Publications

The Humanitarian–Development–Peace (HDP) nexus emerged from the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit. At the same summit, humanitarian actors identified gender equality in their programmes as another core theme. But much of the HDP nexus programming still struggles with mainstreaming gender equality. The OECD has made recommendations for linking the two, but these remain at a conceptual level, with little information on how this might work in practice.

One challenge is that the HDP nexus adds a new dimension to gender equality in humanitarian response, given the complexities of gender relations in conflict and peace. Often, women and girls are constructed as a homogeneous, vulnerable group and victims of conflict, while men are associated with violent masculinities. This narrow focus can make HDP nexus implementation ineffective and, in the worst case, can fuel conflict.

This contribution links the debates and experiences of gender mainstreaming in humanitarian and peacebuilding sectors with lessons learned and recommendations for operationalising the HDP nexus. It proposes a relational view on gender that goes beyond one-dimensional constructions of gender and places special emphasis on local understandings of gender and conflict and their power relations. It draws on three case studies from our research project “How can the HDP nexus succeed”.

Access the opinion piece here.