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The Task Team (TT) on strengthening the humanitarian and development nexus with a focus on protracted crises was created as a result of the recognition by IASC Principals that a significant shift will need to take place in the way that the humanitarian and development actors work with one another and with other stakeholders. Specifically, a) how these communities of practice (their policies, systems, and tools) interact, and where the context allows, even integrate in the most complex protracted crisis settings and fragile contexts; and b) how to ensure that their collective engagement contributes to ending needs in both the short and long term.
Terms of Reference - IASC Task Team on strengthening the humanitarian and development nexus with a focus on protracted crises
Background:
- The Task Team was created in February 2016.
- The Task Team is open to representation by IASC members and ad hoc additional observers deemed relevant within the context of protracted crises settings.
- The TT is accountable to the Working Group.
Key Objectives:
The TT is the interagency forum for convening, presenting and validating views of the IASC TT members around the issue of strengthening the humanitarian-development nexus. In collaboration with the UNDG, its aim is to advance a collective narrative on this agenda. Guided by the IASC WG Workplan, the TT purpose is to i) collect good practice from the field, analyse, validate, and map the developing work on the HDN; ii) establish an exchange platform, collating, organising and redistributing/disseminating this material and sharing of information through a web based peer to peer system; iii) identify policy gaps and recommend guidance aimed at operationalizing the NWoW, and clarifying linkages with other policy discussions, such as the Grand Bargain, the Prevention Agenda, and Sustaining Peace.
Key Activities:
The Task Team will map out development, peacebuilding and financial investment processes, and their relevance and implication for the IASC’s attempt to strengthen the humanitarian development nexus, including the progress made thus far with the aim to identify the gaps and shortcomings in current policies, guidance and tools and make recommendations on how to address these. It will also identify relevant key parameters of the ‘New Way of Working’, as they pertain to the different type of processes and mechanisms that may be encountered in the field, e.g. refugee or mixed situations, in line with the Commitment to Action and the Grand Bargain.
- Coordinate information flows: Shape a common understanding of what is required to strengthen the humanitarian -development and peacebuilding nexus; In particular
Establishing and maintaining an open-source coordination platform to map and communicate existing global processes, initiatives, and mechanisms, operational tools, and field-level activities.
Key messages and common narrative on the nexus.
Gathering evidence from UN country offices, NGOs and civil society implementing the NWoW to establish a compendium of these practices.
- Review and assess current policy, guidance and operational tools on common understanding to identify gaps and best practice; in particular by
Expanding on the typologies of response scenarios.
Understanding linkages with sustaining peace and prevention.
Articulating Collective Outcomes
Review of the IASC humanitarian response protocols and related guidance for their application in protracted situations, and supplement this as required.
- Coordinate Support to Country Teams: Ensure coherence in field support towards successful implementation of the NWoW. This is an activity with UNDG, through the joint Plan of Action.
Develop generic terms of reference (ToRs) to systematize country and field support.
Be the port of call for country support requests.
[1] Subsidiary bodies of the IASC are not limited to the official membership of the IASC.