The Humanitarian-Development-Peace (HDP) Nexus in a Changing Aid Landscape

Course Content: 

How do we react to the changing global aid and cooperation landscape? Global crises and needs are growing and becoming more complex, while financial resources stagnate or dwindle. As the pressure on international cooperation to reform rises, actors across all sectors are pushed to “do better with less”. A decade after its conception, the  Humanitarian–Development–Peace Nexus (HDPN or “triple nexus”) is as relevant as ever amid these transformations. As an integrated approach to addressing the complex challenges of conflict-affected contexts, the HDPN emphasizes coordinated action and collective outcomes between humanitarian, development, and peace actors to ensure that interventions are not only complementary but also mutually reinforcing.

This course will address how to put in practice coordination and programmatic aspects of the HDPN by envisioning the triple nexus as a change process. We will touch upon HDPN relevant topics such as adaptive project design and management, joint analysis and conflict sensitivity, monitoring and evaluation, contributions to peace, localization, and power-critical perspectives. 

Course Objectives: 

• Deepen your understanding of the HDP Nexus and "linking thinking” using Theories of Change;
• Learn about different approaches to operationalising HDPN change at varying levels;
• Apply linking thinking to context & project case examples in facilitated group work exercises;
• Explore challenges, best practices and lessons learned with HDP practitioners from different contexts;
• Exchange experiences and become part of a community of practice. 

Is this course for you? 

This course is designed for professionals working in or on fragile and conflict-affected contexts who are interested in discussing and deepening their understanding of HDPN operationalisation. Interested practitioners and academics with prior knowledge of humanitarian, development or peacebuilding project design and implementation are invited to bring in their own experiences and connect them to current conceptual insights and practical knowledge. 

Is this course a good match for you? If unsure, do not hesitate to contact us. 

Tuition fee: 1'700CHF

The course consists of preparatory readings and a 3-day on-site training (Wednesday to Friday). The course schedule is 9h00-12h30 and 14h00-17h30 (may be subject to change). 

Apply here until: 31 August 2026