Strengthening humanitarian and development collaboration in fragile and conflict-affected settings in Africa
In addressing protracted conflicts and compounded shocks across Africa, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) have developed a partnership to:
- Sustain the impact and continuity of interventions by supporting development actors to remain engaged in insecure and conflict-affected settings;
- Scale up results for affected communities through joint resource mobilization, tailored financing instruments and multi-country approaches; and
- Strengthen knowledge and practice on financing and delivering sustainable impact across the Humanitarian–Development–Peace (HDP) Nexus.
This joint policy brief examines how humanitarian and development actors can work together to protect people and preserve essential services during conflict. It highlights the value of combining humanitarian action and protection dialogue with the long-term vision and financing capacity of development institutions to achieve more inclusive, conflict-sensitive and sustainable outcomes.
Drawing on experiences across Africa – where more than 100 million people live under the partial or full control of non-state armed groups (ICRC estimate, 2025) – the brief illustrates how practical, coordinated action can improve the quality of support provided to communities affected by crises, and preserve the foundations for recovery.
It calls for two key shifts in practice: to strengthen collaboration by leveraging comparative advantages, and to engage earlier to protect systems before they fail. Respect for international humanitarian law (IHL) is central to this approach: it reduces the risk of development reversals during conflict, supports recovery and helps lay the groundwork for lasting peace.
Acknowledgments
This policy brief, “Strengthening humanitarian and development collaboration in fragile and conflict-affected settings in Africa,” builds on a research paper commissioned jointly by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and researched and written by Lene Grønkjær, Consultant. The work was undertaken under the overall supervision of Frederik Teufel, Lead Coordinator, and Jerome Berndt, Principal Resilience and Fragility Officer, Transition States Coordination Office, AfDB; and Catherine-Lune Grayson, Head of Policy and Research Division, Ariana Lopes Morey, Policy Adviser, and Fidy Rajaonson, Head a.i., Development Centre of Expertise, ICRC.
It benefited from substantive contributions and technical review by Riadh Ben Messaoud, Lead Coordinator, and Bumi Camara, Chief Fragility and Resilience Economist, AfDB; and Jean-François Yao, Senior Policy Adviser for Institutional Partnerships, Ramin Mahnad, Senior Legal Adviser, Audrey Purcell-O’Dwyer, Legal Adviser, Arjun Claire, Policy Adviser, and Justine Coni, Resource Mobilisation Officer, ICRC.
The development of this policy brief was informed by consultations with AfDB and ICRC colleagues, as well as external partners and stakeholders engaged in the Humanitarian–Development–Peace (HDP) Nexus in Africa.
The production of this brief was coordinated by the Transition States Coordination Office, AfDB, and the Policy and Humanitarian Diplomacy Division and Development Centre of Expertise, ICRC.
