At the Fourth High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan, a number of countries and international organisations endorsed an agreement on a new global direction for engagement with fragile states. More than 1.5 billion people live in fragile and conflict-affected countries. Caught in cycles of poverty and violence, few of these countries will achieve a single Millennium Development Goal by 2015. The New Deal for Engagement in Fragile States sets out five goals — legitimate politics, justice, security, economic foundations and revenues and services — to give clarity on the priorities in fragile states.

The facts

• 1.5 billion people live in conflict-affected and fragile states.
• About 70% of fragile states have seen conflict since 1989.
• Basic governance transformations may take 20-40 years.
• 30% of Official Development Assistance (ODA) is spent in fragile and conflict-affected contexts.
• These countries are furthest away from achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The current ways of working in fragile states need serious improvement. Despite the significant investment and the commitments of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness (2005) and the Accra Agenda for Action (2008), results and value for money have been modest. Transitioning out of fragility is long, political work that requires country leadership and ownership. Processes of political dialogue have often failed due to lack of trust, inclusiveness, and leadership. International partners can often bypass national interests and actors, providing aid in overly technocratic ways that underestimate the importance of harmonising with the national and local context, and support short-term results at the expense of medium- to long-term sustainable results brought about by building capacity and systems. A New Deal for engagement in fragile states is necessary.

The vision

We, the members of the International Dialogue on Peacebuilding and Statebuilding (“the Dialogue”), comprised of the g7+ group of 19 fragile and conflict-affected countries, development partners, and international organisations, believe that a new development architecture and new ways of working, better tailored to the situation and challenges of fragile contexts, are necessary to build peaceful states and societies. These are presented in the New Deal for Engagement in Fragile States (the “New Deal”).

The “New Deal”, which builds on the vision and principles articulated from the Millennium Declaration to the Monrovia Roadmap, proposes key peacebuilding and statebuilding goals, focuses on new ways of engaging, and identifies commitments to build mutual trust and achieve better results in fragile states.

We recognise that the success of our combined effort depends on the leadership and commitment of the g7+ group of fragile states supported by international actors. We also recognise that constructive state-society relations, and the empowerment of women, youth and marginalised groups, as key actors for peace, are at the heart of successful peacebuilding and statebuilding. They are essential to deliver the “New Deal”.

The New Deal

We, the members of “the Dialogue”, endorse the “New Deal” and commit to undertake the necessary actions and reforms to implement it.

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