The humanitarian-development nexus and the humanitarian principles: Complementary approaches?
VOICE EVENT
Wednesday 29th of November
18.00-20.00
Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
Place du Congrès 1, 1000 Bruxelles
The World Humanitarian Summit called for transcending humanitarian-development divides in order to end needs and the United Nations established the New Way of Working. At the European Union level, the humanitarian-development nexus is now on the agenda. A number of protracted crises and massive forced displacement have focused policy and political attention on the EU response to future crises, trying to remove unnecessary barriers to collaboration between development and humanitarian actors.
Actually, many NGOs are multi-mandated and undertake both humanitarian assistance and development projects. While the “Leave no one behind” motto can represent a converging line of action for humanitarian and development actors, the increasing complexity of crises, places even more importance on the humanitarian principles and their implementation.
Indeed, given the very different nature of crises and of regions and countries in which humanitarian actors operate, each humanitarian response needs to be adapted to the context. From Ethiopia – where addressing the underlying root causes of people’s vulnerabilities makes joint/complementary humanitarian-development strategies relevant – to Iraq, where access to the most vulnerable is a real and primary challenge, the conference will raise a number of questions regarding the humanitarian-development nexus and the scope of humanitarian aid.
Panel:
- Cecilie Winther, Country Director Ethiopia and Kenya, DanChurchAid (DCA)
- Edouard Rodier, Director of Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) Europe
- Silvia Croes, Head of Unit, Humanitarian Unit, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Belgium
- Gaëlle Nizery, Programme Manager, Unit C1, DG ECHO
Moderated by Ben Parker, Senior Editor, IRIN
