On 31 March, DPPA and UNDP convened Member States, UN system, civil society and donors in an event titled “Rightsizing Peace in the HDP nexus”. Joined by over 200 participants, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support of DPPA Elizabeth Spehar, Assistant Secretary-General and Director of UNDP Crisis Bureau Asako Okai, and panelists discussed how to strengthen the centrality of peace at the country level and in global frameworks.

The humanitarian-development-peace (HDP) nexus approach recognizes that complementary and coherent interventions are required in responding to humanitarian needs while tackling the violent conflicts that drive them and addressing root causes through peacebuilding and development. The concept of “sustaining peace”, as put forward in the twin resolutions A/RES/70/262 and S/RES/2282, is grounded in the notion that peace, security, human rights and development are all interlinked.

However, while there has been extensive focus in recent years on bridging humanitarian aid and development efforts, the contribution of peace actors and peacebuilding approaches remains less understood and resourced. While conflicts drive 80 percent of all humanitarian needs, a mere 12 percent of the global official development assistance is dedicated towards peace objectives and only four percent allocated towards prevention. 

To ensure that peacebuilding and prevention are prioritized, the participants talked about conflict sensitive analysis and the inclusion of peace and security perspectives in UN Common Country Analyses and Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks. They also highlighted the importance of global platforms for the HDP nexus, including the Peacebuilding Commission. The importance of people centered approaches that prioritize inclusive governance and nationally led peacebuilding processes at all levels were identified as key for sustainable peace. Finally, several participants pointed to the need for planning, programming and financing models that overcome fragmentation and competition among external actors. The event contributes to the ongoing reflection in DPPA and DPO on how to leverage UN peace and security capacities in partnership with humanitarian and development system actors.