Fragile and Conflict-Affected Situations (FCAS)
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Mapping Fragile and Conflict-Affected Situations in Asia and the Pacific: The ADB
Experience
This study maps out the major weaknesses of each fragile situation on the latest country
performance assessment exercises. It identifies the overall common issues that require
special attention when crafting strategies and implementing programs and projects.
Rethinking the Asian Development Bank’s engagement in these fragile countries is critically
important. This must be backed by a comprehensive understanding of the governance,
institutional, political, and social issues that are behind each country’s exposure to conflict
or fragility.
Pacific youth join ADB co-hosted workshop on decent work
The Asian Development Bank, the Pacific Community and the Pacific Youth Council hosted a
youth consultation and training workshop in Suva, Fiji on 10 May 2016. Youth
representatives from nine Pacific countries discussed challenges and opportunities in
securing decent work, particularly in fragile and conflict-affected situations (FCAS). ADB
Pacific Subregional Office regional director Robert Jauncey gave opening remarks, and ADB
focal point for FCAS Patrick Safran presented on Fragility in the Pacific: Challenge for the
Youth.
Personnel Training and Capacity Development Plan: Improving Service Delivery in
Chuuk, Federated States of Micronesia
The Chuuk Public Utility Corporation prepared the Personnel Training and Capacity
Development Plan for its staff to improve the delivery of electricity, water, and sewerage
services to residents, and to reduce its reliance on external expertise. The plan also seeks to
improve service delivery and operations efficiency at the lowest cost to customers. The plan
was prepared under ADB's regional technical assistance project Enhancing ADB’s
Engagement in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Situations.
Experts' Roundtable Meeting on Assessing Fragility for a Differentiated Approach
in Dealing with Fragile and Conflict-Affected Situations: Proceedings
This publication captures the presentations and discussions of experts and policy makers
during the Experts’ Roundtable Meeting on Assessing Fragility for a Differentiated Approach
in Dealing with Fragile and Conflict-Affected Situations, held on 15–16 June 2015 in
Bangkok. The roundtable meeting aimed to generate broader awareness of fragility and
conflict assessments, debate what the next generation of assessments should look like,
discuss how fragility and conflict assessments can be conducted at the subnational level,
and determine how these tools can best inform development partners and governments,
and contribute to effective programming and policy responses on the ground.
Understanding Land Issues and their Impact on Tourism Development
The Government of the FSM is keen to improve the business environment for tourism,
setting out an agenda for key tourism development reforms. To guide the planning and
implementation of tourism development in the FSM, the Asian Development Bank (ADB)
conducted a political economy analysis of the impact of land issues on tourism development,
focusing on Pohnpei, one of the FSM’s largely autonomous four states.
Understanding the Political Economy of Vanuatu
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has been a development partner of Vanuatu since
1981. In 2014, ADB prepared a macro-level analysis of the political economy of Vanuatu to
inform its current and future operations in the country and thereby enhance aid
effectiveness.1 ADB’s operational plan for fragile and conflict-affected situations and its
Pacific regional approach call for a high level of understanding of the local context through a
political economy analysis of its Pacific developing member countries.
Understanding the Local Context: Fragility Assessment of Development Projects in
Nepal
ADB’s experience in Nepal shows that fragile and conflict-affected situations (FCAS) present
the most challenging—and, at times, unpredictable—development context. Political and
social issues in FCAS can affect implementation of a development project. Considering that
FCAS vary and are usually contextual, understanding the local context should be a
prerequisite for a coherent and relevant development assistance. This publication presents
the how-to’s, experiences, and lessons of fragility assessment on three ADB projects in rural
infrastructure, urban infrastructure, and commercial agriculture in Nepal.
Features
Fragile, Conflict-Affected Situations Need
New Development Approach – ADB
MANILA, PHILIPPINES (15 November 2016) Development partners need to improve their approach
to promote sustainable development in countries that
have fragile and conflict-affected situations (FCAS)
through critical analysis of economic, structural, social, political, and institutional issues in each country
and by customizing interventions based on the local context, says a new Asian Development Bank (ADB)
report published today.
Read more.
Don't just define fragility – understand it, act
on it
By Patrick Safran
Doing development in fragile and conflict-affected
situations (FCAS) comes with unique challenges, to be
dealt with through the right actions based on a proper understanding – not just based on narrow
definitions.
Read more.
Blog poll: Preserve our ocean to protect our
life
By Patrick Safran
In our May blog poll, we asked readers what they think
is the most urgent intervention to manage our oceans
more sustainably. Over half (55%) of the respondents in
the survey picked curbing marine pollution as the
priority for sustainable management of oceans. The
ocean cannot absorb and degrade our waste indefinitely; we must rethink our relationship with the ocean,
and learn how to behave respectfully toward it. To save the main source of life on the planet before the
damage is irreversible, we need to educate or re-educate ourselves, and our communities. Read more.
Small is beautiful, but fragile in the Pacific
By Patrick Safran
Operating in an environment where “conflict begets fragility, and fragility begets conflict” is indeed
complicated and the development community does pay special attention to conflict-affected countries.
This idea, however, does not hold true in small Pacific island nations, most of which are considerably
peaceful but equally fragile. Pacific countries may not be buffeted with violent conflict, but they do
experience other dimensions of fragility. Read more.
Measuring subnational conflict to achieve SDG 16
By Cyrel San Gabriel
Economic and political stability of a country can be measured by how peaceful it is as a whole.
Subnational conflict, however, takes place in certain remote areas and is often overlooked by the
development community’s peace filters and fragility assessments. But failing to adjust the peace lens to a
subnational level may hamper efforts toward meeting Sustainable Development Goal 16 (SDG16) on
achieving just, peaceful and inclusive societies. Read more.
Gender-inclusive constitution key to Nepal’s
transition from fragility to development
By Sharada Jnawali
For several weeks now, Nepal has seen violent clashes
between protestors and government forces over a
proposed new constitution that would divide the country
into federal states. Read more.
7 symptoms of fragility in Pacific developing
countries
By Cyrel San Gabriel
Donors spend billions of dollars on aid to countries with
fragile and conflict-affected situations. However, a huge
chunk of that money is wasted as resources are
mishandled and programs not sustained. According to a
2007 UN study, failing states due to conflict and fragility
cost the global economy up to $267 billion a year. We
definitely need to rethink how we work in fragile
situations, and—as prescribed by the OECD—the first step is identifying dimensions of conflict and
fragility within a country before planning for large- or small-scale development programs. Read more.
Infographics Aside, Are Fragility Indices
Useful?
By Bryony Lau and Patrick Barron
Devising quantitative measures of state weakness is big
business in the development industry. As awareness of
the importance of institutions to growth and peace has
spread, development practitioners and policymakers
have been served an ever-expanding smorgasbord of state fragility indices (see here, here, and here).
Countries receive a numerical score based on a range of indicators deemed to capture the ability of
states to serve their people. Read more.
Let’s rethink how we work in fragile states
By Patrick Safran, ADB Focal Point for Fragile and
Conflict-Affected Situations
“Without addressing fragility we cannot achieve
sustained development progress.”
This statement was made recently by Dr. Rui Maria de
Araújo, Prime Minister of Timor-Leste, one of several
countries in Asia and the Pacific where development
progress has traditionally been hampered by fragile and
conflict-affected situations. In fragile states such as Timor-Leste, which gained its independence in 2002,
achieving development gains is particularly challenging due to weak institutions, political instability or
long exposure to internal conflict, and vulnerability to economic shocks or climate change in the form of
natural disasters. Read more.
Working in conflict-affected areas – the
Myanmar experience
By Elaine Thomas
A few weeks ago, staff from ADB’s Resident Mission in
Myanmar went into the field to share information with
communities and key stakeholders about the East-West
Economic Corridor project, a road improvement project
the Ministry of Construction is planning to implement
with ADB financing in 2016. Read more.
Fragile and conflict-affected situations: Why
they matter, and how aid can help
By Patrick Barron and Sasiwan Chingchit
Where governments do not function well, growth and sustainable development are rare, and
destructive, violent conflicts are more likely. Working in such fragile and conflict-affected situations
(FCASs)—common across Asia and the Pacific—requires development agencies, including ADB, to do
business differently. This means cultivating a deeper understanding of fragility and conflict risks, and
recognizing that successfully delivering assistance in these contexts demands a tailored response. Read
more.
This blog was commissioned by ADB as part of a joint ADB-TAF workshop on assessing fragility held in
Bangkok on 15-16 June, 2015, and originally published in the In Asia blog.
ADB, Asia Foundation hold experts' meeting on fragility assessment in Bangkok
By Jesusa Dela Cruz
ADB and The Asia Foundation jointly organized the Roundtable Expert’s Meeting on
Assessing Fragility for a Differentiated Approach in Dealing with Fragile and Conflict-Affected
Situations on 15-16 June 2015 in Bangkok. A total of 23 experts and policymakers
discussed fragility assessment best practices in subnational and transitional or turnaround
situations, and how fragility and conflict assessments can best inform development partners
and governments in order to contribute to effective programming and policy responses on
the ground. See details and presentations.
What you need to know about the OECD’s new
approach to fragile states
By ADB Blog Team on Fri, 29 May 2015
The Organization for Economic Development and
Cooperation (OECD)’s new approach to fragile
states assesses fragility as a universal issue that
can affect all countries in different dimensions –
not only those traditionally considered “fragile” or
conflict-affected. This may lead to a whole new
set of development interventions, according to
OECD Lead Governance Advisor Sara Fyson, who
sat down with us to discuss the findings of the
recent report States of Fragility 2015 by the Paris-based organization's Governance for
Peace and Development Team led by Jolanda Profos. Read more.
ADB's 5 tips for working in fragile states
By Lean Alfred Santos, Devex
In fragile and conflict-affected states, the rules
are different, and international aid implementers
need to adapt if they want their programs to be
effective and achieve results.
That’s why the Asian Development Bank
encourages aid groups, nongovernmental
organizations, U.N. agencies and private firms to
engage FCAS in a different way to avoid major
human, social, economic and security costs. It’s not only that traditional approaches can be
ineffective — they can also make it harder for these nations to build their capacity and
transition to long-term stability. Read more.
Infrastructure development in fragile states: Is it worth it?
By Patrick Safran, ADB Focal Point for Fragile and Conflict-Affected Situations
There is evidence from Cambodia to Afghanistan
that taking a risk on infrastructure investment can
yield great results, but it takes time to get the
balance right.
Transport, energy, information and communication
technology, and water infrastructure enable a
state to grow its economy and improve the quality
of life of its citizens. Infrastructure acts as the
backbone of growth and social wellbeing –
boosting employment, reducing the high costs of
accessing markets, providing ways of reaching isolated communities, and ensuring access to
basic services.
But is it really worth investing in infrastructure in situations of political instability, weak
governance, economic insecurity, conflict and vulnerability to natural disasters? Our
experience in the Asian Development Bank (ADB) shows that infrastructure investment can
deliver greater economic returns in fragile states, if the work is done right. Read more.
[Parts of this article were shared by Patrick Safran, ADB focal point for fragile situations,
during the live chat debate on infrastructure development in fragile states organized by the
Guardian's Global Development Professionals Network on 7 November 2013.]
Videos
Working Differently in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Situations
ADB encourages new thinking and mainstreaming of innovative approaches to help
development practitioners more effectively plan, design, and implement projects in fragile
and conflict-affected situations.
Why Do We Need to Work Differently in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Situations
ADB Vice President Stephen Groff talks about the need for development institutions to work
differently in fragile and conflict-afffected situations. He emphasizes that political instability
undermines economic growth; understanding political, cultural, and socio-economic issues is
critical; and fragility is costly for the country, its citizens, neighboring countries, and the
global community.
2007 ADB Approach to Weakly Performing Countries
Kazu Sakai, Chair, Fragile and Conflict-Affected Situations Steering Committee and Director
General, Strategy and Policy Department, talks about the 2007 ADB Approach to Weakly
Performing Countries (which ADB now refers to as fragile and conflict-affected situations).
The 2007 ADB Approach emphasizes long-term commitment, development partner
coordination, and flexibility.
How Do We Operate in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Situations
Ayumi Konishi, Deputy Director General, Pacific Department, talks about using regional
strategy for fragile Pacific countries, using interim strategy for Solomon Islands, and
building local capacity for a water supply project in Timor-Leste. Tatsuya Kanai, Senior
Advisor, Central and West Asia Department, shares on the infrastructure trust fund in
Afghanistan. Claudia Buentjen, Principal Country Specialist, Philippines Country Office,
discusses the use of conflict-sensitive approach in Mindanao Philippines.