The International Monetary Fund is preparing a Strategy to strengthen its engagement with fragile and conflict-affected states (FCS). Building on the Fund’s long-standing experience in FCS, the Strategy will further articulate the IMF’s role in helping countries to exit from fragility. It will also identify and propose specific measures to enhance the impact of the Fund’s engagement over the next three years. The Strategy is expected to strengthen the IMF’s ability to support FCS in correcting balance of payments, promoting macroeconomic stability, and building institutions to deliver good policies for sustainable and inclusive economic growth. The Strategy also seeks to complement efforts by other actors and organizations supporting FCS, focusing on the IMF’s comparative advantage. The FCS Strategy will be submitted for consideration and approval to the IMF’s Executive Board in December 2021.
Learn more about the IMF’s FCS Strategy: Download the Concept Note
The IMF values stakeholder engagement to shape its policies and programs. The draft Concept Note on this website outlines the rationale, vision, objectives, and initial proposals under consideration. The views are based on the following key questions, in addition to other comments and recommendations which may contribute to the FCS Strategy’s development:
Share Your Views Below
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What are your views on the envisaged IMF FCS Strategy?
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Which specific areas do you see for the IMF to further enhance its effectiveness to support FCS in achieving macroeconomic stability to help them exit from fragility?
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Given the mandates, core competencies, and comparative advantages of various actors and organizations involved in FCS, what are the main topics, areas, and modes of cooperation you foresee?
Read the summary of the CSO views:
CSO Comments on concept Note of the IMF Strategy for Fragile and Conflict-Affected States:
The following summary provides an overview of the feedback received by CSOs via an open online consultation and follow-up meetings on the Concept Note of the IMF FCS Strategy. In general, the external consultations took place from 30 July to 30 September 2021. The IMF has received feedback from over 55 organizations including the World Bank, regional development banks, the United Nations system, civil society organizations (CSOs), think tanks, and academia.
More details on feedback received by CSOs and other partners can be found in Annex 1 in the IMF FCS Strategy.
Key aspects of CSOs feedback on the FCS Strategy Concept Note:
- Overall, CSOs welcomed the IMF’s efforts to enhance its work on Fragile and Conflict-Affected States. They recognized the Fund’s willingness to scale up its engagement in FCS while acknowledging the limitations due to the Fund’s mandate.
- Building on lessons learned: CSOs emphasized the importance of building on lessons learned of past FCS engagement in FCS, its successes and shortcomings, as part of an effort to strengthen the comprehensive knowledge of past challenges in FCS.
- Tailoring of IMF engagement to FCS fragility and conflict context: CSOs stressed the need for sufficient tailoring in Fund engagements to reflect a broader spectrum of challenges that FCS face, and that addresses the root causes of fragility and conflict, including governance and corruption, inequality, climate change, and inclusion, particularly of youth and women. For example, some comments mentioned that such analysis of drivers of fragility should be incorporated when adapting the institutions financial toolkit and programs through country specific conditionalities and benchmarks.
- Increase the Fund’s footprint in FCS: The majority of CSOs highlighted that the IMF presence in FCS countries is inadequate and called for the IMF to incentivize for sufficiently qualified staff and local experts to be on the ground.
- Strengthen partnership: To avoid working in siloes and benefit from one another’s expertise and knowledge, CSOs emphasized the need for partnership and coordination with UN and donor agencies, the private sector, and CSOs operating in the field.
- Political economy context: CSOs wanted to see more IMF sensitivity to the risk of authorities perpetuating underlying fragilities, as well as implications of IMF engagement in FCS in the context of volatile political economies
- Increase FCS context-specific flexibility: CSOs emphasized that the heterogenous nature of FCS requires flexibility and agility in IMF’s engagement. Flexibility is required to address immediate and short-term needs while being embedded in a long-term approach.
- Invest in rebuilding social contract: CSOs stressed the critical role they can play in rebuilding trust, confidence and partnerships with local communities, for example when reestablishing Fund engagement particularly when countries emerge from conflict.
- Strengthen efforts on conflict-prevention: Several CSOs suggested that the IMF should adopt conflict prevention policies to address key drivers of fragility that can risk tipping a country into conflict.
- Enhance conflict-sensitivity: The challenges the Fund can face in navigating political dynamics in FCS was raised by most CSOs. They recommended for the IMF to work with counterparts beyond technical teams including government and non-government agencies. For example, capacity development efforts in post-conflict situations may need to reflect the level of volatility in their monitoring and evaluation approaches.
