This thesis studies the concept of Linking Relief, Rehabilitation and Development (LRRD), a topic discussed since the late 1980’s that has failed to be practically implemented, partly because of widely divergent perspectives on the concept. The discourse on LRRD has so far largely been conducted in a top-down fashion with donors constituting the dominant interlocutor, while the perspectives of aid organisations and local communities involved in humanitarian and developmental programmes have been widely overlooked. This thesis thus means to bring clarity to how LRRD is conceptualised by different stakeholders through proposing a comprehensive conceptual framework based from literature, which is used to analyse empirical case studies at the local, national, and international levels. The case studies were conducted in Indonesia and Sweden through interviews with 16 participants and a survey with 20 beneficiaries as respondents. The participants included: beneficiaries at a tsunami post-disaster site, local community leaders, a local level NGO, two national level Indonesia NGOs (MDMC and YEU), and an INGO (Plan International).The research reveal that none of the cases experienced as rigid divide between humanitarian and development action as is often suggested in the literature discourse and through donor policies. All interviewed NGOs expressed that they operated in a way that does create strong humanitarian-developmental linkages and that the major obstacle to achieve this is external pressures, particularly from donor agencies, to operate under exclusively humanitarian or developmental imperatives.

Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world and suffers from recurring disasters but no ongoing conflicts. Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) working there must therefore take relief, rehabilitation, and development into account as shifting between these stages is the reality of the rights-holders. What approaches that should be used while doing this is unique in each context. The aid structure is however clearly divided between those working with relief and those working with development, and even though the conceptual development suggest that the aid structure should join there has been no change towards this. At the same time Result Based Management (RBM) as a principle for aid effectiveness has been heavily criticized for focusing on short term results, among others. This qualitative study has contributed to closing two research gaps; in identifying that Disaster Risk Reduction, Human Rights Based Approach, economic empowerment, and sustainable relief interventions are the approaches that CSOs in Malawi tend to focus on when working close to a community where there is a need to link relief, rehabilitation, and development (LRRD); and in identifying that not only can the pressure from a divided aid structure be blamed for the challenges facing CSOs implementing LRRD approaches, but RBM is also a contributing part. This results in CSOs being torn between accountability issues towards donors and staying legitimate towards rights-holders and that because of these challenges they cannot live up to their potential and provide the most effective aid. / Malawi är ett av de fattigaste länderna i världen och lider av återkommande katastrofer men inga pågående konflikter. Perioder av humanitära katastrofer, återuppbyggnad, och utveckling, skiftar och växlar fram och tillbaka i olika stadier och eftersom det är rättighetsbärarnas verklighet så är det också något civilsamhällsorganisationer som arbetar med olika typer av utvecklingssamarbete måste ta hänsyn till att. Vilka metoder som bör användas när organisationer arbetar i detta klimat är unikt för varje kontext. Biståndet är emellertid tydligt uppdelad mellan de som arbetar med humanitärt arbete och de som arbetar med utveckling, och trots att den konceptuella utvecklingen föreslår att biståndet bör kopplas samman så har det inte skett någon strukturell förändring. Samtidigt har resultatbaserat arbete som är en princip för biståndseffektivitet starkt kritiserats, bland annat för att det fokuseras för mycket på kortsiktiga resultat. Denna intervjubaserade studie har bidragit till att minska två forskningsgap; genom att identifiera att katastrofförebyggande arbete, rättighetsbaserat arbete, ekonomisk empowerment, och hållbara humanitära insatser som de tillvägagångssätt som civilsamhällesorganisationer i Malawi tenderar att fokusera på när de arbetar nära ett samhälle där det finns ett behov av att koppla samman humanitärt arbete med rehabilitering och utveckling (LRRD); och genom att identifiera att det inte bara är trycket från en uppdelad biståndsstruktur som förklarar de utmaningar som organisationer står inför när d arbetar med LRRD utan att resultatbaserat arbete också är en bidragande del. Lokala civilsamhällesorganisationer balanserar mellan ansvaret de har mot gentemot givare och legitimiteten de måste ha gentemot rättighetsinnehavare. I slutändan kan de på grund av dessa utmaningar inte leva upp till sin potential och tillhandahålla det mest effektiva stödet.

What are appropriate and relevant ways for collaboration and coordination between the three sections of aid work, humanitarian, development, and peace? This question has been topical for the aid community for decades when working in places where all three entities are present (Guinote, 2019). It is sometimes rejected, neglected but some times it is also considered and pursued (Hövelmann, 2020). This study aims to assess and analyze the arguments and breeding grounds for the triple nexus approached work in the DRC, the dynamics of promoting and receiving directions in a headquarters-field office relation exploring the challenges and opportunities between the three sections of HDP. Assessments have been done through conducting interviews remotely with people working on-site in the DRC at national or local offices and headquarters in Sweden and Central Europe. By interviewing eleven people with experience from all three HDP sectors, where a few people come from the donor sector, the goal has been to provide a broad picture of the aid community's perspective. This study's findings and inferences are related to funding structures where a more flexible funding system is requested. There are local involvement findings where signs through this study indicate local initiatives have been implementing the nexus approach for years. In environments such as presented in this study, of interrelating groups of people with differences in working culture, there are also challenges of clashing organizational principles, hegemonic approaches, and the ever topical issue of clear and relevant communication presented in the thesis. Through this assessment, power structures are pertinent to analyze to understand how the triple nexus approach can be further implemented. The agency theory will, in this study, be used as an eyeglass to assess these power relations.

The study was an assessment to determine the health rehabilitation interventions employed by Zimbabwe health actors between 2009 and 2011. It also was to ascertain the extent to which the interventions met criteria for effective rehabilitation, and that includes, health rehabilitation should ease the transition between health humanitarian and health development. Data was collected through interviewing health actors and review of policy documents while a vulnerability analysis approach was applied. The study revealed that, while the implemented health recovery interventions resulted in halting the health crisis, their role in facilitating progress towards health development was marginal. There were clear humanitarian residual issues and evidence of weak areas of the health system. A clear pathway needed to be mapped by actors, particularly policy makers to ensure effective rehabilitation. However, this seemed to lack in some areas. There were numerous overlapping and repetitive policies with little detailed guidelines. / Development Studies / M.A. (Development Studies)

The study was an assessment to determine the health rehabilitation interventions employed by Zimbabwe health actors between 2009 and 2011. It also was to ascertain the extent to which the interventions met criteria for effective rehabilitation, and that includes, health rehabilitation should ease the transition between health humanitarian and health development. Data was collected through interviewing health actors and review of policy documents while a vulnerability analysis approach was applied. The study revealed that, while the implemented health recovery interventions resulted in halting the health crisis, their role in facilitating progress towards health development was marginal. There were clear humanitarian residual issues and evidence of weak areas of the health system. A clear pathway needed to be mapped by actors, particularly policy makers to ensure effective rehabilitation. However, this seemed to lack in some areas. There were numerous overlapping and repetitive policies with little detailed guidelines. / Development Studies / M.A. (Development Studies)