The people-centred approach reinforces and complements programming across the Humanitarian–Development–Peace (HDP) nexus by anchoring immediate recovery efforts within a long-term vision of justice and security transformation.
It helps ensure that efforts to restore justice and security systems after conflict are not only responsive to people’s immediate needs, but also support systems to be inclusive, accountable and rights-respecting. By addressing both the symptoms and root causes of insecurity and injustice, the approach reduces the risk that recovery efforts unintentionally replicate institutional practices or power dynamics that excluded or harmed people in the past. Instead, it supports institution-building and community recovery in ways that are people-centred, rights-based and locally owned, laying the foundation for more resilient, fairer and more responsive systems over time.
This annex considers how the approach complements UNDP’s stabilization programming.
What is stabilization?
Stabilization programming delivers fast, localized results at speed and scale, helping to restore security and essential services in conflict-affected areas.
According to the UNDP Guidance Note on Stabilization Programming, “programmes are implemented in conflict and post-conflict contexts, delivering time-bound, localised, integrated, civilian-led interventions that enhance security, rehabilitate social and productive infrastructure, and provide income support at speed and scale.”
Stabilization contributes to:
- Extending State authority to areas previously under control or threatened by armed groups.
- Rebuilding trust between communities and legitimate authorities.
- Restoring a sense of normalcy, enabling returns and preventing protracted displacement.
How can the people-centred approach support stabilization goals?
The people-centred approach helps ensure that stabilization gains are experienced as fair, inclusive and sustainable, strengthening the trust and legitimacy of authorities within affected communities. It can complement the aims of stabilization programming in the following ways:
Restoring trust and strengthening the social contract
Both approaches recognize that restoring trust in institutions is critical for stability and sustainable peace.
- Stabilization focuses on restoring security and paving the way for the delivery of core state functions such as justice, security, local governance and basic services.
- The people-centred approach emphasizes that State legitimacy depends not only on the presence of institutions or services, but also on how institutions behave, including whether they are fair, participatory, transparent, accountable and rights-respecting.
Placing people at the centre
Both approaches prioritize support to people and communities.
Stabilization creates conditions for people to return and rebuild their lives by improving security, rehabilitating infrastructure and expanding access to livelihoods.
The people-centred approach ensures that justice and security efforts are grounded in people’s actual needs and experiences. It uses participatory methods to identify local priorities and supports solutions that communities see as legitimate, accessible and relevant.
Moving from infrastructure to systems that work
Both approaches recognize that infrastructure alone is not enough. Systems must function and deliver.
- Stabilization supports the return of civil servants, police, justice actors and other public officials to resume basic governance functions.
- The people-centred approach focuses on the quality and integrity of those functions. It promotes justice and security services that are not only present but also trusted, rights-based and accountable even in fragile or transitional contexts.
Enabling participation of women and youth
Both approaches acknowledge that inclusive participation strengthens peace and cohesion.
- Stabilization incorporates context-specific inclusion, such as support to returnee women, youth at risk of recruitment by armed actors, and other vulnerable groups.
- The people-centred approach ensures that women, girls and young people are not just beneficiaries but active agents in shaping justice and security responses. It supports their participation in local decision-making, dispute resolution and oversight processes.
Bridging humanitarian, development, and peace responses
Both approaches serve as enablers of the HDP nexus.
- Stabilization bridges emergency response with longer-term development.
- The people-centred approach strengthens this link by anchoring short-term gains in longer-term transformation, ensuring justice and security-related responses reflect people’s rights, needs and expectations.
Promoting adaptive, politically informed, and conflict-sensitive approaches
Both approaches promote context-driven, responsive programming.
- Stabilization emphasizes political awareness, conflict sensitivity, risk management and the importance of local context.
- The people-centred approach complements this by applying systems thinking, power and political economy analysis, and iterative learning. It supports adaptive strategies that reflect local dynamics, respond to feedback and continuously evolve to build trust and legitimacy.
When combined, these approaches:
- Make stabilization not only fast but also fair.
- Shift focus from presence to performance, and from infrastructure to legitimacy.
- Prioritize people’s voice, agency and trust at all stages.
- Embed justice and security lenses into transitions from crisis to peace.
Sources:
- UNDP, Guidance Note on Stabilization Programming (2025).
- Independent Evaluation Office, Stabilization and Development, IEO Reflections Series (2025).
- UNDP, The UNDP Approach to People-Centred Justice and Security (2025).