ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the emergence and the characteristics of development-led approaches to refugee crises, popularly termed the humanitarian–development nexus – a recent and significant reformulation of international responses to large-scale protracted forced displacement. The chapter outlines the origins of, and progress towards, policies and practices which seek to bridge humanitarian assistance with sustainable, longer development-led strategies. It explores the institutional challenges in achieving this synergy and the problems of reconciling the different principles and mandates between the two approaches. The chapter then reviews the main parameters of development-led approaches, outlining new macro-economic funding mechanisms, discussing the expanding role of the private sector, and emphasising the importance of cash-based programming and employment generation for refugees and local host communities as the means to promote sustainable livelihoods, notably in urban areas where the majority of refugees now live. Contemporary experience is appraised including the response to the Syrian refugee crisis, as well as the wider framework of the UNHCR-led 2018 Global Compact on Refugees and the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework used to co-ordinate country programmes for refugee assistance and development. The chapter concludes with a brief account of the emerging tripe nexus of humanitarian–peace–development which is gaining some traction.
