Links between humanitarian and development activities

Supporting the work of the European Commission LRRD Task Force

An LRRD Task Force has been created within the European Commission to develop operational frameworks on this issue.

Groupe URD supported this process by carrying out a study with the following objectives:

• Identify and document good practices and processes, opportunities and favourable factors to improve the operational relevance of existing LRRD policy and conceptual frameworks;
• Provide the Task Froce with support in drawing up LRRD Operational Guidelines for the Commission’s development and humanitarian practitioners at headquarters, and particularly in the field.

More concretely, this study aimed to provide critical analysis of good practices, opportunities and factors which favoured improved links between humanitarian and development operations. It also looked at obstacles and constraints experienced in the field and the alternatives which existed to overcome these.

Strengthening European LRRD tools and policies

The creation of this Task Force was part of a broader initiative regarding LRRD within the Commission, with 3 main pillars:

• Policy development and updating of the conceptual framework (tasks completed to a great extent with the adoption of the Resilience Communication of October 2012);
• The development of tools adapted to the LRRD approach, notably at the level of funding instruments;
• The identification of good practices at the country/regional level and the provision of support in the field.

The central question regarded strategic coordination between the Commission’s humanitarian and development programmes.