The Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus – a Compelling Way Forward for Fragile Contexts

The goal in crisis contexts is to implement a holistic engagement which combines short-, medium- and long-term objectives and fosters transformation and resilience. Under the changed conditions of the recent “Zeitenwende” (epochal shift), development policy is subject to particular challenges. In the context of a growing focus on military dimensions of security, a holistic understanding of the concept in terms of “human security” is of crucial importance, because in addition to physical integrity it also ensures that people are enabled to live fulfilled and self-determined lives, and individual talents and potentials are given the opportunity to develop for the benefit of society as a whole. The BMZ has adapted its engagement at national, bilateral and multilateral levels and continues to work on addressing the volatile conditions in fragile contexts to the best of its ability.

International dimension: Germany as a pioneer of HDP approaches

State fragility is a focal theme in German development cooperation – both as a global task and in our cooperation with our partner countries. Germany numbers among the most important donors for fragile states, and has also assumed a pioneering role in the international discourse about engagement in fragile contexts. In 2018, the German Federal Government also took over as chair (jointly with the United Kingdom until 2022) of the International Network on Conflict and Fragility (INCAF), part of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). In this capacity we helped to initiate recommendations for establishing coherent linkages between humanitarian assistance, development cooperation and peacebuilding – the humanitarian-development-peace nexus (HDP nexus) Germany has thus adopted a common frame of reference for achieving coherence between different policy fields and levels of action and for improving the effectiveness of measures in fragile contexts. Under this approach, development policy is always part of coordinated government action and interministerial cooperation in line with HDP nexus principles. A significant joint venture is the Nexus Academy founded in February 2022 – a joint initiative by DAC members, subsidiary organisations of the United Nations (UN) and non-governmental organisations. The Academy seeks to create a common understanding of HDP nexus
approaches, disseminates knowledge and develops the additional competences required to implement them in practice. Germany is providing substantial support to the Nexus Academy and thereby fostering shared learning for national and international actors. The BMZ is strengthening synergies with other donors so as to avoid duplication of efforts and make effective use of each donor’s comparative advantages. Examples of this include participating in joint programming with UN organisations and cooperating in Team Europe Initiatives on the European level.

Evaluations, analyses and monitoring as a basis for improved effectiveness

Shared learning and experiential knowledge are especially relevant in this context. It therefore remains an important element of our policy design to continuously adjust and keep improving our development policy inputs with reference to the growing body of knowledge on good practices for working in fragile states. In fragile situations with a profusion of problems, conditions on the ground can change quickly. This is why continuous analysis, conflict-sensitive design of the cooperation, and regular review and readjustment of strategies andimplementation are vital prerequisites for a successful engagement.

Good governance and fragile statehood

Findings from research and practice show that as state capacities in partner countries increase, development measures tend to achieve a higher success rate. A key point here is to pay special attention to local structures in particular. For us, this translates into a twofold objective: by supporting state institutions and processes we help to overcome fragility and simultaneously improve the chances of effective and sustainable development cooperation. Given the “Zeitenwende” (epochal shift) and the increasingly pronounced systemic rivalries in international cooperation, we must ask ourselves how we wish to deal with authoritarian regimes. Development policy approaches aimed specifically at promoting democratic governance and legitimate state-society relations then become all the more relevant. Hence, we systematically take account of democracy and governance aspects in the course of realising environmental and socio-economic objectives (just transition) and promote an active civil society and inclusive participation of marginalised population groups – which is entirely consistent with a feminist development policy.

Integrated approach

In practice, an integrated approach for a coherent overall engagement requires a high degree of consultation and coordination – especially under the volatile conditions of fragile statehood. To ensure the linkage of humanitarian assistance and development cooperation in fragile contexts, political steering and engagement on the ground must pursue an even more strongly interministerial approach. So far, the policy of improving joint analysis and coordinated planning (GAAP) has guided action to bring about closer cooperation between the AA and the BMZ
in those countries where both ministries are actively providing support. A key aspect of this is continuous and close exchange to ensure that such support is as effective and needs-oriented as possible. Joint ministerial evaluations are an important step in this direction, in order to review our policy action and align it more closely with results and evidence. A first such evaluation examining our cooperation in Iraq has already been concluded; another evaluation on the engagement of the AA, the BMZ and the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community (Bundesministerium des Innern und für Heimat, BMI) in Afghanistan will be completed by the end of 2023.

Relevant development cooperation approaches and instruments

We know from the OECD’s “States of Fragility Report 2020” that the fragility barometer is still on the rise. How can the causes of conflict and fragile statehood be addressed sustainably against this backdrop? The linkage of different policy fields – in line with the German Federal Government’s policy guidelines on “Preventing Crises, Resolving Conflicts, Building Peace” – is of the utmost importance here. The “OECD Development Co-operation Peer Review: Germany 2021” acknowledges the BMZ’s crisis instruments – structure-building transitional development assistance (TDA) and the Special Initiative “Displaced Persons and Host Countries” – as a bridge to all three dimensions of the HDP nexus. The instruments are context-specific
in deployment, adaptive to the character of the respective crisis, and quick and flexible to implement while allowing for a medium-term planning horizon. At an international level, too, development policy specifically targets relevant drivers and causes of fragility – especially in view of escalation and amplification effects as a consequence of the Russian war on Ukraine. An important area of action here are the global impacts on food security. In response, the German Development Minister Svenja Schulze established the Global Alliance for Food Security together with the World Bank. This joint endeavour is an example of rapid, coherent and sustainable crisis responses at the interface of humanitarian assistance and development cooperation.

Strategic orientation of German development policy

Implementing the integrated approach in everyday practice is a perennial task. It requires continuous exchange and coherent and concerted engagement on different levels of action across actor and sector boundaries. The BMZ has established good prerequisites for this in recent years and made the peace dimension of development policy an even more central focus of its activities. In many projects and programmes, we address central dimensions of state fragility and bring together development policy approaches for crisis prevention, civil conflict transformation and peacebuilding. Internationally, this makes the BMZ one of the largest investors for peace. We shape our partnerships along context-specific, flexible and needappropriate
lines. This enables comprehensive and targeted work to meet development and peacebuilding needs in fragile states.

The primacy of prevention

Even the best planning and coordination are no guarantee of success. Civil conflict transformation in fragile contexts is arduous and subject to high and somewhat incalculable risks. Peace and stability do not come about overnight. They demand continuous commitment and long-term perspectives. Hence, the primacy of prevention remains the common overall goal, guiding vision and foundation for policy action in fragile contexts. Averting violent conflicts and serious disasters prevents human suffering, preserves the development outcomes achieved, and is markedly more effective than reactive crisis management. It is all too often overlooked that prevention is by far the better investment than any subsequent crisis intervention. Crises can be avoided by means of far-sighted, strategic prevention work in cross-actor and crosssectoral solidarity. The fact is, and remains, that prevention is better than cure!