Policy Papers

The international community has stepped up efforts to devise a broad and coordinated approach to engaging more effectively with fragile states, whose economic and social performance is substantially impaired by their weak governance, limited administrative capacity, persistent social tensions, and a tendency to conflict and political instability. Such states increasingly lag behind other low-income countries (LICs) in terms of growth and development, and are at risk of falling into a poverty trap. They are also least likely to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and often receive less aid than warranted by macroeconomic and social needs.