With the volume, cost and length of humanitarian assistance provision having grown dramatically in the years leading up to the WHS, new urgency was given to the discussion around improving connectivity between humanitarian and development efforts. At the same time, the adoption of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set out to meet needs, whilst reducing risk, vulnerability and overall levels of need, provided a reference frame for both humanitarian and development actors to contribute to the common vision of a future in which no one is left behind.
Against this backdrop, a large number of stakeholders at the WHS identified the need to overcome long- standing attitudinal, institutional, and funding obstacles to bridge the gap between humanitarian relief and development. Partners agreed on a Commitment to Action that would transcend the humanitarian– development divide. It was a commitment to a New Way of Working (NWOW).
To this end, the international aid system, including the UN, NGOs, and bilateral donors, was urged to commit to a NWOW with three distinct focus areas:
- Reinforce, do not replace, national and local systems.
- Anticipate, do not wait for, crises, and
- Transcend the humanitarian–development divide by working towards collective outcomes, based on comparative advantage and over multi-year time frames.
The NWOW framed the work of development and humanitarian actors, along with national and local counterparts to reduce risk and vulnerability and serve as instalments toward the achievement of the SDGs. The discussion further sought to strengthen the humanitarian-development-peace nexus with contextualised solutions to be identified in-country. See more in 10.2.
What does this mean for the FSC Coordinator? The FSC Coordinator works within a framework that adheres to key messages stemming from the WHS, the Grand Bargain and the NWOW. The focus within the cluster system on emergency preparedness, on strengthening ties with local partners, and on building relationships with the development and peace actors at country level, with the aim to strengthen the nexus, are important examples as explained above.
Based on the operational principles and commitments of the Agenda for Humanity including the Grand Bargain and the NWOW, the FSC Coordinator should promote:
- More cash-based programming (4.3.4).
- Strengthening of national and local systems (3.3.1, 3.7 and 10.3).
- A more people centred approach by mainstreaming additional cross-cutting issues (5.7).
- Early recovery and resilience-building activities (4.3.5) to facilitate a transition process (3.8) and fill the humanitarian development divide (10.2).