Aid Effectiveness in Fragile States
What is meant by the term “a fragile state”?
‘Fragile states’ is one of many terms that have been used to describe states that are weak in their institutional capacity, control of territory and ability or willingness to provide services to their people.
There is no clear consensus on which is the most appropriate term to use to categorise this wide range of states1, although most multilateral and bilateral donors (and the DAC) have tended to use the term ‘fragile states’. There is now an increasing use of the term “fragile states and situations”. In addition to the usual sensitivities in applying any negatively perceived label to a state, the term has been criticised for not differentiating between the different causes and unique problems of individual states (eg those emerging as democracies c/f those emerging from conflict). The term ‘fragile states’ is often confusingly applied to countries that are not weak or fragile in terms of capacity, but are unresponsive to their citizens and to international pressure for policy reform.
1Other terms that have been/continue to be used include “difficult partnerships”, “poor performers”, “LICUS (Low Income Countries Under Stress)”, “Failed / failing states”, “Weak states” , neopatrimonial states, collapsed state.