Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Entwicklung und Humanitäre Hilfe
Afterthought (EN)
On 19 March 2025, Global Responsibility brought together a diverse group of experts from ministries, government agencies, NGOs and research institutions – representing the humanitarian, development and peacebuilding sector – to discuss the practical challenges of operationalizing an HDP nexus approach in food security.
In his welcoming remarks, Lukas Wank, Director of Global Responsibility, framed the workshop within the context of a rapidly changing global landscape. Significant funding cuts — such as those from USAID — are worsening the crisis for millions already facing hunger. Precisely, major food aid programs are closing, millions of displaced people have lost access to food and nutrition programs for children have been suspended. He underscored the critical need for integrated solutions that combine humanitarian aid, development, and peacebuilding. He stressed that traditional siloed approaches are no longer adequate.
Lukas Wank highlighted the foundation upon which the workshop was built, referencing previous initiatives such as the 2022/23 Implementation Partnership on Resilience in Food Security. This collaboration between Global Responsibility, the Austrian MFA, BOKU University, and KOO has already produced concrete recommendations for Austria’s policy and strategy processes. Furthermore, the workshop carried forward the efforts of prior HDP Nexus workshops aligned with the principles of the Vienna 3C Appeal.
In his video statement, Jean Marie Zongo, Burkina Faso Office Coordinator at CARE International, pointed out that since 2019, Burkina Faso has suffered a sharp decline in living conditions due to armed conflict, political instability, poverty, and climate change. Moreover, he noted that over 40% of the population lives below the poverty line and that acute food insecurity has risen from 700,000 people in 2019 to 2.5 million by 2024. Conflicts have contributed to food insecurity by forcing communities to displace, disrupting trade, damaging critical infrastructure and delaying humanitarian aid.
Furthermore, he described how CARE has responded by launching a Humanitarian-Development-Peace program combining emergency support — such as the distribution of cash assistance and hygiene kits — with climate-resilient agriculture training and support for green micro-enterprises. Specifically, he emphasized that the program also promotes peacebuilding by supporting traditional conflict resolution mechanisms and establishing dialogue platforms between host communities and internally displaced people. Through this integrated approach the program aims to improve food security, strengthen livelihoods, and build lasting community resilience.
The keynote speech was delivered by Caroline Delgado, Director of the Food, Peace and Security Program at SIPRI. She started by emphasizing that food security is deeply interconnected with other global crises, such as conflict and climate change. Deterioration in one area often leads to cascading negative effects in others, while improvements in one area can foster positive changes. She stressed that hunger and conflict have escalated together in recent years, with both increasing in frequency and intensity. Climate change exacerbates these issues, further driving economic instability and rising food prices. This creates a vicious cycle, where food insecurity, conflict, and climate-related pressures reinforce one another. As one consequence, this leads to vulnerable populations employing desperate coping mechanisms including forced marriage or recruitment into armed groups.
Caroline Delgado stressed the need for integrated solutions to address interconnected crises. Humanitarian food security programs in conflict zones could contribute to peacebuilding efforts. Sustainable interventions like community gardens not only meet immediate needs but also contribute to building long-term resilience against climate change and security threats. She identified multiply entry points of food security programs with positive effects on peace. Programs that use equitable and inclusive processes of food assistance to build social cohesion at the community level are one example. She presented the HDP Nexus as a holistic framework. It aligns humanitarian action (short-term, needs-based and neutral), development work (long-term, rights-based), and peacebuilding (structural and institutional change, transformative), with the intersection contributing towards achieving SDG 2 (Zero Hunger).
Finally, Caroline Delgado acknowledged the importance of strategic partnerships between national and local governments, national and local NGOs as well as international organizations to allocate resources efficiently, avoid duplications, and increase the reach of beneficiaries. She also noted several barriers to integrated approaches. These included institutional silos, bureaucratic complexity, political sensitivities, limited resources, competing priorities and difficulties in measuring long-term impact. She concluded that by tackling food security through an integrated approach, it is possible to advance multiple SDGs, including climate action (SDG 13), peace and governance (SDG 16), and ecosystem protection (SDG 15). Ultimately, this contributes to broader systemic transformation.
In the second part of the workshop participants split into four parallel working groups. They discussed the challenges and opportunities of operationalizing the HDP nexus approach in the context of food security and identifying promising next steps. The groups focused on (1) coordination and complementarity, (2) localisation and community engagement, (3) financing and funding and (4) integrating the peace element. Participants discussed these topics from an Austrian perspective, considering Austrian policies, the Austrian funding landscape and other relevant factors. Chatham House Rule applied.
Key ideas and impulses discussed in the working groups will be summarized and made available on Global Responsibility’s website (coming soon).
The workshop was facilitated by Ruth Picker.
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