Development Assistance in Fragile States
The term ‘fragile state’ is used to describe a country where the government cannot deliver basic services to its people, and has weak institutions, governance structures and policies. Conflict at sub-state, state or regional level is a recurring theme in fragile states, either because they are recovering from recent conflict, currently experiencing it at one or more of these levels, or are at risk of conflict in the near future. Fragile states tend to be amongst the worst performers against key development indicators. Given the volatile and unstable nature of fragile states, and the sheer number and complexity of problems they face, provision of successful development assistance is extremely difficult. The following are some of the key factors that donors and their partners need to take into consideration in a fragile state environment.
Before initiating any new development assistance project, a context and risk analysis should be carried out covering the political, economic and social aspects. A risk register should be developed and managed throughout the lifespan of the project, to provide an early warning mechanism and enable timely responses to emerging risks. Plans should also be developed to deal with logistical and security issues that might impede the team’s ability to work safely and effectively. However, as fragile states are by their very nature unpredictable, good planning and risk management alone are not sufficient. Flexibility, pragmatism and responsiveness are also key, in order to react quickly to unexpected developments, take advantage of windows of opportunity and respond constructively to the real-time, practical needs and priorities of counterpart officials in government. For example, in Serbia, our team faced 3 sets of elections and the assassination of the Prime Minister in one year, but was still able to respond flexibly to the government’s needs and build their trust.
Local ownership is a pre-requisite for the long term success of any development assistance project. Fragile states, especially in a post-conflict environment, tend to contain more complex webs of stakeholders and entrenched interest groups than other countries. Dealing transparently, objectively and sensitively with all counterparts and stakeholders, and establishing clear and direct communication channels, helps build trust and respect, and also provides access to sources of information that will be critical to maintaining risk registers. It is particularly important to avoid unintentionally marginalising any interested parties, and to engage constructively with those who may have doubts about or even oppose reform. Although it may not be possible to convince everyone of the benefits of reform, identifying the right ‘points of entry’ – both in terms of sponsorship and initial activities – is an important first step. Sequencing and timing of initiatives is also critical. Taking smaller steps initially, aiming for ‘quick wins’ with non-contentious and clearly demonstrable benefits, and compromising where necessary to obtain as much buy-in as possible at each stage, helps build confidence and relationships, and may even contribute to winning round more sceptical counterparts and stakeholders.
Finally, most counterparts in fragile states are likely to have limited capacity to implement change. Care needs to be taken not to distract counterparts from their everyday work, while also building the capacity of people who might not be qualified or motivated to work on yet another ‘international’ project. For example, more practical, ‘on-the-job’ coaching might be more useful and effective than generic training courses. It is also essential to coordinate with other initiatives and donor projects to avoid duplicating effort and creating overload in the recipient institution.
Despite all the difficulties, real improvements can be implemented. Atos Consulting has extensive experience working successfully and safely in fragile states such as Sudan, Pakistan and Afghanistan, which has helped us develop both:
- best-practice procedures to ensure the safety of our teams in the field. Atos has a staff policy and manual, developed with the help of a major international security and risk management firm, to ensure that our teams understand respective roles and responsibilities and maximise their safety on projects; and
- techniques to maximise the success of each project. These include using change management techniques and guides for consultants on achieving success in different cultural environments, working through interpreters, making a difference when budgets are tight, and ways to increase the ‘buy in’ of counterpart officials. We have proven that an approach dividing work-packages into small pieces, based on clear short-term objectives, signed up to by all and with regular review and revision, can work in fragile states.