Members of the Humanitarian Response Network of Canada (HRN) met on September 30th in Montreal at the HRN Heads of Agency Meeting (HoA), an annual event that convenes Executive Directors and CEOs of HRN members, their senior humanitarian staff, and Government of Canada representatives to discuss their collective experience in humanitarian response. At the HoA, they confirmed their commitment to work in an integrated, inclusive and principled approach to enable better collaboration between the humanitarian, development and peace sectors. This declaration is a first of its kind made by a group of heads of agencies in Canada.
The statement, signed by 29 organizations, affirms that sustainable solutions for crisis-affected people must be the ultimate objective of all integrated approaches. It emphasizes the importance of collaboration between humanitarian, development, and peace initiatives, with a view to building comprehensive responses that address immediate vulnerabilities and uphold humanitarian principles while integrating more sustainable, long-term, resilience-building, and gender-responsive solutions. This can only be achieved with dedicated and increased resources allocated to all sectors, and with optimized partnerships and structures that enable flexibility to respond to needs across the humanitarian-development-peace nexus.