Fragile & Post-conflict States

The World Bank estimates that fragile states contain 14% of the world’s population, and up to 33% of the world’s poorest people (living on less than $1 per day).  The resultant developmental and security challenges are amongst the most complex faced by the international community.

 

PORTFOLIO TEAM MEMBERS

 

 

Our Approach

theIDLgroup believes that effective strategies to aid post-conflict reconstruction and promote effective and responsive governance should be informed by detailed understandings of the historical, social, political and economic ‘drivers’ of conflict and state fragility.

The Way We Work

Our team of country and regional advisors draws on a range of disciplines, including sociology, politics, anthropology, conflict analysis, peace-building and community development. With a strong emphasis on social research and political analysis, we provide guidance to a range of agencies working in ‘fragile’ and post-conflict states. Our objective is to inform policy dialogue and ensure the design and implementation of post-conflict reconstruction programs that support socio-economic transition from war to sustainable development. Whilst we work with all stakeholders at all levels, we strive to ensure that our interpretations and analysis are grounded by the perceptions of ‘grass-roots’ informants, including marginal groups, ‘traditional’ authorities, civil society representatives and former combatants. We use social assessment tools to analyze the underlying drivers of conflict and translate our research into policy and project design. We have a specific interest in using community-driven development approaches to promote more inclusive notions of community and social cohesion in post-war rebuilding processes.

Our Clients

Our clients include international development agencies, UN agencies, developing country governments, local and international NGOs.  We also work for corporations and trade associations in the mining, extractive and other industries, who need long-term strategies for their engagements with communities and governments in fragile states.

 

Core Competencies

Our core competencies include socio-political analysis; policy advice to governments and aid agencies on interventions in conflict affected areas; research and analysis on the underlying causes of conflict, including trans-boundary and regional effects, conflict mapping and assessments; donor coordination and harmonisation in conflict-affected environments; transparency and accountability mechanisms in fragile states; strategies for conflict resources in “resource-curse” environments.

examples of OUR work in Fragile and Post-Conflict states include:

• Country governance assessments and drivers of change studies in Pakistan and Sierra Leone
• Review of citizen-government engagement, and support to increasing accountability in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia and Kosovo
• Rapid Social Assessments in conflict zones: Liberia, Sierra Leone and Cote D’Ivoire
• Providing information to stakeholders and advisory support to the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade initiative in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands
• Design of Community-Driven  Development programmes in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Angola, South Sudan
• Comparative Review of System-Wide Funding Instruments for Peacebuilding and Post-Conflict Recovery 
• Working with the Somalia Secretariat and international community to improve the coordination and harmonisation of donor engagement in Somalia
• Review of the applicability of the Paris Declaration principles in fragile and conflict-affected states
• Provision of interim advisors to aid agencies, including: the design of Disarmament, Demobilisation and Rehabilitation in Rwanda and DRC; design of DFID’s engagements in Rwanda and Sudan (DFID Africa Great Lakes & Horn Dept); post-conflict programmes in Sierra Leone (Interim NR Adviser, DFID West Africa Department); design of Rights-Based Food Security Programmes (Angola); illegal timber and forest governance in Cameroon, Ghana, Liberia (DFID Africa Equatorial Dept).

For more information on the Portfolio's work please see our Publications Page.