The World Bank is committed to fostering increased coherence in its work with international partners and national stakeholders to meet the special challenges of fragile and conflict affected states, and seeks to support this effort with updated policies, more intensive strategic dialogue, and strengthened institutional structures.
 At the Annual meetings of the World Bank and IMF in October 2007, the Head's of the Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) and the IMF, issued a statement on deepening their collaboration in fragile situations. The statement drew on the recommendations of the Working Group of the MDBs plus the IMF, set up in March 2007, whose final report presented an agreed set of goals, principles, operational approaches, and working arrangements for strengthening their engagement in fragile and conflict situations.
Development Banks Commit to Closer Collaboration Working in Fragile Situations
Report of the MDB Working Group: Toward a More Harmonized Approach to MDB Engagement in Fragile Situations
An Independent Evaluation of the Post-Conflict Fund covering the period FY03-FY06 was conducted by the consulting firm Crown Agents. The evaluation concluded that “the PCF is highly relevant to the Bank’s efforts in conflict affected countries, offering country teams an option of speed of action and a greater degree of flexibility not available from other instruments.” It also rated 85% of the projects reviewed as either highly satisfactory or satisfactory in achieving their outcomes. The PCF Secretariat prepared a Response to the evaluation, highlighting areas of agreement and disagreement with the findings and recommendations, and outlining steps it plans to take as follow-up.
On July 1, 2007, the Fragile States team in the Operations Policy and Country Services Vice-Presidency was joined by staff from the Conflict Prevention and Reconstruction Unit, formerly located in the Sustainable Development Network. The merger of the two teams creates the Fragile and Conflict-Affected Countries Group, responsible for the development and implementation of the joint agenda on conflict and fragility across the Bank and for promoting the overall effectiveness of the World Bank’s response to fragile and conflict-affected countries. New Unit will serve as the corporate focal point for external partners on matters related to fragility and conflict, while the other Networks and Regions will be supporting the agenda through dedicated work programs in their specialized areas. In line with this organizational restructuring, responsibility for the LICUS Trust Fund and Post-Conflict Trust Fund is now centered in the new Unit.
Over the past decade the World Bank has increased its focus on supporting country development in low- and middle-income countries affected by either conflict or/and fragility, recognizing that the special circumstances of these states and situations call for a strategic approach that is “not business as usual”.
Fragile states are not always conflict-affected and conflict-affected countries are not necessarily hampered by fragile institutions – but there are important commonalities, as many fragile states are affected by conflict and many conflict-affected countries are plagued by weak institutions and low capacity. From an operational perspective it is therefore most valuable to approach the two agendas in an integrated and coherent manner, which is best served by combining the perspectives of the World Bank’s historical work on both fragile and conflict-affected countries, pooling institutional learning on conflict prevention and reconstruction to enhance and inform the links between the peace building, state building and governance agendas. The teams working on fragile and post-conflict situations within the World Bank, at the corporate, sector and regional/country levels, are working to assist and guide countries experiencing fragility and conflict risks.
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