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Iraq

Meininghaus, E. (2024): Spotlight on HDP Nexus Implementation in Iraq - Challenges to Peace Activities from a Decolonial Perspective

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Introduction

This Spotlight on Iraq is part of a larger study on the implementation of the humanitarian–development–peace (HDP) nexus approach, which aims to make humanitarian and development interventions more sustainable in conflict-affected and fragile contexts and to combine them with a peacebuilding component. Focussing on a decolonial perspective, the Spotlight highlights the specific context of how the HDP nexus was designed and implemented in Iraq.

Our Discussion Paper (Müller-Koné et al., 2024) uses a decolonial perspective to assess how the HDP nexus is implemented, focusing in particular on Mali, Iraq, and South Sudan. This decolonial perspective draws attention to power imbalances and structural racism that can be traced back to the colonial era and that continue to permeate the international humanitarian system, most visible in the dominance of international (non-)governmental organisations that shape the aid structure (Aloudat & Khan, 2022; Schirch, 2022). This dominance is particularly relevant for the HDP nexus: The HDP nexus debate emerged around the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit as part of the “New Way of Working”, which aimed to better integrate ‘local’ governmental and non-governmental aid actors into the humanitarian system. Through joint analysis and direct access to funding for these local actors, international aid organisations are to work towards ‘collective outcomes’ and ‘localisation’ in a bottom-up approach. In contrast to this, we argue in our main study that the way the HDP nexus is currently implemented fails to address the power asymmetries and structural inequalities in the international aid system that lie behind abstract concepts such as localisation and collective outcomes (Müller-Koné et al. 2024).

Beyond a bottom-up approach, we call for a decolonial rethinking that analyses and acknowledges how colonial legacies affect funding flows, the distribution of staff and decision-making power, as well as norms and attitudes within the aid sector. A decolonial approach prioritises the needs and visions of local populations as a “more holistic approach to supporting genuinely locally owned civil society efforts” (Mathews, 2022), more equitable “local led” or “community led” partnerships (Doan & Fifield, 2020; Kuloba-Warria & Tomlinson, 2023, pp. 23–24) while recognising that ‘the local’ is a space of diverse and competing actors (Schirch, 2022, p. 17). The question guiding the overall study is: How can the HDP nexus be implemented from the bottom up from a decolonial perspective?

The first finding of this Paper is that the HDP approach in Iraq was implemented as a UN-driven, topdown approach: The participation of local NGOs and communities in the relevant decision-making and implementation processes is severely limited throughout Iraq. At the same time, the impact of UN agencies’s assistance on conflict dynamics is hardly measured, and the accountability of UN organisations to the people they serve is correspondingly low. Second, expectations by donors and policy makers regarding standards to be met are unevenly applied to local, i.e. non-governmental Iraqi NGOs and international NGOs. This reflects substantial power imbalances and structural racism, which manifests itself in

\ aid funding that strongly limits access for Iraqi NGOs—four per cent of funding in 2021;

\ differing perceptions of ‘expertise’ and valid knowledge regarding international and Iraqi staff;

\ differing standards for which actors should (or should not) explain how they deal with corruption;

\ differing criteria (or the lack thereof) of accountability.

This reveals different expectations towards UN agencies and international versus local NGOs in terms of capacity, expertise and propensity to corruption, which preemptively absolve international organisations of possible wrongdoing but imply a lack of capacity, will or values on the part of local NGOs and Iraqi staff. Third, peacebuilding is presented in HDP documents in an apolitical manner although this misrepresents reality:

The political context of aid in Iraq is highly polarised, and the space for aid activities is shrinking, for example due to interference by the government and armed actors who claim a say in what activities can be carried out.
Peacebuilding is, therefore, perceived as highly sensitive.

Still, key UN and OECD DAC guidance documents portray the HDP nexus as if it were an apolitical concept that simply allows for a smoother combination of humanitarian aid, development assistance and peacebuilding, hiding political power relations.

Given these key findings, a decolonial perspective invites us to ask to what extent these fundamental decisions can be reached in a way that prioritises the knowledge, needs and capacities of Iraqi organisations and communities, including the spheres of policy design, UN and (I)NGO project implementation, monitoring and evaluation. A decolonial perspective also raises the question of how comparable expectations or standards of accountability can be applied to all UN agencies, INGOs and local NGOs, including their staff.

Throughout the Paper, we highlight how a decolonial perspective helps us to understand why the implementation of the HDP approach has so far largely failed to be bottom-up, and what questions a decolonial perspective brings to the fore that need to be addressed to work towards constructive change.
After outlining the methodology that underpins this Paper and our research in Iraq, Mali and South Sudan (cf. Haidara, 2024; Kemmerling 2024), the third section provides an overview of how the HDP was introduced by the United Nations in Iraq in 2017, the social, economic and political context in Iraq, and the main framework documents on the HDP nexus for Iraq. I then critically discuss the United Nations’ and other NGOs’ implementation of the HDP approach. Finally, the Conclusion highlights the main findings of this Paper and raises questions about how the HDP approach could be implemented in Iraq from a decolonial perspective. As a guiding question, I ask: How has the HDP been implemented in Iraq, and to what extent does a decolonial perspective open up new ways forward?