"The Bank will continue to deepen its engagement in fragile states," fragile states unit head, Margaret Kilo.
The African Development Bank Group's Fragile Sates Facility (FSF) was established in March 2008 with the objective of effectively helping eligible fragile states to consolidate peace, stabilize economies and lay the foundation for sustainable poverty-reduction and long-term economic growth. Two years later, Margaret Kilo, the Fragile States Unit (OSFU) head reflects on Bank operations on the ground. For her, performance in addressing challenges facing fragile states is linked directly to government ownership of FSF-operations and their willingness to work closely with partners, including the Bank. Also, talking about governance, she said it was challenging to tackle, requiring long-term commitment.
Since the Fragile States Facility was established by the Bank in 2008, what is the key lesson that has emerged from its interventions?
There are several lessons that we have learnt in implementing the Facility's programs, but the key emerging lesson is sheer diversity of fragile states, in terms of countries' specific situations, needs, pace of recovery and progress. In this regard, the Bank's experience attests to the fact that performance is closely linked to governments' strong commitment and close partnership with the international community.
The AfDB's Post-Conflict Country Facility migrated to a Fragile States Facility. What was the reason for this change?
The rationale behind this change was to enable the Bank provide a broader and more flexible approach on issues of fragility and improve its performance in support of fragile states. To this end, the new facility was established with the objective of increasing the level of resources to fragile states and providing greater institutional flexibility with specialized business policies and procedures. The change has enabled the Bank to integrate enhanced support for fragile states into a single facility with the resources and instruments to deal effectively and responsively with country needs. The new instrument has also helped to provide sustained and differentiated support to fragile states and to adapt to each country's context and conditions of fragility. As you know, fragility might be due to deteriorating governance, mismanaged post-conflict and political transitions, or a prolonged crisis.
Among the numerous challenges fragile states face, what do you think is the most crucial one to tackle in order to rapidly get a country back on its feet?
This is a difficult question because each country has its own reality. This said, I could mention governance as a pressing issue since it is cross-cutting. Governance or the lack of it underlies the challenges in fragile states: collapse of state institutions, mismanagement of natural resources, lack of access to basic social services, ethnic conflicts or violence, etc. All these problems tend to create or culminate in state fragility. Therefore, in a post-conflict or fragile context, a lot of efforts and resources should be put into establishing or strengthening governance.
How do you explain that "fragility" or "fragile states" has moved higher to the top of the global development agenda?
The main reason lies in the fact that economic progress or development gains obtained after decades of hard work have either been wiped out, or hampered because of fragile situations and countries are unable to meet the Millennium Development Goals. Fragile situations include political instability due to civil war, ethnic violence, or external shocks such as drop in commodities prices. We can include the impact of the recent fuel, food, and financial crises or more generally, debt burden. So, the links between fragility and development are obvious. Based on that experience, institutions like the Bank realized that particular attention needs to be paid to fragility. This is the reason why the Bank has set up the Fragile Sates Facility to address the needs of eligible fragile states. Addressing the problems of fragile states remains high on the Bank's agenda because the majority of fragile states are regional members of the Bank.
How is the Fragile States Unit partnering with other institutions?
The Bank has established effective partnerships at country and global levels with international organizations and aid agencies working in the sector. In some countries like Sierra Leone, Liberia or the Central African Republic, we are implementing joint country strategies with our sister institution, the World Bank. At the global level, we work with the OECD's International Network of Conflict and Fragility (INCAF) to develop policy guidelines aimed at helping improve donor response to conflict and fragility. Also, the Bank is a member of the International Dialogue on Peace-building and state-building and of the Multilateral Development Banks' Working Group on Fragility and Conflict.
What is the way forward for the AfDB in dealing with fragile states?
Looking forward, the Bank will continue to deepen its engagement in countries, fine-tuning its approach based on lessons learnt so far. As Bank president, Donald Kaberuka, said at the February 2010 African Development Fund - 12 (ADF-XII) replenishment consultations in Cape Town, South Africa, "The Bank will continue to support these countries in rebuilding fractured institutions, infrastructure rehabilitation, capacity, and arrears clearance".
Contacts
Sanogo Bakary
