Fragile Aid : Development Cooperation in Weak States and Conflict Contexts

Abstract

An important question for the future of aid concerns its role in fragile states and conflict-affected areas. While considerable research points to a record of effectiveness that is mixed at best in these contexts, the imperative of external support for development and humanitarian needs persists. Bringing together findings from a diverse set of expert analyses, this volume sheds new light on the record of aid under fragility and spotlights two key implications for research and practice going forward. First, more systematic unpacking of the considerable diversity that exists across fragile contexts is needed to better understand past experience and its lessons for future practice. Second, the foreign aid effectiveness principles provide important insight into how aid can be improved, but there are fundamental challenges to their application in fragile contexts.