IDEAL Knowledge Sharing Series: Humanitarian-Development-Peace Coherence

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In the face of globalized environmental challenges, the changing nature of violent conflict, and recognition of an increasingly complex and interdependent world, we need to move past siloed approaches to more holistic programming that better addresses the crises that slow progress on poverty alleviation and reduced food insecurity. 

• Humanitarian programming can respond to urgent needs in a crisis, while early response can also work to protect development and resilience gains.
• Development and resilience programming can not only invest in preparedness for shocks and stressors but also plan for early response when a crisis hits.
• Peace and, in particular, conflict sensitivity approaches can be embedded in humanitarian and development programming, and work not only to prevent and mitigate conflict but also to strengthen social cohesion.

To affirm and explore the opportunity for increased HDP coherence, and the challenges associated with achieving it, USAID engaged in extensive internal and partner consultations to develop a set of programming principles. The resulting document Programming Considerations for Humanitarian-Development-Peace Coherence: A Note for USAID’s Implementing Partners was released in January 2022.

Knowledge Sharing Series

The Knowledge Sharing Series (KSS) is the next step in our collective journey towards Humanitarian-Development-Peace (HDP) coherence. IDEAL will convene humanitarian and resilience practitioners for a peer-to-peer series of events that will give the implementing community an opportunity to:

• Create shared understanding around HDP coherence among humanitarian and resilience practitioners;

• Explore current practices and enabling factors for HDP coherence in different contexts; and

• Discuss and collectively problem-solve critical issues along with peers in similar contexts.

Thematic Areas

An opening week in June 2022 will feature events to level-set our collective knowledge around HDP coherence. Starting later in June and continuing through August, a week each month will be dedicated to each of the following four thematic areas:

• Advancing Locally Led HDP Coherence — June 21-23, 2022

  • Communities are the heart of the HDP nexus. Putting households and communities at the center of programming and ensuring that implementation is done with, by, and through local actors and systems are critical elements of HDP coherence. Even before humanitarian, development, or peace assistance is designed, intentional community engagement and concerted efforts are needed to support, rather than duplicate or potentially undermine, existing local capacity. Cultivating relationships, building trust with and between communities, and being intentional about mutual capacity strengthening is essential for advancing locally-led HDP coherence. Sessions under this thematic area will give local and international humanitarian, development, and peace actors opportunities to come together to discuss centering local knowledge on HDP coherence; working through local systems for emergency preparedness and response; and effective, inclusive, and participatory community engagement for social cohesion.

• Data for Decision-Making in HDP Coherence — July 12-14, 2022

  • Working towards HDP coherence requires information systems that identify the key drivers of crisis in a location, analyze information about those drivers to inform contingency planning, and identify inflection points in key indicators to quickly and clearly trigger shock-responsive programming. Sessions under this thematic area will explore organizations’ experiences with context monitoring, resilience monitoring, crisis analytics and local early warning schemes to produce useful information for improved and more timely program decision-making in crisis-affected areas. We will discuss barriers to sharing this kind of information across humanitarian, development, and peace actors, and will consider the specific data and analytical tools required for more effective contingency planning for HDP coherence.

• Communication and Coordination for HDP Coherence — August 2-4, 2022

  • A host of international and local organizations with a range of priorities, expertise, and programming timeframes implement programs in complex environments that are fraught with the effects of climate change and conflict, among other crises. When humanitarian and development assistance is coordinated, the needs of affected communities are more effectively addressed. Communication and coordination often happen ad hoc as crises unfold. However, experience at the country and regional level suggests that intentional facilitation through a variety of platforms and mechanisms is important and can improve outcomes for affected communities. In this thematic area, we will explore cross-organizational efforts to improve coordination and, ultimately, the effectiveness and coherence of different types of assistance. Sessions under this thematic area will explore promising practices in information-sharing to avoid duplicating efforts and to strengthen HDP coherence across donors; how backbone learning mechanisms have supported this work and what more can be done by such structures; and how donors and/or partners have addressed unmet needs of affected communities across the nexus as a result of effective coordination.

• Sequencing, Layering, and Integrating Humanitarian, Development, and Peace Assistance — August 23-25, 2022

  • Sequencing, layering, and integration are the nuts and bolts of achieving HDP coherence. These tools for ‘joined-up programming’ are the principal approaches that practitioners use to operate in smart, responsive, and accountable ways across domains. Sessions under this thematic area will explore obstacles and the practical opportunities to carry out shared analysis, visioning, planning, and implementation of joined-up (coherent) programming. Sessions will examine how we can use humanitarian action to protect fragile development and resilience gains during periods of crisis and how development investments can build resilience to, and preparedness for shocks and crises.

Register here to receive KSS updates!

KSS Sessions

Keynote & Opening Panel — June 1, 2022

Join us for a rich discussion with panelists representing different perspectives about their experiences with programming for HDP coherence and why it matters. What will be different—at the household, community, and systems-level—if we succeed with HDP coherent programming? What are some of the main obstacles standing in our way? The panel will also lay the ground for each of the four thematic areas in the series by discussing key problem statements for each topic. Register here.

Organizing for HDP Coherence: Country Teams’ Perspectives — June 2, 2022

Achieving humanitarian, development, and peace coherence entails synergies across silos and adaptive work cultures. How are implementing partners organizing and preparing their teams to deliver coherent programming? What can we learn and apply to our own teams and contexts? This session will explore organizational elements through the lens of in-country implementers who reconsidered their ways of working in order to move closer towards achieving HDP coherence across a variety of funding sources. Register here.

Centering Local Knowledge on HDP Coherence — June 21, 2022

Many international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), donors, and local partners recognize that there are core principles for designing locally led HDP coherent programming. Although many INGOs have a philosophical alignment to addressing power imbalances in programming, community based organizations continue to face entry point barriers in the current programming structure. This session will explore design principles necessary to cultivate a culture of understanding local knowledge and existing systems before designing assistance programs. Register here.

Fostering Social Cohesion: The Role of Social Networks in HDP Coherence — June 22, 2022

In this session, implementing partners will come together to discuss social networks as a dimension of social cohesion and how understanding, supporting, and strengthening social networks contributes to HDP coherence. What are the barriers to working through existing social networks and how can they be overcome? How can programs be designed so that they support existing networks? Where social networks are weak or do not exist, how can programs facilitate connections that lead to social cohesion? Register here.

Supporting Local Systems: Preparing to Pivot Through Changing Environments — June 23, 2022

In this session, implementing partners will explore how communities are already engaging in contingency planning, and discuss how humanitarian and development actors can work through and support local systems and collectively build sustainable and shock-responsive approaches. How do we work through and support communities’ existing capacities and systems when we engage them in contingency planning? How do we engage and support communities during shifts in assistance? Register here.

More sessions coming soon! Be sure to register for updates.