Countries that are committed to official development assistance are also interested in how to increase aid effectiveness. One important measure to do so has been the introduction of the triple nexus approach. The triple nexus refers to the cooperation in the fields of humanitarian, development, and peace and how conscious collaboration between the different actors may lead to better outcomes. For this purpose special guidelines were adopted by DAC in 2019, in which the triple nexus approach was recommended to be applied in all humanitarian-, development- and peace work. These guidelines apply to many donor organizations and this thesis aims to understand the prevailing triple nexus environment within in particular the Finnish NGOs. The hope is to contribute to the research of the triple nexus approach by gaining knowledge of its organisational implementation. Abductive logic of inquiry is applied to this research and qualitative methods are chosen to explore the research questions. Semi-structured interviews are carried out to form an understanding of the triple nexus environment in Finland. The empirical data collected for this thesis hopes to bring new knowledge to the parties involved in the triple nexus work. The topic is relevant for development studies and has a strong linkage to the current situation of development cooperation. The scope of this study does not make it possible to draw generalization from the findings and therefore the results of this research are only valid for the specific Finnish context. Collaboration entails shared interest and finding a common ground to reach shared goals, change in thinking and ways of working is needed. Change and collaboration are at the heart of the triple nexus approach and therefore collaboration and change management frameworks serve this research. Kotter’s 8-step change management model and five dimensions of collaboration are used to guide the data collection and findings are analyzed using the most relevant steps of change management and collaborative dimensions. The results show how the triple nexus is understood within the NGOs. Different viewpoints came to the fore which can indicate that better communication and more coherence are needed. Concerning the collaboration NGOs have a good foundation to deepen the collaborative relationships which creates positive prospects. The collaborative arrangement benefits all parties and especially at the end the beneficiaries since they are at the core of all the work and the reason why better procedures are sought for.

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.

In 2016, member states of the United Nations, by consensus, adopted the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, in which they also agreed to the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF). The framework, arguing for a multi-stakeholder inclusive approach that includes local authorities, was suggested to be a progressive step in establishing an international regime offering predictability in dealing with large scale refugee movements, placing focus on self-reliance, economic inclusion, and support for both refugees and host communities. The CRRF was inserted in the Global Compact on Refugees adopted by UN General Assembly in December 2018. This thesis sets out to enunciate the involvement of local governments as stakeholders in the CRRF and to explore the role of this stakeholder status in refugee local integration solutions, with Uganda as an exemplifying case of refugee hosting countries implementing the CCRF. As an entry point, the thesis posits the following research question: “As stakeholders in the comprehensive refugee response framework, what is the role of local governments in refugee local integration in Uganda?”. The thesis utilizes concepts including stakeholders, local government, decentralisation and integration to construct an analytical framework employed by the thesis.  The thesis claims that as stakeholders in the CRRF, local governments are relevant in enhancing refugee local integration, but this role can only be maximized if and when the decentralized functions and structures of local government are adequately utilised by other stakeholders in the CRRF including the central government and international community. Local governments, under the right circumstances, potentially play a role in ensuring host communities do not impede the enjoyment of refugee rights by mediating refugee-host community relations. But as it stands; the political, administrative, and fiscal functions of local government in Uganda are yet to be adequately harnessed by CRRF structures.