On the sidelines of the 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA-80), global leaders from the humanitarian, development and peacebuilding sectors came together with one clear message: in a world of record-high humanitarian needs and mounting crises, only stronger multilateral action through the Humanitarian-Development-Peace (HDP) Nexus can deliver lasting recovery, resilience and peace.
"This year, we mark a decade of KSrelief's dedicated humanitarian action around the world, at a time when global challenges are growing more complex. Humanitarian needs are at historic levels and collective progress towards achieving the globally agreed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) seems to be off track, with only five years left to the 2030 deadline," said Dr. Abdullah Al Rabeeah, Supervisor General of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief). "Multilateral solutions that can leverage the HDP Nexus to maximize coordination, coherence and collective impact of humanitarian, development, and peace efforts are essential to improving outcomes for the world's most vulnerable, especially those suffering the consequences of conflicts and other emergencies."
Building on discussions first launched at UNGA-78 in 2023, collaboration on advancing practical HDP solutions has expanded to include a wide range of global partners, including through the UNGA and the Riyadh International Humanitarian Forum. At this UNGA-80, KSrelief and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) co-hosted a UNGA high-level roundtable entitled "The Humanitarian, Development and Peace Nexus Series: Milestones in Strengthening Multilateral Partnerships for Sustainable Impact and the SDGs," where Ministers of Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany and of International Development of Norway, EU Commissioner for Mediterranean and the Assistant Secretary-General of Organization of Islamic Cooperation were keynote speakers.
"As UNDP commemorates its 60th anniversary, our commitment to partnership, human development and impact remains firm: we stay and deliver-through crises, conflicts, and recovery. We complement urgent humanitarian efforts and help lay the foundations to build lasting peace and stability," said UNDP Acting Administrator Haoliang Xu. "We advocate strongly for strengthening multilateral cooperation and using systems approaches to tackle the deeper causes of today's development challenges."
The roundtable underscored the importance of seizing the current moment of reform - including the Humanitarian Rest, the UN80 Development System Reform process and the Peacebuilding Architecture Review - to redefine response systems capable of delivering for the people, meeting urgent lifesaving needs, strengthening resilience and sustaining progress and peace.
Participants in the expert roundtable agreed to an outcome document spelling out a concrete proposal for partners' commitments to strengthening multilateral HDP cooperation. The document emphasizes national ownership and leadership of HDP efforts and the value of partnerships as tools for transformation and makes an urgent call for increased funding support to HDP outcomes and a fundamental reimagining of financing mechanisms to ensure diversification and sustainability.
As a tangible outcome, KSrelief and UNDP signed a new USD 600,000 agreement to foster resilience, reduce vulnerability to violent extremist recruitment, and promote social cohesion in local communities in the Far North Region of Cameroon - one of the areas hardest hit by displacement, economic collapse, and insecurity. The initiative will provide youth, women, internally displaced persons, returnees, and host communities with vocational training, livelihoods support, entrepreneurship, and renewable energy skills.
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