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ABSTRACT
Although new policy frameworks such as the humanitarian-development-peace (HDP) nexus are emerging to better respond to increasingly complex and protracted conflicts and humanitarian crises, analysis of their impact remains limited. We analyse the case of Iraq in the aftermath of the ISIL conflict with data that measures the impact of interventions from across the nexus domains. Results show that humanitarian and development outcomes improved steadily over time, while peace outcomes remained poor and relatively unchanged. Improvement in the ‘soft’ security elements of peace related to social cohesion and coexistence were superseded by a deterioration in ‘hard’ security elements linked to protection of civilians and security configurations over time. These findings are explained by the lack of integration of hard security elements into an otherwise comprehensive international response along HDP Triple Nexus components. Separate hard security interventions rather had a critically different scope focused primarily on counterterrorism without further encompassing the wider range of security issues facing conflict-affected populations, including those internally displaced seeking to return, nor did they consider the diffusion of local powers and actors in this regard. This has left particularly vulnerable displaced and conflict-affected communities without remedy as priorities in the country shift.
Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank Eugenia Baroncelli and Daniela Irrera for organising this Special Issue on “The Triple Nexus and the Future of Multilateral Governance: Rethinking Coordination between Humanitarian, Development and Peacebuilding Efforts”. The authors also wish to extend their thanks to the two anonymous reviewers and the journal’s editorial team for their constructive feedback.
Notes
1 These include not only the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic but also issues with the availability of a national budget to pay public salaries, a limited private sector and increasing environmental degradation impacting the agricultural sector.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Nadia Siddiqui
Nadia Siddiqui is Co-Director at Social Inquiry, Barcelona, Spain/Erbil, Iraq. Email: [email protected].
Roger Guiu
Roger Guiu is Co-Director at Social Inquiry, Barcelona, Spain/Erbil, Iraq.