World Bank Group assistance to low-income fragile and conflict-affected states : an independent evaluation ; main report

The World Bank Group has identified support to fragile and conflict-affected states (FCS) as a strategic priority, critical to achieving its mission of poverty alleviation and shared prosperity. This review of International Development Association (IDA) countries establishes that the World Bank's portfolio performance in low-income FCS has improved since 2001 compared to low-income countries that are not fragile. It also ascertains that country assistance strategies have lacked tailoring to fragility and conflict drivers and realism and do not currently have contingencies based on political economy and conflict risks to adjust objectives and results if risks materialize, and that the Bank has been relatively effective in mainstreaming gender within the health and education and community-driven development portfolios, but has paid insufficient attention to conflict-related violence against women and economic empowerment of women in low-income fragile and conflict affected states. Other significant observations include the usefulness of community-driven development for short-term assistance to local communities in fragile and conflict-affected states, and that the global shift in aid flows toward fragile states has not been matched by IDA, and fragile and conflict-affected states receive less aid per capita from IDA than do other low-income countries.