Vandepol, Senior Advisor     

 

 

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