HNPW Linking humanitarian assistance and social protection – common principles and country experiences
More and more people are living in contexts of protracted crises, driven by conflict, climate vulnerability and socio-economic fragility, requiring new ways of working together and stronger coherence between interventions across the HDP nexus. Linking HA and SP provides a clear entry point for development and humanitarian actors, and government and non-governmental actors, to work together towards the collective goal of better assistance for vulnerable populations.
To this end, the Social Protection Inter-Agency Cooperation Board (SPIAC-B) Working Group on Linking Humanitarian Assistance and Social Protection has developed 9 Common Principles to inform actions and ways of working by both humanitarian and development actors for more effective progress in linking Humanitarian Assistance and Social Protection.
This webinar presented these Principles and showcased their application at country level. For this, practitioners from the field shared their experiences and reflections. This helped to illustrate how the Principles can be implemented in practice and provide lessons for other contexts where actors are working together to enhance the linkages between Humanitarian Assistance and Social Protection.
Key Takeaways from the Webinar
- Linking humanitarian assistance with existing national social protection systems and policies to the extent possible is key to meet people´s need more effectively and sustainably.
- This requires considering what is already functioning in a country, such as poverty lines and government cash programs, to avoid duplication and ensure coherence between humanitarian and social protection interventions.
- It is also key to engage with government early on and delinking policy and program responsibilities to build sustainable systems.
- Including local stakeholders to hear the voice of the population and ensure accountability is crucial.
- Capacity building, multi-stakeholder platforms, advocacy, and regional dialogue are key enablers to operationalize the linkages between humanitarian assistance and social protection.