European Humanitarian Forum (EHF) side-event - Joining Humanitarian and Development forces to respond to Protracted Crises
As reaffirmed by the European Commission in its March 2021 Communication on “the EU’s humanitarian action: new challenges, same principles”, humanitarian aid on its own cannot respond to the scale and magnitude of the needs arising from conflicts and other crises.
Building on the EU’s call to advance the humanitarian-development-peace (HDP) nexus, this side-event will present a collection of field-based illustrations of collaboration between leading organisations in the humanitarian and development sectors. Authors of the joint UNICEF-WB-ICRC Report “Joining forces to Combat Protracted Crises” will share recommendations and lessons learned from their experience in the water and sanitation (WASH) sector in urban areas affected by crises in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
While based on experience in the WASH sector in MENA, the general findings and recommendations of the report apply far beyond this field and region. The report unpacks the HDP nexus by identifying the tangible benefits of a more effective collaboration between humanitarian and development actors with the promise of delivering a more sustainable humanitarian impact, while bolstering the emergency response.
The session's concept note is available below and the event page is here.
The Geneva Water Hub Lead Political Advisor, former Chairman of the Global High Level Panel on Water and Peace and former president of the Republic of Slovenia (2007-2012), Prof Danilo Türk delivered the key note speech and opening remarks on humanitarian and development action, focusing on water as a vital priority. He highlighted, amongst others, that the report offers a comprehensive analysis of the problems of water and sanitation in protracted humanitarian crises, starting with the realisation about inadequate water resource management that existed before the crises can explain consequent problems during the crises. The full speech is available below.