This Learning Brief presents the findings of a participatory review and learning exercise (PRLE) conducted by the South Sudan Food Security Cluster on selected initiatives at the humanitarian–development–peace (HDP) nexus in South Sudan. The PRLE identified good practices that effectively bring together humanitarian, development and peace actors through coordinated efforts, which are essential for addressing the underlying causes of food insecurity and protracted crises in South Sudan. The primary objective of the PRLE was to enhance knowledge on good practices, and reflect on challenges and opportunities in strengthening coordination, collaboration, and communication among these actors, with the ultimate goal of improving the coherence and impact of HDP nexus programming on the affected population.

This brief provides an overview of the PRLE methodology, target audience and beneficiaries, key lessons and practical recommendations on operationalizing the HDP nexus, which include bridging HDP nexus coordination mechanisms and platforms, common needs and context analysis, collaborative and joined-up programme planning and implementation, establishment of joint Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning systems, and joint financing of HDP programmes. This product was developed by the Food Security Cluster, with methodological and technical support of the Knowledge Platform on Emergencies and Resilience (KORE) and the Conflict and Peace Unit (CPU) in FAO’s Office of Emergencies and Resilience (OER).

SOME KEY TAKEAWAYS

• On the HDP Nexus: The participatory review and learning exercise (PRLE) conducted by the South Sudan Food Security Cluster identified good practices that effectively bring together humanitarian, development and peace actors through coordinated efforts, which are essential for addressing the underlying causes of food insecurity and protracted crises in South Sudan. The PRLE can contribute to enhancing and scaling-up the humanitarian—development—peace (HDP) nexus programming in South Sudan and informing on relevant ways of working and learning together. The PRLE aimed at supporting HDP operationalization by embracing the principles at the heart of HDP nexus ways of working, in a spirit of collaboration, coherence, complementarity and consensus building (for more information see key takeaways on localization, replicability and upscale, MEAL and learning).
  
  
• On localization: It is important to map and identify areas, at all levels, where existing governmental and local structures can be strengthened to overcome the challenges of weak involvement, ownership, and leadership by local structures, including the government. This will help create a more sustainable framework for development and ensure that local structures have the capacity to lead and manage projects, in a way that ensures local priorities and plans are aligned with national ones.
  
  
• On replicability and upscale: Strengthened collaboration for joint funding is crucial for the successful implementation of HDP nexus programming. HDP pooled funds in the framework of area-based programming and regular national donor trust funds meetings constitute excellent opportunities to combine funding mechanisms linking-up humanitarian, development and peace-building efforts in the field. Additionally, developing joint advocacy strategies and papers would help i) to highlight the fact that humanitarian funding should be better linked to local development plans, which would contribute to ensuring greater level of accessibility to funding by local actors, and ii) to advocate for more flexible budget allocation for HDP nexus programmes with a longer-term vision.
  
  
• On MEAL: Extending the number and reach of consortium initiatives could help avoid siloed MEAL systems and datasets sharing, by including: i) agreement on unique mechanism to target communities, infrastructures etc. as well as to compare and consolidate various data, and strengthen granularity; ii) development of common HDP nexus monitoring indicators; iii) linkages with local development planning and financing issues: this can help funding allocation and assess impact. It is crucial to contextualize and harmonize plans and HDP actions, building on different planning mechanisms while ensuring they address the HDP nexus consistently. This can be achieved by i) identifying and mapping existing data resources available across HDP actors to identify areas where data is lacking, and to ensure that all actors have access to the same information, reducing duplication of effort and improving coordination, and ii) strengthening HDP diagnosis, including through context analysis using harmonized analytical approaches and tools and participatory methodologies, to understand better and more systematically the drivers of protracted crisis and food insecurity and organize coordinated responses to meet existing needs and reduce emerging ones.
  
  
• On learning: Participatory review and learning exercises serve as joint evaluations and offer space to pause, reflect and do better together with communities and stakeholders involved. This review and the learning exercise adopted a participatory approach, giving space to hear the voices of a variety of stakeholders, and bringing them together through facilitated dialogue and peer learning, and providing an enabling platform for open exchanges, trust building and effective collaboration, which are the essence of ways of working supporting a HDP nexus approach, in practice. Effective knowledge management is also key to promoting coordination and collaboration among HDP actors, through the sharing of good and promising practices, lessons learned, and analyses findings to improve decision-making processes and ensure that resources are allocated effectively.