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S t r a t e g i e S 1 5 3

Development-Oriented Transformationin Conditions of Fragile Statehoodand poor Government Performance

� De velopment-orienteD transformation in conDitions of fragile statehooDanD poor government performance

Content

1. Fragile Statehood and Poor Government Performance: a Challenge for Development Policy 9

2. Area of Application of the Strategy and Context 11

2.1 international and strategic context 112.2 Definitions 122.3 objective and area of application of the strategy 152.4 principles 16

3. Strategies for Action in Different Situations 19

3.1 low governance levels 213.1.1 conduct in situations where government performance is Development-

oriented and shows a positive trend: support the positive efforts of governments 21

3.1.2 conduct in situations where government Development orientation is low: encourage changes in the conduct of governments, strengthen the forces of reform and promote Basic social services 22

3.1.3 conduct in situations of continuously Deteriorating government performance, with no Development orientation: protect indigent and vulnerable sections of the population, promote self-help and meet the international responsibility to protect 24

3.2 conduct in situations of medium to high levels of governance: choose prevention-oriented action and counteract the Deterioration of government performance 243.3 conduct in an environment of international peace missions: promote peace-Building and the non-violent management of conflicts 25

4. Strategic Cooperation with Multilateral Organisations, Regional Initiatives and Other Policy Fields 27

5. Fields of Action and Approaches to Assistance 30

5.1 social inclusion through Democratic participation of the population and a responsible role of national parliaments 305.2 non-violent management of Diverging interests and conflicts in a rule-of-law framework 31

�De velopment-orienteD transformation in conDitions of fragile statehooDanD poor government performance

5.3 public safety through civilian control of the security sector 325.4 making public administration responsive to citizens’ needs through transparency, effectiveness and accountability 335.5 meeting the population’s Basic needs through Delivery of mDg-oriented, non-Discriminatory Basic social services 345.6 pro-poor growth and combating illegal economic activities through reliable frameworks 35

6. Impact Assessment and Performance Monitoring 37

7. Outlook 38

Abbreviations and Acronyms 39

Further Reading 41


Summary

the Strategy “Development-oriented transforma-

tion in conditions of fragile statehood and poor

government performance” sets out a framework

of action for German development coopera-

tion with partner countries characterised by dif-

ficult situations in that regard. the Strategy is also

intended as a guide for germany’s development

policy engagement in multilateral organisations,

especially the United Nations, the eU Commis-

sion and the multilateral development banks.

Development policy strategies and instruments

should be applied so as to help foster develop-

ment-oriented transformation processes, thus

reducing the causes of fragile statehood and poor

government performance and strengthening the

capacity for non-violent social change.

in the Paris Declaration (OeCD/DaC 2005) donors

set themselves the target of building or strength-

ening legitimate social institutions in fragile

countries and countering state failure and state

collapse. this requires long-term, prevention-

oriented engagement. Development-oriented

transformation processes are complex and are

moulded primarily by the political and social

forces in the partner countries. if development

cooperation is to become more effective, including

in difficult settings, its strategies must be adapted

to the particular conditions in these countries.

in common with the international donor com-

munity, german development policy is facing the

enormous challenge of maintaining or resuming

at an early date cooperation with these countries

using suitable strategies and instruments. in the

process, development cooperation may come up

against conflicting targets. these must be tackled

transparently and on the basis of clear criteria. in

the design of development cooperation and the

policy dialogue, special attention should be paid

to the following aspects:

l the living conditions of poor and disad-

vantaged sections of the population and

the human rights situation improve, or

at least do not get any worse;

l poor government performance

is not legitimised and stabilised

through the instrumentalisation of

financial resources and cooperation

interventions;

l a contribution is made to political

transformation;

l the ‘ownership’ of state actors, the pri-

vate sector and civil society in partner

countries is strengthened.

the more legitimate the state actors and the more

stable the institutions, the sooner the entire set of

development policy instruments and correspond-

ing incentive systems will take effect. the larger

the loss of actors’ legitimacy and the more instable

the situation at the outset, the more development

policy must rely on special political steering and

the more flexibly instruments must be applied.

the Strategy therefore assumes a number of

different situations requiring different action

strategies. it contains criteria for selecting action

strategies, approaches and instruments, and for

monitoring and evaluating the results.

at the centre are development policy strategies in

countries with a low level of governance which

differ in respect to the trend in government devel-

opment orientation:

l Conduct in situations where government

performance is development-oriented

and shows a positive trend: support the

positive efforts of governments.


if governments exhibit the earnest will

to implement reforms and engage in

dialogue (including governments in post-

conflict countries), the aim should be to

strengthen the functionality and effective-

ness of state institutions (building policy-

making and administrative capacities), to

mainstream reform processes in society

and, where possible, to integrate forces

opposed to change. in principle, any of the

instruments of development cooperation

can be applied. Bilateral and multilateral

instruments strengthen a government’s

reform course, cooperation with non-

governmental organisations helps with

mainstreaming in society.


development orientation is low: encour-

age changes in the conduct of govern-

ments, strengthen the forces of reform

and promote basic social services.

if government performance is scarcely

improving and governments are doing

little to raise the level of governance and

exhibiting little serious desire to imple-

ment reforms or engage in dialogue, the

scope for cooperation with state actors

is limited. Bilateral and multilateral

cooperation should concentrate on the

delivery of basic social services for poor

and disadvantaged sections of the popula-

tion and on strengthening the forces of

reform wherever and whenever possible.

an involvement in the health, water and

education sectors is frequently accepted

by state actors. all interventions must be

designed according to human rights prin-

ciples. at the same time, negative incen-

tives that have the effect of stabilising the

existing balance of power must be avoided

and the policy dialogue must be used to

push for changes in governments’ conduct.

Promoting civil society and engagement at

regional and local levels can help societies

to change ‘from the inside’. thus, in these

countries too, it is possible to engage with

positive trends and reinforce developments

for the better.

l Conduct in situations of continuously

deteriorating government perform-

ance, with no development orientation:

protect indigent and vulnerable sections

of the population, promote self-help and

meet the international responsibility to

protect.

When governments are not willing to

engage in dialogue and the threat of state

failure and state erosion is growing, there

is generally no alternative to bypassing

state structures to implement projects. the

primary objective of cooperation is to reach

indigent and at-risk sectors of the popula-

tion through grassroots non-governmental

organisations and church aid organisations

and to deliver basic supplies and services

directly. in many cases, it is necessary

to provide humanitarian aid, ensure

adequate nourishment of the population

and provide minimum social services and

infrastructure under development-ori-

ented emergency and transitional aid, and

to protect the population against violence.

the scope for promoting policy change

through civil society organisations is also

severely restricted. in such cases it is for the

international community, acting through

the United Nations, to assume responsibil-

ity through humanitarian, diplomatic and

other peaceful means. this may include,

over and above the partnership-based

instruments of development policy, inter-

national supervision and control of states

through, for example, election monitoring,

sanctions or arms inspections.


When at medium to high levels of governance,

government performance begins to deterio-

rate, preventive action should be taken.

if government performance is deteriorating in

partner countries and the level of governance

looks likely to drop, an early attempt should be

made, focused on prevention, to agree ‘mile-

stones’ to stabilisation with the government.

Where appropriate and wherever possible in con-

cert with other donors, conditionality of pay-

ments should be considered (qualified policy dia-

logue) to send out a signal, create incentives and

encourage the partner government to do more

towards discharging its responsibilities. in addi-

tion, cooperation can be limited to areas in which

direct positive impacts can be achieved for the

population. Continued support for development-

and reform-oriented forces in government and

society is both desirable and necessary.

Development cooperation in a peace mission

environment aims to foster peace and pro-

mote non-violent conflict management. the

success of international peace missions depends

above all on a comprehensive strategy for peace

and development and on sufficient development-

policy resources to rebuild state, society and the

economy. On the one hand, the aim should be to

bring about rapid improvements in living condi-

tions and state functions that are tangible for the

population and effective in the short term; and on

the other hand, the structural causes of the prob-

lems and conflicts must be tackled with an eye to

the long term. the BMZ “Sector strategy for crisis

prevention, conflict transformation and peace-

building in german development cooperation” is

applicable to the design of development coopera-

tion in post-conflict situations in which military

stabilisation missions are typically deployed.

Governance Level

countries with a high governance level

prevention-oriented action

countries with a medium governance level


countries with a low governance level

protect indigent and vulnerable sections of the population, promote self-help and meet the international responsibility to protect Trend in the

development orientation of governments

Deterioration (-) constant (0)

encourage changes in the conduct of governments,strengthen the forces of reform and promote basic social services

improvement (+)

support positive government efforts


in the case of post-conflict stabilisation missions,

opportunities usually exist for development

cooperation and the military to work together.

During the term of an international peace mis-

sion, government may be development-oriented,

there may be little or no development orientation

or government performance may deteriorate

(further). For that reason, the options for action

set out in the present Strategy apply also to devel-

opment cooperation in a peace mission environ-

ment. Special importance attaches to support for

security sector reforms and successful peace and

reconciliation processes.

With its broad range of instruments for partner-

ship-based cooperation, development policy

can make important contributions to preventing

and overcoming fragile statehood and poor gov-

ernment performance. But sustained impacts can

only be achieved in strategic cooperation with

multilateral organisations and regional initia-

tives. this requires strong multilateral engage-

ment and active inputs into relevant initiatives

and instruments. Multilateral organisations, the

eU Commission and bilateral donors must bring

to bear their comparative strengths, ensure close

coordination and make use of innovative instru-

ments. By virtue of its mandate as a neutral and

universal organisation, the United Nations has

special importance in this respect and bears spe-

cial responsibility. as a shareholder or contribu-

tor, germany should assert its influence in mul-

tilateral organisations more and in accordance

with the principles and action strategies set out in

this Strategy.

Where the situation is difficult it is particularly

important that there should be coherent inter-

action between foreign, security and develop-

ment policy as well as other policy fields. incen-

tive systems and sanctions cannot be limited to

development policy. any engagement in condi-

tions of fragile statehood and poor government

performance must take account of the correla-

tions and mutual interests that exist between

donor countries’ foreign, security and develop-

ment policies. the precondition for any successful

approach is that all the affected policy areas must

be involved from the outset, on an equal footing,

in the process of analysis, strategy development

and instrument weighting.

the choice of fields of action, partners, target

groups and instruments should be considered

carefully for each partner country. in a context

of fragile statehood and poor government per-

formance, however, particular attention should

be paid to the following fields of action and cor-

responding approaches to assistance:

l Social inclusion through democratic

participation and responsible role of

national parliaments;

l Non-violent management of clashes of

interest and conflicts in a rule-of-law

framework;

l Public safety through civilian control of

the security sector;

l Responsiveness to citizens' needs by

public administrations based on trans-

parency, efficiency and accountability;

l Meeting people’s basic needs through

MDG-oriented, non-discriminatory deliv-

ery of basic social services;

l Broad-based growth and action to com-

bat illegal economic activities through

reliable frameworks.

all forms of cooperation must be strategically

oriented and focus on social and institutional

change. Development processes in difficult

partner countries must be monitored very closely

and development cooperation must be steered

accordingly. Sustained impacts can often only

be achieved in the long term. Yet rapid impact


measures are essential to bring about stabilisa-

tion. targets must therefore be realistic and have

different time horizons.

the responsibility for overcoming fragile state-

hood and poor government performance must be

borne by the international community as a whole

and by all policy areas. at the same time, global

frameworks must be promoted that reduce the

risks and burdens for weak states and facilitate

development-oriented transformation processes.


1. Fragile Statehood and Poor government Performance: a Challenge for Development Policy

Fragile statehood and poor government perfor-

mance have moved to the top of the international

agenda. in OeCD circles it is agreed that more

must be done by way of preventive action to

tackle fragile statehood and poor government

performance and to support development-ori-

ented transformation. More than 50 countries

are currently characterised by fragile statehood

and poor government performance,�

� this information derives from three international indexes: the low-income countries under stress (licUs) – divided into “severe”

and “core” countries – encompass 26 states with a total population of about 450 million, corresponding to about 7% of the world’s popula-tion. in 2006 the World Bank classified these 26 countries as fragile on the basis of its country policy and institutional assessment (cpia) tool.

the cpia takes account of the following indicators: economic manage-ment, structural policies, policies for social inclusion, and public sector management and institutions. the foreign policy magazine and the fund for peace, in their 2006 failed states index, place 28 states, with an aggregate population of about one billion people, in the most criti-cal ‘alert’ category, taking social, economic and political indicators into consideration. this corresponds to about �6% of the global popula-tion. the World Bank’s governance indicators, ‘governance matters’, contain 48 states altogether, with a total population of about �.�. bil-lion people, in the bottom quarter of the ranking. this corresponds to about �7% of the world’s population. on the basis of the values recorded, fragile statehood can be assumed for these countries, even though the World Bank itself does not designate this group as such. governance matters takes account of the following indicators: voice and accountability, political stability/no violence, government effec-tiveness, regulatory quality, rule of law and control of corruption. the countries are ranked on a purely numerical basis (0-�0, �0-25, 25-50, 50-75, 75-90, 90-�00%). there is no further qualification.

affecting

more than 20 per cent of the global population,

i.e. about 1.2 billion people. Far-reaching policy

changes and reform processes are necessary in

these countries if the Millennium Development

goals are to be achieved. Most of these countries

are among the poorest of the poor, many of them

are in a post-conflict phase. in others, though

violent conflict has not actually broken out, politi-

cal instability is a heavy burden on state, society

and economic life. these states are often ruled by

authoritarian regimes.

Poor and disadvantaged sectors of the popula-

tion, more than any others, are directly affected

by the consequences of weak and inefficient

state institutions, poor government performance

or the threat of state failure. their political,

economic, social and cultural human rights are

violated in many different ways. inadequate basic

social services, or the complete absence thereof,

and a lack of infrastructure hit these people the

hardest, and that means social exclusion and

marginalisation. in many cases, public safety is

threatened, petty crime and violent crime are

rife, further restricting people’s freedom of move-

ment, their opportunities for earning a living and

for participation. Women, children and young

people, and ethnic and religious minorities,

aged and handicaped people, and indigenous

groups in particular are in an extremely vulner-

able position if human security is jeopardised.2

2 the concept of “human security” was first used by UnDp in �994. it was used to mean: “security from the threat of disease, hunger, unem-ployment, crime, social conflict, political repression and environmen-tal hazards”. human Development report �994: new dimensions of human security. http//hdr.undp.org/reports/global/�994/en/

in many cases, social exclusion leads to growing

tensions and to a further loss of state legitimacy.

http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/1994/en/

10 De velopment-orienteD transformation in conDitions of fragile statehooDanD poor government performance

Under such circumstances it is very difficult to

build national consensus and in many cases it

is no longer possible to prevent an escalation of

violence. Moreover, people have no confidence

in state institutions, which fail to serve their

needs and which do not (cannot) protect them

either within national borders or against external

threats. What is more, these people have hardly

any means of obtaining justice, because there

is no functioning system of justice accessible to

them or because they are unaware of their rights.

in many cases, state actors themselves are the

perpetrators of civil and political rights abuses.

States in which violent conflicts have taken place

in the past may see a recurrence as happens in

about one half of post-conflict countries. Further-

more, fragile statehood and poor government

performance can have a destabilising effect on

neighbouring regions and give rise to threats on

a global scale, including the spread of human

rights abuses and conflicts, flight and migration,

destruction of natural resources, weakening of

regional economies and a growth in the power of

the perpetrators of violence and their integration

into transnational criminal economies (shadow

globalisation). the existence of transnational

criminal economies and their links to the state

sector undermine development-oriented govern-

ment, as well as posing security risks.

after the end of the east-West conflict, the

international donor community concentrated

on better governed countries and corresponding

post-conflict countries, in order to support their

reform efforts and to render development coop-

eration more effective. in some cases poor gov-

ernment performance was met with withdrawal

and sanctions. in the meantime, experience has

shown that withdrawal and sanctions are not

the solution and make sense only in exceptional

situations. Moreover, the developments of recent

decades have taught us that the cost of preventive

engagement is lower by far than the costs that

ensue after the failure of a state (cost of neglect).

the appeal “stay engaged but differently”

marks a paradigm change in OeCD circles. in the

Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness (March

2005), all the main bilateral and multilateral

donors reaffirmed their determination to engage

more strongly in fragile states. Building and/or

strengthening legitimate institutions in state and

civil society was declared the prime objective of

cooperation with fragile states (state building).

Suitable development-policy strategies and

instruments are to be used to help shape transfor-

mation processes. in the interests of prevention,

cooperation is to be maintained – or (re-)com-

menced at the earliest possible date – even in dif-

ficult circumstances. this challenge also brings

risks. Development policy interventions will not

always bring the desired results. these risks are

however, justifiable on humanitarian, develop-

ment-policy and security-policy grounds. More-

over, the imperative of prevention requires that

development cooperation, i.e. partnership-

based cooperation, must have primacy when it

comes to stabilising and legitimating, reforming

and rebuilding state and society. But, the more

difficult the environment becomes, the more

development policy has to rely on coherent inter-

action with other policy fields – from the inter-

national supervision and control of states (e.g.

by means of election monitoring, sanctions or

arms inspections)3

3 Under the terms of chapter vii of the charter of the United nations.

through to the partial or com-

plete assumption of sovereign control (e.g. a

civilian international transitional administration

combined with a military security component).

11De velopment-orienteD transformation in conDitions of fragile statehooDanD poor government performance

2. area of application of the Strategy and Context

2.1 International and Strategic Context

the Strategy ties in with international and euro-

pean processes and initiatives, programmatic

decisions of the german government and BMZ

strategies and position papers. in the Millennium

Declaration (2000), the member states of the

United Nations emphatically pledged to promote

democracy and strengthen the rule of law and

to respect all internationally recognised human

rights and fundamental freedoms, including the

right to development.4

4 United nations millennium Declaration adopted by the United nations general assembly at the millennium summit in new York (6-8 septem- ber 2000). section v. human rights, Democracy and good governance.

the outcome document

of the 2005 World Summit reaffirmed this and

made clear that the governments concerned,

as well as the international community, have

responsibility for sustainable development and

for protecting the population.

With the european strategy paper “The Euro-

pean Consensus on Development” (2005),5

5 Joint statement by the council and the representatives of governments of the member states meeting within the council, the european parlia-ment and the commission. �4820/05, Dg e ii. Url: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/lexUriserv/site/en/oj/2006/c_046/c_04620060224en000�00�9.pdf or official Journal of the eU: c 46/0� vom 24.02.2006

the

eU pledges to make its strategic engagement

with fragile states more effective and to do more

to promote governance reforms as a response to

state fragility. the European Security Strategy,

“A Secure Europe in a Better World”, (2003)6

6 european Union: a secure europe in a Better World. european security strategy. 2003. Url: http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cmsUp-load/78367.pdf

states that the best protection for our security

is a world of well-governed democratic states:

“Spreading good governance, supporting social

and political reform, dealing with corruption and

abuse of power, establishing the rule of law and

protecting human rights are the best means of

strengthening the international order.“

the OeCD’s Development assistance Committee

(DaC) is attaching increasing importance to the

problems of fragile states. the conceptual work

is coordinated by the Fragile States group (FSg).

the focus is currently on the Policy Commit-

ment and Principles for Good International

Engagement in Fragile States and Situations,

which flesh out the declarations on fragile states

contained in the Paris Declaration.7

7 cf. chapter entitled “Delivering effective aid in fragile states”, paras. 37-39.

German development policy pursues four

aims: reducing poverty, building peace and

democracy, achieving justice in globalisation and

protecting the environment. in the context of

german development policy, the Strategy builds

in many respects on the german government’s

Programme of Action 2015 towards halving

extreme poverty worldwide and the german

government’s Action Plan for Civilian Crisis

Prevention, Conflict Resolution and Post-Con-

flict Peace-Building. the Programme of action

2015 identifies human rights and governance

issues, among others, as priority areas for action

to eradicate poverty. the Action Plan for Civilian

Crisis Prevention departs from the assumption

that an efficient and effective german contribu-

tion to crisis prevention should be made within

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/site/en/oj/2006/c_046/c_04620060224en00010019.pdf

http://ec.europa.eu/development/body/publications/docs/consensus_en_total.pdf

1� De velopment-orienteD transformation in conDitions of fragile statehooDanD poor government performance

a holistic, comprehensive and coherent strategy.

Sustainable stabilisation and development

require the dovetailing of all relevant policy

fields. the creation of reliable state structures in

the fields of the rule of law, democracy, human

rights, security and strengthening civil society is

highlighted as a strategic entry point for tackling

crisis prevention.

the following BMZ strategies in particular are

of continuing importance for cooperation with

fragile and poorly governed states:8

8 cf. also concept for the promotion of equal participation by Women and men in the Development process (200�);

position paper: combating corruption in german Development coop-eration (2002);

position paper: good governance in german Development coopera-tion (2002);

position paper: promoting Democracy in german Development policy (2005);

strategy: Development cooperation with indigenous peoples in latin america and the caribbean (2006).

l the BMZ Sector Strategy for Crisis Pre-

vention, Conflict Transformation and

Peace-Building in German Development

Cooperation9

9 BmZ: sector strategy for crisis prevention, conflict transformation and peace-Building in german Development cooperation. 2005. Url: http://www.bmz.de/en/service/infothek/fach/konzepte/ konzept�32.pdf

contributes to implementa-

tion of the action Plan and provides the

framework of action for governmental

development cooperation in conflict and

post-conflict countries;

l the BMZ Strategy on Development-Ori-

ented Emergency and Transitional Aid�0

�0 BmZ: Development-oriented emergency and transitional aid (2005). Url: http://www.bmz.de/en/service/infothek/fach/konzepte/konz-ept�38.pdf

is about delivering direct assistance to the

population in the form of rapid, flexible

and visible measures and strengthening

self-help capacities;

l the Development Policy Action Plan on

Human Rights��

�� BmZ: Development policy action plan on human rights (2004). Url: http://www.bmz.de/en/service/infothek/fach/konzepte/ konzept�28engl.pdf

aims to step up the promo-

tion of human rights through development

cooperation and mainstreaming the

human rights approach.

2.2 Definitions

the BMZ is guided by a vision of globally sustain-

able development based on economic efficiency,

political stability, social justice and ecological

viability. Sustainable development is founded on

the realisation of all human rights. the Strategy

departs from the vision of a state which fulfils

its human rights obligations and ratifies and

respects international human rights conven-

tions.�2

�2 in the international system, states not only enjoy rights, they also have duties and obligations in respect of the transposition of internation-ally agreed rules and standards and their conduct in the international community of states.

Since the state must fulfil its obligations

at three levels of responsibility, we speak of the

‘triad of obligations’ – to respect, to protect and

to fulfil human rights:

l To respect human rights means to refrain

from all action that violates human rights;

l To protect human rights means to pre-

vent the abuse of rights by the state and by

third parties;

l to fulfil human rights means to take all

measures necessary to assert those rights.

the prerequisite is a state which, within

accepted borders, enforces its legitimate

http://www.bmz.de/en/service/infothek/fach/konzepte/konzept132.pdf

http://www.bmz.de/en/service/infothek/fach/konzepte/konzept138.pdf

http://www.bmz.de/en/service/infothek/fach/konzepte/konzept128engl.pdf

1�De velopment-orienteD transformation in conDitions of fragile statehooDanD poor government performance

monopoly on the use of force on the inside

and performs its protective functions

towards the outside.

the term “governance” refers to the way in

which decisions are taken and policies are for-

mulated and implemented in a state. Under the

spotlight are institutions, mechanisms, processes

and policies that govern the action of state and

non-state actors (private sector and civil society).

it is helpful to distinguish between the political

and institutional dimensions of governance.�3

�3 hence the term is broader than “good government”. governance encompasses the actions of governmental actors as well as the collab-oration between governmental and non-governmental actors.

On

the one hand there are the norms and values that

guide governance and, on the other, its institu-

tional environment. Core roles of state have to

be performed in various areas:

l Political sphere, i.e. taking and imple-

menting legitimate policy decisions and

establishing democratic processes by pro-

moting local authorities and decentralisa-

tion processes (political governance”);

l Public administration, i.e. facilitating the

successful implementation of development

strategies in a setting of efficient struc-

tures, as well as collecting and selectively

spending sufficient resources under a

transparent public budget and financial

system (“administrative governance”);

l Judicial system, i.e. guaranteeing a func-

tioning, independent judicial system which

is accessible for all (“judicial governance”);

l Social services, i.e. guaranteeing minimum

social welfare and delivering public services

without discrimination (“social governance”);

l Economic environment, i.e. working to

achieve a socially just, pro-poor economic

system that provides the population with

l Security, i.e. guaranteeing the (physical)

safety of the population and the non-vio-

lent management of internal and interstate

conflicts (“security governance”).

in practice, there are many different gradations

of governance situation, in terms of the level

of governance, the development orientation of

the government and the trend in government

performance.

Characteristic of a high level of governance

(good governance) are state institutions and an

administration that handle political power and

public resources responsibly. this requires legiti-

mate, transparent, efficient and stable institutions

that enable the state to fulfil its core functions and

aspire to a high level of performance. Develop-

ment-oriented governments set out to frame pro-

poor, sustainable policies, to respect human rights,

to act democratically and in accordance with the

rule of law, to fulfil state functions efficiently,

transparently and on a participatory basis and to

adopt a cooperative stance within the interna-

tional community. they display a genuine desire

to implement reforms and engage in dialogue.

Where there is a low level of government perform-

ance, where state institutions are weak or on the

verge of collapse and where the state either fails to

perform its core roles or performs them wholly

inadequately, a case of fragile statehood can

generally be assumed. governments that are not

development-oriented do not base their actions on

the above-mentioned criteria (poor government

performance) and/or their conduct is counter-pro-

ductive. they have no desire to implement reforms

or to engage in dialogue; they are prepared to risk

state failure on an increasing scale and the erosion

of the state.


But the trend in government performance is

also of key importance for cooperation with part-

ner countries. From the point of view of develop-

ment policy, the willingness of state actors to

undertake reforms and engage in dialogue is

crucial for the legitimacy and hence stability of a

state. it can be observed that in conditions of poor

governance or similar forms of fragile statehood

the way governments deal with poverty, manage

natural and economic resources and react to pres-

sures and crises varies. For example, even under

conditions of fragile statehood, a government can

strive to improve the governance situation (devel-

opment-oriented government performance). By

contrast, all countries with a downward trend in

government performance run the risk of state fra-

gility because sustained development is not pos-

sible under such circumstances. there is a close

correlation between the level of governance, the

trend in the development orientation of govern-

ment and fragile statehood.

against this background, the Strategy is applica-

ble to all countries with a low level of governance

and to countries with a medium-to-high level of

governance in which government performance is

deteriorating giving rise to a need for preventive

action (highlighted areas in chart):

Fragile statehood has a variety of causes, which

must be analysed in each individual case. it may

be based on a lack of political and administrative

capacity and material and financial resources, for

example when a state is moving from an authori-

tarian to a democratic system, or in countries in

which the state’s monopoly on the use of force is

geographically limited.

there is a close correlation between fragile state-

hood, poor government performance and the vio-

lent settlement of conflicts. a state order bereft of

legitimacy, poor government performance, human

rights abuses and the weakening or actual loss of

the state’s monopoly on the use of force exacerbate

violent conflicts and lead to the collapse of state

institutions. extreme external pressures (e.g. refu-

gee flows, disasters) can also precipitate fragile

statehood. However, factors that accelerate fragil-

Governance-Level




Trend in the development orientation of governmentsDeterioration (-) constant (0) improvement (+)


ity are primarily to be found in the governance

sphere and are reflected in weak development ori-

entation and a reluctance on the part of govern-

ments to undertake reform or engage in dialogue.

Governance level and government perform-

ance, especially orientation to the Millennium

Development goals (MDgs), are assessed using

the BMZ’s Catalogue of Criteria for assessing

the development orientation of partner coun-

tries. the five criteria also represent both the

objectives and the fields of action of development

cooperation:

l Pro-poor and sustainable policies;

l Respect for, protection and fulfilment of

all human rights;

l Democracy and the rule of law;

l Efficiency and transparency of the state;

l Cooperative stance within the interna-

tional community.

the catalogue of criteria analyses the framing

and delivery of policies by political institutions

and governments. it assesses and differentiates

partner countries according to governance level,

development orientation of the government

and the trend in government performance.�4

�4 Qualitative assessment of governance level is ranked on a scale of � (negative) to 5 (positive). the qualitative assessment of the trend in government performance is based not only on prior year comparison, but also on an estimate of trends at the time of drawing up the cata-logue of criteria (deterioration, constant, improvement).

a

partner country with a high governance level and

a development-oriented government exhibits a

high degree of fulfilment of the above criteria; in

a partner country with a low governance level,

fragile statehood can generally be assumed.

Within each governance level there are, in prac-

tice, many different gradations of situation and,

in some instances, contradictory developments,

largely due to the trend in the development ori-

entation of government.

2.3 Objective and Area of Application of the

Strategy

the Strategy sets out the framework for action

of development cooperation with partner

countries under conditions of fragile statehood

and/or poor government performance. Develop-

ment-policy strategies a nd instruments should

be deployed in such a way that they contribute to

development-oriented transformation processes.

in order to render development cooperation

as effective as possible, as called for in the Paris

Declaration, strategies must be adapted to the

particular conditions obtaining in these coun-

tries. Prevention-oriented engagement over the

long term is required to build and strengthen

legitimate social institutions and to halt the fail-

ure, or indeed collapse, of the state. it is intended

that the engagement should help overcome the

causes of fragile statehood and poor government

performance, reduce violence and strengthen

capacities for non-violent conflict management.

governmental development cooperation is at the

centre of the Strategy. the objectives and funda-

mental principles therefore apply to bilateral

cooperation as well as to german contributions

to European development cooperation and

the development programmes of multilateral

agencies. it applies to all projects handled by

the implementing organisations of german

development cooperation, i.e. gtZ, KfW, inWent,

DeD and CiM. the Strategy is intended to provide

guidance to the Churches, the political founda-

tions and private organisations and serve as a

source of information for other policy areas and


international partners on the strategic orienta-

tion of german development policy in dealing

with fragile statehood and poor government

performance.

2.4 Principles

the following principles are of particular impor-

tance for development cooperation with fragile

and poorly governed countries.�5

�5 the principles of cooperation relate to the “principles for good inter-national engagement in fragile states and situations” which were adopted at the oecD/Dac high level meeting in april 2007.

l Coordinating and harmonising donor

strategies: coordinating and harmonising

donor approaches and strategically inter-

linking bilateral and multilateral inputs

constitute an even bigger challenge under

conditions of fragile statehood and poor

government performance than in ‘normal’

partner countries. Suitable institutional

mechanisms must be created and proce-

dures and instruments adapted. realising

the three Cs (coordination, coherence

and complementarity) takes the strain off

the limited administrative capacities of

the partner countries. in addition, action

should be timely and prevention-oriented

and a division of labour among donors

should be sought.

l Taking context as the starting point

of intervention design: there are no

blueprints for transformation processes

that fit all countries equally. Building and

strengthening legitimate social institutions

(state building) can only take place if allow-

ance is made for the particular historical,

social, political, economic, ethnic and

cultural conditions. Strategies must take

account of country, regional and context-

specific factors and avoid detrimental

impacts, especially for poor and disadvan-

taged sectors of the population.

l Taking conflict sensitivity as the starting

point of intervention design: in order

to preclude adverse impacts that escalate

conflicts and to promote impacts that

de-escalate conflicts and promote peace,

interventions must be designed in a con-

flict-sensitive manner, taking interactions

between conflict and intervention into

account (do-no-harm principle).

l Aligning strategies to national struc-

tures in partner countries: effective,

sustainable development cooperation

requires ‘ownership’. in countries where

government development orientation

is improving, donors must endeavour to

gear their interventions to the politically

agreed and legitimated development

strategies of the partner countries and

make use of national procedures and

implementing structures. governments

and parliaments must not be discharged

from their responsibilities. the weakening

of institutions through the emergence of

parallel structures must be avoided. if no

legitimate partner structures are available,

priority must go to delivering basic sup-

plies to poor and disadvantaged sectors of

the population. in most cases, implementa-

tion outside (central) state structures is

unavoidable. in that case, cooperation with

local and regional structures, civil society

and the private sector is of strategic impor-

tance (shadow alignment). Where parallel

structures are created, it is important to

keep an eye on their alignment with state

structures, to avoid a further weakening of

the state.


l Strengthening development-oriented

forces inside and outside governments

(drivers of change): governments and

public administrations are not monoliths.

even in countries which lack development

orientation of the government and in

countries with authoritarian regimes there

are driving forces for change inside and

outside governments. Strengthening these

forces makes it possible for societies to

change from ‘the inside’.�6

�6 the expression ‘social turnaround’ is used for situations where violent conflict has ceased for good, sustainable economic development is taking place and the living conditions of poor and underprivileged sec-tions of the population are showing steady improvement.

However, forces

opposing change and veto actors should

also be included, through incentive struc-

tures in action strategies. Nevertheless, this

should not have the effect of consolidating

power structures opposed to development-

oriented transformation.�7

�7 this is about assessing actor constellations and power structures in a political-economic analysis, i.e. about the social and/or cultural con-text of relevant actors and the material base of their power. the short political-economic analysis, used to create the BmZ’s catalogue of cri-teria, includes identification of forces for reform and forces opposed to reform.

l Respecting informal and traditional

structures: in many places, the ‘modern

state’ barely exists outside the urban

centres. traditional structures and their

institutions continue to survive, especially

in rural areas. By settling matters locally

and with minimum delay (conflicts, trade,

services, security) these structures perform

the equivalent of state functions. in many

places, traditional and informal legal

systems, such as the islamic court system or

councils of elders, play a key role. What is

important is that the different legal systems

and forms of cooperation should be har-

monised and aligned, taking human rights

standards into consideration. in particular,

the abuse of women’s rights must be

counteracted. Where there is resistance to

development-oriented change and where

there are human rights abuses, efforts must

be made to set the corresponding change

processes in motion.

l Taking account of gender aspects:

recognising and protecting the rights of

women and girls is a special concern in all

development policy interventions. the con-

sequences of fragile statehood and poor

government performance hit women and

girls hardest. Lack of security in everyday

life, the rising incidence of gender-specific

violence, non-functioning social services,

poor infrastructure, discrimination in all its

forms and extreme poverty all have severe

repercussions for women and girls. Women

are often at a disadvantage on account of

cultural and religious traditions but, at

the same time, they are important players

in development-oriented transformation

and good governance. given their many

different responsibilities, women are often

particularly keen to see an improvement

in the general situation. Due account must

be taken of gender considerations in all

interventions and women must be involved

in all processes and at all levels of action,

as called for, inter alia, in United Nations

Security Council resolution 1325 on conflict

and post-conflict countries.

l Including vulnerable children and

young people in action strategies: Boys

and girls who have grown up in fragile

states or in conditions of civil war, who

have lost their parents (e.g. through aiDS),

who were child soldiers and whom the


state does not protect need special help.

apart from their psycho-social health,

real chances must be created for them to

lead lives of human dignity and enjoy the

benefits of education and training. they

must be able to find work and to take part

in policymaking processes. Damaging

social developments, e.g. a propensity

for violence among young people, can be

mitigated through targeted engagement

with children and young people. a rising

level of education – including education for

peace, human rights and democracy –

is also an important element for change.

l Promoting non-discrimination as a pre-

requisite of inclusive and stable societies:

Social discrimination causes conflict and

political instability. therefore, interna-

tional engagement must promote social

inclusion and human rights for all. this not

only brings an improvement in the rela-

tions between state and civil society, it also

serves in the long term to prevent fragile

statehood. Promoting the participation of

minorities and other disadvantaged groups

must be an integral part of all state-build-

ing interventions.


3. Strategies for action in Different Situations

governance level and the development orienta-

tion of government are criteria for determining

the appropriate type of development cooperation

with a given country. Different forms of coop-

eration apply to well governed countries and

poorly governed countries: the more legitimate

the state actors and the more stable the institu-

tions, the easier it is to deploy the full range of

development policy instruments and the more

effective corresponding incentive systems will

be; the greater the loss of legitimacy of the actors

and the more instable the situation at the outset,

the more development policy must rely on special

steering, the flexible use of instruments and

cooperation with civil society. all forms of sup-

port should be strategically oriented and focus on

social and institutional transformation.

the extent to which external actors can influence

people’s attitudes and behaviour and the conduct

of institutions is limited. there is no single answer

to the question when and in what form dialogue

and cooperation, incentives and sanctions can

help bring about good governance. rather, the

interests and convictions of those concerned

must be analysed on a case-by-case basis and the

conditions, incentives and deterrents carefully

weighed. the aim is to win the support of – if

possible – all stakeholders for development-ori-

ented transformation processes. in view of the

difficult conditions that prevail in some partner

countries, exit strategies should be prepared in

case the time comes when bilateral and multilat-

eral cooperation with governments is no longer

defensible and it becomes necessary to resort to

other instruments (e.g. development-oriented

emergency and transitional aid). the cessation

of governmental cooperation can only be a last

resort, though it should be borne in mind that

other german organisations are usually able to

continue operating in such countries (e.g. politi-

cal foundations, private agencies, Churches). On

no account should sanctions have the effect of

exacerbating conflict. a coordinated and har-

monised approach by all donors and policy areas

is particularly important in such situations.

Development cooperation may get caught up in

conflicts of objectives when, for example, certain

development policy principles have to be set

aside temporarily so that they can be achieved

in the long term. Where they arise, conflicts of

objectives must be resolved transparently, on the

basis of unequivocal criteria and after giving due

consideration to the trade-offs. in conditions of

fragile statehood and poor government perfor-

mance it is particularly important to ensure that:

l the living conditions of the poor and

underprivileged sections of the popula-

tion and the human rights situation

improve, or at least do no deteriorate;

l poor government performance is not

legitimised and stabilised through instru-

mentalisation of financial resources and

cooperation interventions;

l a contribution is made to political

transformation;

l state actors, the private sector and civil

society in the partner countries assume

greater ‘ownership’.

against this background, the Strategy postulates

different situations requiring different action

strategies.�8

�8 the categorisation does not profess to cover all possible situations.

at the centre are countries with low

�0 De velopment-orienteD transformation in conDitions of fragile statehooDanD poor government performance

levels of governance. Furthermore, the Strategy

addresses prevention of poor government perfor-

mance in countries with medium-to-high levels

of governance and development cooperation in a

peace mission context.

in the case of low levels of governance, a number

of different strategies are possible depending

on the trend of the development orientation of

government:

l Conduct in situations where govern-

ment performance is development-

oriented and shows a positive trend:

support the positive efforts of

governments.


development orientation is low: encour-

age changes in the conduct of govern-

ments, strengthen the forces of reform

and promote basic social services.

l Conduct in situations of continuously

deteriorating government performance,

with no development orientation: pro-

tect indigent and vulnerable sections of

the population, promote self-help and

meet the international responsibility to

protect.

If, at medium to high levels of governance, gov-

ernment performance is deteriorating, action

should be preventively oriented. A decline in

governance level must be counteracted.

Governance Level






protect indigent and vulnerable sections of the population, promote self-help and meet the international responsibility to protect Trend in the

development orientation of governments

Deterioration (-) constant (0)

encourage changes in the conduct of governments,strengthen the forces of reform and promote basic social services

improvement (+)

support positive government efforts

�1De velopment-orienteD transformation in conDitions of fragile statehooDanD poor government performance

Development cooperation in a peace-mission

situation aims to foster peace and promote

non-violent conflict management.

Since military missions take place in countries

with different governance situations, in each

case the relevant parts of this Strategy shall apply

to development cooperation initially, as well as

some additional aspects.

Poorly governed and fragile states too can be

affected in different ways by violent conflicts.

State failure and state collapse can be a trigger of

violent conflict as well as its outcome. the BMZ

Sector Strategy for Crisis Prevention, Conflict

transformation and Peace-Building in german

Development Cooperation is applicable accord-

ingly. action must, if appropriate, take account of

both Strategies in equal measure.�9

�9 for example with regard to categorising countries according to their conflict propensity (crisis indicators), conflict phases (pre-, acute and post-conflict phases) and the different conflict types (e.g. conflict about resources, self-determination, autonomy etc.).

3.1 Low Governance Levels

3.1.1 Conduct in Situations where Government

Performance is Development-Oriented

and Shows a Positive Trend: Support the

Positive Efforts of Governments

in partner countries with a low level of gover-

nance and development-oriented government,

there are many different options open to devel-

opment cooperation. generally speaking, the

conditions in these countries are likely to be

such as to allow support for dynamic reform

processes and for building and strengthening

human resource and institutional capacities

through process-oriented approaches (capacity

development). international assistance can be

used, for example, to help reform public budget

and financial management systems or strategies

to promote broad-based growth and poverty

reduction. Strengthening national parliaments

and local authorities and promoting the rule of

law are especially important. incentives help

strengthen ‘ownership’ and the will to reform and

avoid creating expensive duplicate structures. if

governments’ legitimacy is fairly high, the entry

points for development cooperation are national

poverty and sector strategies (policy alignment).

if, in addition, governments have at least mini-

mum policy and administrative capacities,

existing structures can and should be used for

implementation (systems alignment).

the programme-based approach – within the

meaning of the Paris Declaration – is a suitable

way of promoting capacity development and the

social and economic infrastructure in this coun-

try group, bilaterally and multilaterally. However,

in some countries, project investments are not

sufficient to stabilise the situation and implement

reform.

in view of the (at times high) level of financing

required for the social and economic infrastruc-

ture, especially for delivering basic services, and

given the special conditions which obtain in this

group of countries, it is important that german

bilateral development cooperation should also

participate in the deployment of innovative

instruments such as programme-oriented joint

financing (PJF). there is a distinction between

budget aid and instruments similar to budget aid

such as basket funding or the Multi-Donor trust

Funds (MDtF). MDtFs are ‘baskets’ managed, as a

rule, by multilateral organisations.

Basket funding is an effective instrument for

meeting and coordinating major finance require-

ments. it has the advantage of being budget-

based, so that it can be taken into account in the

partner country’s budget planning, but the funds

are not channelled through the budget as such.

�� De velopment-orienteD transformation in conDitions of fragile statehooDanD poor government performance

the use of basket funding and MDTFs is suitable

for creating implementation capacity. in some cases

MDtFs can be regarded as a transitional stage to

budget financing. the prospect of budget aid as a

potential instrument is an incentive to develop-

ment-oriented government, it strengthens ‘owner-

ship’ and helps to secure a long-term commitment

to reforms and to maintaining their momentum.

Budget aid may also be considered in countries

with a low level of governance if the trend in

government performance is manifestly positive.

as a general principle, the BMZ’s Guidelines on

the Use of PJF in the form of budget aid also apply

in this group of countries. Budget aid can only be

applied where minimum criteria are met ensur-

ing sound, transparent financial management

and where the financial resources are controlla-

ble. a government’s reform course is only sustain-

able if the reforms enjoy the backing of society at

large. Civil society is an indispensable authority

in this regard. it can call on governments to take

the necessary action, support reform efforts and

help win broad public acceptance for reforms.

the support of non-governmental actors is

thus desirable and necessary to complement the

instruments of official cooperation.

Particular challenges face governments endeav-

ouring to im plement positive reforms in post-con-

flict situations. reinstating the rule of law, restor-

ing justice and establishing the truth require

strategies which engage in the long term at both

the individual and the societal and politico-struc-

tural level and involve governmental and non-

governmental actors working in tandem. the

concept of ‘transitional justice’ has some con-

crete approaches to offer. alongside the prosecu-

tion of war criminals by international, national or

‘mixed’ chambers, the reform of state institutions

– especially in the judicial and security sectors –

and suspension procedures (lustration/screen-

ing), a key role is played here by reparation pro-

grammes for the victims of violence, by truth

commissions, work of remembrance and education.

3.1.2 Conduct in Situations where Government

Development Orientation is low:

Encourage Changes in the Conduct of

Governments, Strengthen the Forces of

Reform and Promote Basic Social Services

in partner countries with a low level of gover-

nance in which governments are doing little to

raise the level of governance, show scarcely any

serious desire to implement reforms or engage in

dialogue, care must be taken to ensure that the

situation for the population does not deteriorate

further and that there is no (further) outbreak of

violence. Priority must be given to defusing any

danger of an escalation at an early stage and

strengthening the forces of reform whenever

possible. in these countries, too, improvements

can and should meet with a response, in order to

strengthen positive trends.

Cooperation with state actors who are out to

protect their monopoly on violence without

having sufficient legitimacy is possible only to

a limited extent. in cases of poor government

performance, there is usually little of no interest

in development-policy agreements aimed at

improving the governance situation. However,

if national sector strategies exist that are worth

supporting, consideration could be given to a

special-purpose MDtF for example. government

representation in steering bodies should not be

ruled out on principle.

the priority is to deliver basic supplies and

services to the poor and disadvantaged sectors

of society, while taking care to avoid negative

incentives likely to stabilise anti-development

power structures and poor government perfor-

mance. as a rule, the promotion of basic social

services offers opportunities for cooperation. an

involvement in sectors such as health, water and

education is frequently accepted by state actors

and a minimum of constructive ‘ownership’ can

be assumed. Provided development cooperation

is perceived to be non-partisan and designed

��De velopment-orienteD transformation in conDitions of fragile statehooDanD poor government performance

to be conflict-sensitive, it is often accepted by

governments. at the same time, projects that are

primarily technical in nature may sometimes

have the effect of triggering reforms if they have a

strategic thrust and take governance aspects into

account (leverage effect).

Where partner governments have fairly low legit-

imacy and no development-oriented framework

strategies, poverty strategies or sectors strategies

exist, it is all the more important to draw up joint

strategies within the donor community and step

up the policy dialogue with governments. in the

interests of transparency and in order to ensure

that funds are used for their intended purpose,

it may occasionally be necessary to create special

financing instruments, with a view to transfer-

ring them in the long term to state structures.

the more limited the options for development

cooperation, the more important it is to focus

it on certain areas and target groups. if devel-

opment orientation is lacking at the central

government level, the will to reform can often

be observed at regional and/or local levels of

government. Partners who are prepared to act

autonomously as advocates of reform and take

on a leadership role must be identified and sup-

ported. Local authorities are important gover-

nance actors which can, by improving their own

governance level, sometimes exert influence at

higher levels of government. Occasionally, local

initiatives can serve as models and pave the way

for further improvements or for replication at

other levels or in other regions. even in politically

unstable and corrupt environments, a commu-

nity will occasionally practise popular participa-

tion, achieve Millennium Development goals

and implement reforms (islands of excellence).

Under a ‘state-building from below’ strategy,

even development-oriented government can

be promoted and the link between central and

regional/local levels strengthened.

Strengthening civil society is particularly

important in countries where the scope for coop-

eration with state actors is limited. there is often

a wide range of civil society organisations advo-

cating reform (farmers’ associations, indigenous

and ethnic organisations, human rights, women’s

and environmental organisations, youth groups,

professional associations, trade unions, media

associations, etc.). Civil society actors cannot

replace the state, but they can supplement state

functions in the field of basic social services and

push forward political reform processes. the

long-term goal should be to build cooperation-

based relationships between the state and civil

society. Cooperation with non-governmental

organisations (NgOs) can pave the way for bilat-

eral strategic projects and help build a network of

‘drivers of change’ in the governmental and non-

governmental sectors. Moreover, networking

among civil society actors themselves and with

regional and international NgOs can strengthen

their influence. Civil society initiatives often need

financial and advisory assistance. this can be

provided through open funds established under

technical and Financial Cooperation, which can

then be used quickly and flexibly within chang-

ing constellations of actors and problems. they

should aim at building up local institutional

capacities and providing process back-up.

Complementary to this, steps should be taken

to strengthen regional and subregional

mechanisms for crisis prevention and to promote

political stability. regional funds and regional

projects can help to promote political, social

and economic regional integration and regional

exchange. the regional integration of govern-

ments can trigger a dynamic leading to national

reform processes.


3.1.3 Conduct in Situations of Continuously

Deteriorating Government Performance,

with no Development Orientation: Protect

Indigent and Vulnerable Sections of the

Population, Promote Self-Help and Meet

the International Responsibility to Protect

in partner countries which have a low level of

governance, in which government performance

is continuing to deteriorate, governments are not

willing to engage in dialogue and risk the erosion

of the state, it is virtually impossible to deploy

the classic instruments of bilateral development

cooperation in view of delegitimised actors

and/or largely non-functional state institutions.

Implementing projects outside state structures

is usually unavoidable, and it makes sense. the

primary objective is to reach needy and vulner-

able sectors of the population through grass-roots

NgOs and church relief organisations and to

ensure their basic needs are met through

direct delivery of basic services. interventions

should have a rapid impact. in many such cases

it is necessary to provide humanitarian aid,

ensure food security and supply minimum social

and infrastructure services under development-

oriented emergency and transitional aid, and to

provide protection against violence, for example

through human rights observers.

the scope for promoting political change is lim-

ited, even through civil society organisations.

However, the Civil Peace Service, political founda-

tions, Churches and NgOs can often go on work-

ing even in a difficult political environment.

NgOs can support political actors from civil society

and political parties, even when they are in exile.

Cooperation with United Nations organisations,

for example through special-purpose contribu-

tions, can often offer ways of reaching the hardest

hit sections of the population and forces for reform.

Here, too, it is strategically important to

strengthen or activate regional organisations

and regional initiatives linking together interven-

tions in different countries.

if a government fails to fulfil its responsibility to

protect its citizens against genocide, war crimes,

ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity

(responsibility to protect), the international

community is called upon, through the United

Nations, to meet that responsibility through

humanitarian, diplomatic and other peaceful

means. those may include, over and above the

partnership-based instruments of development

policy, international monitoring and supervision

of states, for example by means of election moni-

toring, sanctions or weapons inspections. in cer-

tain circumstances defined in international law,

the partial or complete assumption of sovereign

control may also be a possibility.20

20 BmZ Discourse: on development-based and military responses to new security challenges (2004), Bonn; and paragraph �38 ff. of resolution a/res/60/� of the United nations general assembly (2005 World sum-mit outcome) adopted at its sixtieth session.

3.2 Conduct in Situations of Medium to high

Levels of Governance: Choose Prevention-

Oriented Action and Counteract the

Deterioration of Government Performance

Supporting development-oriented government

in countries which have medium to high levels of

governance and which are making appropriate

efforts of their own is the central factor in pre-

venting state failure. if government performance

is deteriorating in these partner countries and

the level of governance looks likely to drop, an

early attempt should be made, with prevention in

mind, to agree ‘milestones’ with the government

(e.g. anti-corruption, efficient and transparent

system of public finance, democracy, rule of law).

governance shortcomings should be addressed

without delay and be discussed in depth in the

policy dialogue with governments. together with


the partner country and other donors, disburse-

ment conditionality, if appropriate, could be

considered, in order to send out signals, create

incentives and strengthen ‘ownership’ on the part

of the partner government. the aim should be on

the one hand (with an eye to paving the way for

cooperation based on mutual trust) to improve

the overall situation and, on the other, to ensure

that human rights principles are taken into

account in the design of interventions.

reducing bilateral engagement or giving notice

of restrictive treatment of the country under

european and multilateral cooperation (suspen-

sion or withdrawal of PJF and/or other financing

instruments) is also a strategy for bringing about

change in governments’ conduct. in addition,

cooperation can be limited to areas in which –

under strict observance of human rights prin-

ciples – immediate positive impacts can be

achieved for the population. Concrete interven-

tions must be designed so as to help counteract a

further deterioration of the governance situation.

incentives offered under the policy dialogue,

such as the resumption of a previous engage-

ment or the use of PJF, can help to support these

processes. Ongoing support to development- and

reform-oriented forces in state and society con-

tinues to be expedient and necessary. the scope

for action between state and civil society can be

strengthened and enlarged.

3.3 Conduct in an Environment of

International Peace Missions: Promote

Peace-Building and the Non-Violent

Management of Conflicts

When a government fails to fulfil its respon-

sibility to protect its citizens, or towards the

international community, having exhausted all

civilian means of doing so, and an international

peace operation with a United Nations mandate

is launched, special challenges arise for develop-

ment cooperation. experience has shown that

the success of international peace operations

depends above all on a comprehensive peace

and development strategy being in place and

on sufficient development-policy resources being

available for the reconstruction of state, society

and the economy. On the one hand, steps must

be taken rapidly to bring about tangible, quick-

impact improvements in living conditions and

state functions; on the other, the structural causes

of the problems and conflicts must be tackled

with a view to the longer term.

the diversity of the various military operations

must be taken into account in respect of structure

and mandate. in the majority of cases, german

development cooperation operates in the context

of UN-led peacekeeping troops (‘Blue Helmets’).

there are also a few NatO-, eU- or coalition-led

military operations authorised by the UN. Where

a post-conflict stabilisation mission has been

deployed there are usually opportunities for con-

certed action between development coopera-

tion and the military. the deployment of a peace

enforcement mission in phases of continuing

armed conflict normally precludes close collabo-

ration between the military and partnership-

based development cooperation. Where german

armed forces are taking part in UN-led or UN-man-

dated missions, the options for collaboration

should be appraised jointly at an early stage. Where

german armed forces are not involved, german

development cooperation, acting within the donor

community, liaises in the respective bodies with the

– normally UN-led – peacekeeping troops.

For the design of development cooperation in

post-conflict situations in which military stabili-

sation missions are typically deployed, the BMZ’s

Sector Strategy for Crisis Prevention, Conflict

transformation and Peace-Building in german

Development Cooperation applies.

the aim is, through effective conflict manage-

ment and reconstruction, to prevent a re-escala-

tion of violence and to support social recon-


ciliation. the main areas of activity include the

political and legal setting, socio-economic funda-

mentals and security. the following instruments

are to the fore: conflict-sensitive post-conflict

needs assessments; participatory processes; tak-

ing account of implementation and absorption

capacities; and linking quick-impact measures

with longer-term planning.

as far as the governance situation is concerned,

it can generally be assumed in the context of

peace missions that there has been a prior – at

least partial – breakdown of state functions. in

a transitional situation the international com-

munity must therefore provide special support

for rebuilding state structures. in extreme cases,

state functions have to be replaced temporarily

by the international community under a mandate

administration. the fact that the international

community assumes state functions and, more

especially, finances a large part of them, poses

major challenges in terms of development-policy

principles such as ownership and partnership.

Development cooperation must on the one hand

perform functions bordering on mandate admin-

istration and at the same time contribute to build-

ing autonomous partner structures. Care must

be taken to ensure that the strong presence of the

international community does not undermine

the will of governments and people to undertake

efforts of their own.

During the term of a military operation, the

development orientation of government in the

country concerned may be positive, it may be

weak or government performance may deterio-

rate (further). in principle, therefore, the options

for action set out in sections 3.1 and 3.2 apply also

to development cooperation in peace mission

settings.


4. Strategic Cooperation with Multilateral Organisations, regional initiatives and Other Policy Fields

if the impacts of development cooperation are to

be sustainable, there must be active multilateral

engagement and intensive co-design of relevant

initiatives and instruments. Multilateral agencies,

the european Commission and bilateral donors

must bring their specific strengths to bear, liaise

closely and utilise innovative instruments.

The Development Assistance Committee (DAC)

in the OECD offers a platform for promoting

strategic cooperation on development-oriented

transformation in conditions of fragile statehood

and poor government performance. a number of

working groups are doing important work in this

field.

By virtue of its mandate as a neutral and universal

organisation, the United Nations has a high

degree of legitimacy, making it indispensable for

preventing and overcoming fragile statehood

and poor government performance and qualify-

ing it to undertake development cooperation in

politically sensitive areas. the UN possesses

exceptional comparative advantages by virtue of

its ability to bring together diplomatic, humani-

tarian, development policy and military instru-

ments. this will be reflected, for example, in the

work of the newly created United Nations Peace-

building Commission. in the field of interna-

tional humanitarian aid, the UN plays a promi-

nent role helping to ensure that humanitarian aid

is provided solely according to need and without

regard for gender, ethnic and religious affinity,

political conviction or other attributes. as part of

the UN’s development work, for example, the

United Nations Development Programme

(UNDP) through the Democratic Governance

Thematic Trust Fund (DGTTF) supports innova-

tive governance projects in poor countries and

promotes South-South cooperation in this field.

the thematic priorities of this fund (including

parliamentary development, justice and human

rights, decentralisation and local governance,

public administration) are well suited for promot-

ing development-oriented transformation. the

UN’s contributions towards anti-corruption

efforts are considerable (United Nations Conven-

tion against Corruption, UNCaC), as well as

towards combating organised crime through,

inter alia, the United Nations Office on Drugs and

Crime (UNODC). as a result, the burden on the

countries concerned is reduced and the condi-

tions for development-oriented transformation

processes are improved.

the promotion of good governance has an impor-

tant status under EU development policy. in

future, strategies are to be more closely geared to

preventing fragile statehood, especially through

anti-corruption, governance reforms and pro-

moting the rule of law. the governance initiative

vis-a-vis africa is an important pillar of the EU-

Africa Strategy, which german development pol-

icy is actively helping to implement. at the centre

of the strategy are: the targeted cooperation

activities of member states; european Develop-

ment Fund programming; and a special initiative

to support the african Peer review Mechanism

(aPrM). the particular political base of european

development cooperation and the possibilities

which exist to bring together european foreign,

security and development policy instruments

mean that coherent approaches encompassing

several different policy fields can be taken when


tackling poor government performance and

fragile statehood.

Multilateral development banks have compara-

tive advantages, technical and country-specific

expertise and an international coordination

capability to contribute to the cooperation with

fragile and poorly governed states. they are able

to make larger financial volumes available to

finance sector strategies and should give their

engagement a strategic thrust. in 2002, the

World Bank developed the Low Income Coun-

tries under Stress (LICUS) initiative for fragile

states. ‘Low income countries under stress’ are

countries with weak institutions and policies and

a low governance level. in 2004, the LICUS Trust

Fund was launched to strengthen institutions,

provide early support for policy reforms and build

capacity in the social services sector. One of the

issues addressed by the World Bank`s Global

Monitoring Report 2007 is how cooperation

with fragile states can be strengthened and/or

rendered more effective. Regional banks, by vir-

tue of their specific mandates, are also to handle

politically sensitive themes. the African Devel-

opment Bank (afDB) has declared the promotion

of good governance, human rights, rule-of-law

frameworks, transparency, the prevention and

combating of corruption, and peaceful conflict

management to be strategic priorities. Under

the Fragile States initiative, the afDB is planning

to step up its engagement in fragile states by

setting up a special facility. the Asian Develop-

ment Bank (aDB) has included good governance

promotion and anti-corruption in its medium-

term strategy. in a document entitled achieving

Development effectiveness in Weakly Performing

Countries (2006), the aDB has set out, on the

basis of own practical experience of working

with fragile states, a strategic approach aimed

at strengthening the effectiveness of its opera-

tions in such countries. the Inter-American

Development Bank (iDB) regards social inequity

and poverty in Latin america as major obstacles

to democratic consolidation and has therefore

called for inclusive, accountable institutions.

the iDB programmes assist governments to

strengthen good governance and the rule of law

and to combat corruption.

as a shareholder or contributor, germany encour-

ages the multilateral organisations, within

the scope of their mandates and comparative

advantages, to design their operations in these

countries in accordance with the principles and

action strategies set out in this Strategy and to

integrate them strategically into an international

framework.

Regional organisations are already playing

an important role, but one which in most cases

is capable of being developed further. african

regional organisations (e.g. aU, SaDC, eCOWaS,

igaD) have a regional responsibility to intervene

in (prolonged) political and socio-economic

crises.2�

2� among these are regional initiatives in the fields of good governance, democracy, human rights, environment and migration, such as the international conference on the great lakes called for by the security council in �999 to consider the consequences of the two devastat-ing congo wars (�996, �998). promoting gender mainstreaming in the development and implementation of programmes of the aU, nepaD, ecosoc, pan-african parliament, african peer review mechanisms is also strategically important.

the same goes for the broad spectrum of

regional organisations in asia (e.g. aSeaN) and

Latin america (e.g. MerCOSUr). as examples of

regional initiatives and cross-border coopera-

tion, the international Conference on the great

Lakes region, which was called for by the United

Nations Security Council and is now also sup-

ported by the aU, and the african Peer review

Mechanism (aPrM) are pointing the way ahead.

Parliaments and regional human rights protec-

tion systems are important partners for regional


approaches (e.g. reconciliation processes fol-

lowing the end of violent conflict, human rights

monitoring).

Coherent interaction between foreign, secu-

rity and development policy as well as other

policy fields is also indispensable, however, par-

ticularly in difficult situations. the correlations

and mutual interests that exist between donor

countries’ foreign, security and development

policies must be taken into account. Suitable

and effective ways must be found of meeting

the growing coordination requirements at

national and international levels. the entire

range of foreign, security and development

policy instruments should be deployed in a

targeted and selective manner to support policy

transformation processes. if a course of action is

to be successful, all the affected policy areas must

be involved from the outset, on an equal footing,

in the process of analysis, strategy development

and instrument weighting. On the basis of the

jointly established strategy, each policy area must

steer its activities autonomously. Under the ‘3D

approach’ (diplomacy, defence, development),

the principle of “joint responsibility – separate

responsibilities” applies. a clear understanding

of diplomatic, military and development tasks is

crucially important to the interaction between

the players. in the interests of growing policy

coherence, economic policy instruments with

incentives and sanctions can also be used effec-

tively. if, in certain situations, sanctions appear

to make sense, they should not be limited to the

field of development policy.

Global frameworks should be designed so as to

reduce the risks and stresses for weak states and

facilitate development-oriented transformation.

ill-conceived international economic and finan-

cial policies can create an environment in which

states are weakened. the Millennium Declara-

tion, for example, calls for an open, equitable,

rule-based, predictable and non-discrimina-

tory multilateral trading and financial system.

together with the eU, we should actively press for

further development of the multilateral world

trade rules.


5. Fields of action and approaches to assistance

the choice of areas of action, partners, target

groups and instruments should be carefully con-

sidered for each partner country. Under technical

and Financial Cooperation, the governmental,

parastatal and non-governmental partners at

national and regional / local level that offer the

best prospects of success should be selected;

cooperation with german and international

NgOs should also be sought in this context.

the support of development-oriented transfor-

mation processes requires coordination and

a division of labour between governmental

institutions and non-governmental actors at the

various levels of cooperation. it does not make

sense, on past experience, to earmark specific

themes or fields of action for governmental or

non-governmental development cooperation.

For interventions in the field of governance, the

comparative advantages of governmental and

non-governmental development cooperation

should be carefully weighed, having regard to the

autonomy of non-governmental actors and to the

subsidiarity principle of state action.

the situations described above may give rise

to priorities for certain fields of action and

approaches to assistance, though these will

depend in each case on the prevailing conditions,

partner government and donor coordination. the

overview below presents potential fields of action

and approaches to assistance which are appli-

cable generally, but which should be the focus of

particular attention in conditions of fragile state-

hood and poor government performance. they

are based on the above-mentioned core roles of

the state.22

22 the strategy is based on the recommendations for action drawn up under a study and advisory project conducted on behalf of the BmZ, State Failure in Developing and Transformation Countries, in par-ticular, the third part, tobias Debiel: What can be done about fragile states? entry points for development cooperation. Bonn 2006.

5.1 Social Inclusion Through Democratic

Participation of the Population and a

Responsible Role of National

Parliaments23

23 cf. BmZ: promotion of Democracy within german Development policy. Bonn, 2005.

in fragile and poorly governed states the domi-

nant form of political system is usually one which

has an executive function without parliamentary

involvement (government by decree) lying in

a grey area between an authoritarian system

and a formal democratic system. Faced with the

predominance of the executive, parliaments are

powerless and governing parties see their role as

that of providing majorities. Moreover, citizens

are not involved in policy-making processes and

the legislature often has only a rudimentary

perception of its own role as representative of the

democratic interests of the people and the latter’s

role in national dialogue processes. in promoting

democracy, one-sided concentration on the prep-

aration and holding of elections is not sufficient;

indeed the effect can even be counterproductive

on occasions. While elections are a sine qua non

for developing democracies, they are not nor-

mally sufficient to consolidate democratic forms

of the exercise of power and social inclusion.

Strengthening national parliaments and local

authorities can be a decisive factor in enabling


democracy to be experienced from below as well

from above. this is most likely to be possible where

governments are making efforts to improve the

governance situation. Parliaments can contribute

effectively to good governance and development-

oriented transformation provided they are willing

and able effectively to perform their legislative

function, their function of exercising control over

the government and their representative func-

tion, and to limit the power of the executive. the

less able a political system is to guarantee the con-

trol of power and the less firmly established demo-

cracy is, the greater the importance of civil society’s

role. However, it is vital to make sure that civil

society organisations are not themselves actors in

the conflict. However, in some countries there is

virtually no organised civil society because of

political repression and tyranny. Civil society can

usually be built up and strengthened only slowly

with the onset of democratisation. in such cases,

educating and training specialist and executive

staff in germany and third countries can help.

approaches to assistance include:

l Strengthening parliament, its organs, its

legislative function, representative func-

tion and function of exercising control of

the government;

l Strengthening a democratic culture

through political participation of the poor

and disadvantaged sectors of the popula-

tion, especially women, children and young

people, and minorities (minority represen-

tation, raising the proportion of women

and young people in various organs);

l Strengthening civil society and an indepen-

dent, pluralistic media landscape which

reaches all sectors of the population and

contributes to information, education and

public opinion-forming (radio, television,

newspapers in different local languages);

l Promoting local democracy by means of

conflict-sensitive, political-administrative

decentralisation (state building from the

bottom up);

l Supporting good governance initiatives

and reform processes at regional level and

interlinkages between them and processes

at national level.

5.2 Non-Violent Management of Diverging

interests and Conflicts in a Rule-of-Law

Framework

the rule of law and certainty of the law are neces-

sary frameworks for managing societal processes.

these are the procedures and decision-making

hierarchies necessary to manage diverging

interests and conflicts in a regulated, non-violent

and constructive manner. they apply equally to

the management of inclusive growth (ownership

rights, land use and land rights, right to food,

health and water, investment protection, etc.).

among the essential elements of a functioning

rule-of-law state are a legitimate state monopoly

on the use of force and the separation of powers

between the Legislative, executive and Judiciary.

Moreover, mandatory compliance of the admin-

istration with the constitution, statutory law and

ordinances, an independent judiciary and the

equality of all in the enforcement and application

of the law are of decisive importance. Only with

these in place can an independent and impartial

judiciary, the right to a fair trial and a judicial

system capable of enforcing judgments be guaran-

teed. it is the task of the state to take rigorous action

against practices which undermine independent

administration of the law (corruption, impunity).


(re-)constructing rule-of-law structures poses

special challenges in post-conflict countries.24

24 the transitional Justice strategy puts forward concrete suggestions for action.

the use of force and human rights abuses can

often be traced back to the security forces,

severely shaking public confidence in the state’s

ability to protect its citizens and maintain law

and order. State institutions are sub-standard,

heavily politicised and/or dominated by one of

the parties to the conflict. in many cases, there is

no break with the old system. those responsible

for war and violence continue to occupy key posi-

tions in politics, the judiciary, the police and army

(anti-reform forces).

a successful process of peace and reconciliation

also depends crucially on punishing and working

through war crimes and human rights abuses,

compensating the victims and restoring justice

under a coherent transitional justice approach.

at the international level, the creation of the

international Criminal Court (iCC) and the special

international criminal tribunals are important

steps towards holding accountable individuals

who have perpetrated war crimes, crimes against

humanity and genocide.25

25 massive human rights violations such as enforced disappearances or torture are also classified as crimes against humanity or war crimes and fall within the jurisdiction of the icc. criminals who live in a state in which the legal system does not prosecute these crimes, or not properly, can no long rely on impunity if their state has ratified the rome statute.


l adapting legal practice to international

human rights standards and tying legisla-

tion to the rule-of-law principles enshrined

in international and regional human rights

treaties;

l Promoting international initiatives for the

prosecution of war crimes by international,

national or ‘mixed’ chambers and improv-

ing national frameworks to facilitate crimi-

nal prosecutions (e.g. legislation, training

of jurists, witness protection programmes);

l Strengthening an independent, non-

discriminatory and efficient judicial

system and making it truly representative

(minorities, women), bringing in relevant

actors (supervisory and inspection authori-

ties, judges’ and lawyers’ associations,

jurisprudence);

l Strengthening the legal system so as to

facilitate constructive conflict manage-

ment, and extrajudicial institutions so as to

facilitate the pacific settlement of conflicts

(e.g. disputes at local level, land disputes),

bringing in also functioning, legitimate

traditional conflict resolution mechanisms

including the eradication of discriminatory

traditional practices.

5.3 Public Safety Through Civilian Control of

the Security Sector

in many fragile and poorly governed countries

petty crime and paramilitary violence compro-

mise citizens’ physical safety, their daily lives and

their ability to secure a livelihood. added to this,

the build up of small arms and light weapons is

further undermining security and leading to the

spread of organised crime. the state’s duty of pro-

tection requires it to prevent the exclusive guar-

antee of security by local violent actors and their

affiliation to international organised violence.

the interministerial Framework Strategy on Sup-

port for Security Sector reform in Developing and

transformation Countries (October 2006)


drawn up by the interministerial Steering group

on Civilian Crisis Prevention fleshes out the

approaches to supporting security sector reforms

outlined in the german government’s action Plan

for Civilian Crisis Prevention, Conflict resolution

and Post-Conflict Peace-Building and develops

a framework for cross-departmental action. it

is intended inter alia to improve effectiveness,

coherence and coordination in the field of secu-

rity sector reform.

Where security is concerned, the challenge in most

cases is to implement comprehensive reform of the

sector, including demobilisation and reintegration

of ex-combatants. Since successful security sector

reform is one of the key elements of a sustainable

peace process and reconstruction, it should be

included from the outset in reconstruction plans

and, later, in Poverty reduction Strategy Paper

(PrSPs). the security forces must be integrated into

democratic and constitutional structures. that

means separating the military and the police and

their sovereign tasks (demilitarisation of the police).

at the same time, corruption in the security forces

and involvement by security forces in criminal

offences and violence must be tackled within the

institution concerned and by the judiciary.


l Security sector reforms aimed at strength-

ening constitutional, parliamentary and

civil society oversight of the security ser-

vices (legislative bodies, penitentiary) and

law enforcement agencies (police, secret

services);

l Promoting civil society participation in

security sector reform and monitoring

implementation;

l Strengthening internal and external

authorities so as to facilitate the clear-up of

unlawful acts and human rights abuses by

the security forces;

l Promoting access by women and ethnic

and cultural minorities to jobs in the secu-

rity sector in the context of sector reforms;

l improving policing in all regions of the

country having regard to the security

rights of poor sectors of the population and

community-level prevention work (youth

contact work, ‘peer approach’ to violence

avoidance);

l Strengthening the role of the security

sector in combating cross-border crime

(weapons, drugs, people trafficking and the

sexual exploitation of minors).

5.4 Making Public Administration Responsive

to Citizens’ Needs Through Transparency,

Effectiveness and Accountability

Public administrations in many countries are

often politicised, inflated and inefficient, which

undermines their responsiveness to citizens’

needs and their performance. transparent,

efficient and accountable public administration

is essential to the successful implementation of

development-oriented policies. an important

instrument of policy implementation is the public

budget, and the population must participate

in its preparation. Political priorities must be

reflected in the allocation of resources. as the

number of extrabudgetary activities increases, so

transparency declines and the opportunities for

corruption increase.

Without significant public revenues – mostly

generated by effective tax collection – no state

can perform its functions. administrations must

be assisted in strengthening their capacity to

collect resources and administer those resources

in accordance with transparent and interna-

tional standards. these include functioning tax

systems/tax administrations (boosting revenues),

audit offices (checks on spending) and financial


reforms in the context of decentralisation. the

revenues of local self-government structures can

be increased by promoting income-generating

investments at community level.

in addition, it is particularly important that states

with income from rents (petroleum, mining)

should do more to mobilise development capital

from their own resources. Often political or private

actors are the only ones who profit from the use

and export of natural resources and this growing

financial potential is not being used productively

or in the interests of development. that requires

institutional mechanisms to be in place linking

powers over the control and use of resources to the

obligation of democratic accountability.


l Strengthening the transparency and

accountability of the executive in the use of

public resources, and mandatory compli-

ance of state action with constitutional and

statutory law (e.g. through audit offices);

l Building and/or strengthening efficient

and effective administrative structures.

Comprehensive capacity development

encompasses technical aspects, and

human-resource and organisational

development;

l Building and/or strengthening an ade-

quate fiscal base (especially taxes and cus-

toms duties), a transparent system of public

finances and pro-poor, gender-oriented

planning and execution of the budget;

inclusion of citizens’ organisations in the

supervision and audit of public resources;

l Promoting institutions for the prevention

and eradication of corruption inter alia by

promoting the transposition and imple-

mentation of international treaties (United

Nations Convention against Corruption,

african Union Convention on Preventing

and Combating Corruption) and the afri-

can Peer review Mechanism (aPrM);

l Promoting the responsible and account-

able utilisation of revenues from natural

resources (fuels, mineral resources and

tropical timbers) for sustainable develop-

ment, bringing in parliaments, the corpo-

rate sector and civil society organisations;

l Supporting the cooperation of local forces

with international transparency initiatives

to monitor the extractive industries and

export profits.

5.5 Meeting the Population’s Basic Needs

Through Delivery of MDG-Oriented,

Non-Discriminatory Basic Social Services

in many countries basic social services (health

care, education, drinking water) are deficient in

the extreme. in almost all countries, non-govern-

mental organisations supplement the inadequate

services provided by the state. therefore, promot-

ing non-governmental investment in health and

education can help build capacities for basic

social services delivery. as a fundamental prin-

ciple, the state must progressively step up its

provision of basic social services, since health,

education and drinking water are human

rights. Delivery of these basic services is most

effective where political institutions – including

traditional and informal institutions – are decen-

tralised and strengthened, since they facilitate

popular participation and empowerment. Care

must be taken to ensure that social inequities are

not reproduced and ethnic, religious and cultural

diversity is not denied. if basic social services are

available, accessible, of good quality and non-


discriminatory,26

26 the rights to education, health and water contained in the interna-tional covenant on economic, social and cultural rights are defined by the following core elements: they should be available, accessible, affordable for all -- especially underprivileged sectors of the popula-tion –, culturally and socially appropriate/adapted and adaptable.

they will also reach the poor and

disadvantaged sectors of society.

education is a central element of social turnaround

processes. the education sector can make a vital

contribution to creating conditions conducive to a

better political environment. Of special importance

are decentralised, community-based initiatives,

which are regarded as ‘anchors’ for investment in

education, especially in fragile countries. Coopera-

tion with non-governmental actors has proved

particularly effective.


l Promoting basic health services, having

regard to specific risks (malnutrition, psy-

chic trauma, reproductive health, sexual

abuse, aiDS, land mines);

l Strengthening coordination and coopera-

tion between governmental and non-gov-

ernmental actors in the health sector;

l Promoting community-based schooling and

safe places of learning both for girls (and

women) and for boys (and men), bringing in

communities and parents’ associations (chil-

dren’s schooling as a parental obligation);

l Promoting education that is culturally

sensitive and adapted to local languages

by means of curriculum reform (inter alia

multi-language and intercultural educa-

tion, dismantling violence-promoting

patterns of masculinity) and training and

upgrading of teaching staff of both genders

(peace education, education in human

rights and democracy);

l improving the decentralised infrastructure,

bringing in the population and user groups,

e.g. in the water sector as part of integrated

water resource management (access to

clean drinking water as a human right).

5.6 Pro-Poor Growth and Combating Illegal

Economic Activities Through Reliable

Frameworks

in all situations, a functioning state must endea-

vour to build an economic system that enables

people in all parts of the country to make an

adequate income and to find a decent job without

over-exploiting or destroying natural resources.

in particular joblessness among young males

significantly raises the risk of violent conflict. De-

pendable frameworks are essential to facilitating

pro-poor growth and combating the illegal trade

in raw materials and mineral resources. in many

countries natural resources are being exploited

without any form of control and destroyed as a

result (soil, water, forests). Profits are not taxed

and are not available for development purposes.

even where regulatory mechanisms exist they are

often circumvented. there is complicity between

the state and private actors. Hence international

transparency initiatives, such as the extractive

industries transparency initiative (eiti), the United

Nations global Compact und transparency inter-

national, are playing an important part in promot-

ing transparency and rooting out corruption, espe-

cially in resource-rich countries. illegal economic

activities and other crimes should be combated in

cooperation with the judiciaries and police forces

of other countries (trafficking in women and chil-

dren, prostitution, pornography, drugs and arms

trafficking, trafficking in human organs, etc.).



l institutional capacity building to combat

criminal economies and reduce the sources

of corruption (investment protection,

public procurement);

l Promoting productive activities of poor

households by providing them with access

to economic resources and markets and

securing property rights (bringing the

informal sector closer to formal economic

processes);

l Promoting sustainable resource manage-

ment; socially compatible, non-discrimina-

tory land distribution; assured land use

rights; and land ownership titles – also for

women – in the context of food security and

rural development;

l Promoting training and job opportunities

for underprivileged and vulnerable young

people of both sexes (vocational training);

l Strengthening regional economic integra-

tion and economic policy skills in regional

organisations (joint border controls to

combat illegal economic activities, market

transparency, rule-of-law-based system of

collecting customs duties).


6. impact assessment and Performance Monitoring

Sustainable impacts of development cooperation

can often only be achieved in the long term. Yet

quick-impact measures are essential to bring

about stabilisation. targets must therefore be

realistic and have different time horizons. inter-

action with autonomous efforts in the partner

countries and with the inputs of other bilateral

and multilateral donors is vital. Programmes and

projects should not be abandoned prematurely

because too little progress has been made.

Developments in the partner countries must be

closely monitored and development cooperation

interventions regularly reviewed to facilitate flex-

ible responses, using appropriate instruments, to

changing constellations of actors and problems.

against this background, the following in par-

ticular should be carefully reviewed:

Improvement of the institutional setting and

development cooperation instruments

l Progress on donor coordination and har-

monisation (efficient coordination mecha-

nisms, joint strategies such as the ‘Joint

assistance Strategies’, and joint financial

instruments);

l regular and joint policy dialogue with

partner governments on governance

themes (human rights, women’s rights,

democracy, rule of law, corruption, etc.);

l growth in open local and regional funds

to strengthen governance capacities, crisis

prevention and peacekeeping.

Impact of interventions in terms of develop-

ment-oriented transformation, taking the

different situations into account

l institutional capacity building for core

functions of the state;

l improving delivery of basic services to poor

and underprivileged groups and better

protection against further impoverishment

(multi-dimensional concept of labour

covering political participation and access

to resources);

l Constructive influence on poor govern-

ment performance through collaboration

between different policy instruments

(policy coherence).


7. Outlook

even though the challenges of fragile statehood

and poor government performance are huge and

the international community’s options for action

limited and beset with risks, only with a serious

and responsible commitment to development-

oriented transformation can the Millennium

goals be achieved and the problems outlined

above overcome.

responsibility for implementing this agenda

must be borne by the international community as

a whole and by all policy fields. in this regard, the

growing importance of non-DaC actors is posing

new challenges for the international donor com-

munity. Challenges also arise in connection with

private-sector inputs in settings of fragile state-

hood and poor government performance.

external actors still know too little about societal

forces and the way they interact to shape change

in our partner countries. the need to have a thor-

ough understanding of traditional values and

beliefs and – wherever possible – to take account

of them in our cooperation is nowhere more

acute than in situations of fragile statehood and

poor government performance. Only if we heed

social realities and take a differentiated view

can we make a successful contribution, through

dialogue and cooperation, to transformation,

stability and development.


abbreviations and acronyms

aDB asian Development Bank

afDB african Development Bank

aPrM african Peer review Mechanism

aSeaN association of Southeast asian Nations

aU african Union

CeDaW Convention on the elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women

CiM Centre for international Migration and Development

DeD german Development Service

DgttF Democratic governance thematic trust Fund

eCOWaS economic Community of West african States

eiti extractive industries transparency initiative

eSC economic, social and cultural (rights)

eU european Union

gtZ Deutsche gesellschaft für technische Zusammenarbeit

iaDB inter-american Development Bank

igaD intergovernmental authority on Development

inWent inWent – internationale Weiterbildung und entwicklung ggmbH

KfW Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau

LDC Least Developed Countries

LiCUS Low income Countries under Stress

MDgs Millennium Development goals

MerCOSUr Mercado Commún del Sur

NatO North atlantic treaty Organization

NePaD New Partnership for africa’s Development

NgO Non-governmental organisation

ODa Official Development assistance


OeCD Organisation for economic Co-operation and Development

OeCD-DaC Development assistance Committee of the Organisation for economic

Co-operation and Development

PJF Programme-oriented joint financing

PrS Poverty reduction Strategies

SaDC Southern african Development Community

UN United Nations

UNCaC United Nations Convention against Corruption

UNDP United Nations Development Programme

UNeSCO United Nations educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

UNFPa United Nations Population Fund

UNHCHr United Nations High Commissioner for refugees

UNiCeF United Nations Children’s Fund

UNiFeM United Nations Development Fund for Women

WFP World Food Programme


Further reading

Advisory Council on International Affairs (2004):

Failing States, A Global Responsibility, the Hague,

Netherlands

Brock, Lothar / Brühl, Tanja (2006): After the UN

Reform Summit: Proposals to Strengthen Collective

Action for Securing Peace – Policy Paper 24, Bonn

BMZ Special (2004)

Anchor Countries – Partners for Global Develop-

ment, Bonn

BMZ Strategies (2004):

Development policy action plan on human rights

2004 – 2007 – Every person has a right to develop-

ment, Bonn

UrL: http://www.bmz.de/en/service/infothek/

fach/konzepte/konzept128engl.pdf

BMZ Cross-Section Evaluation (2004)

Möglichkeiten und Grenzen der Förderung von

Demokratie und Good Governance, Bonn

BMZ Discourse (2004):

On development-based and military responses to

new security challenges, Bonn

BMZ Strategies (2005):

Sector strategy for crisis prevention, conflict trans-

formation and peace-building in German develop-

ment cooperation, Bonn

Benn, Ron Hilary (2005): Why we need to work

more effectively in fragile states, Department for

international Development (DFiD), London

Chauvet, Lisa / Collier, Paul (2004): Develop-

ment Effectiveness in Fragile States: Spillovers and

Turnarounds, Centre for the Study of african

economies, Department of economics, Oxford

University, Oxford

Collier, Paul (2006): Assisting Africa to Achieve

Decisive Change, Centre for the Study of african

economies, Department of economics, Oxford

University, Oxford

Canadian International Development Agency

(2005): On the Road to Recovery: Breaking the Cycle

of Poverty and Fragility – guidelines for effective

Development Cooperation in Fragile States,

Canada

Colenso, Peter / Leader, Nicholas (2005): Aid

Instruments in Fragile States. UK Department for

international Development, London

Debiel, Tobias (2005): Staatsversagen in Entwick-

lungs- und Transformationsländern: Ansatzpunkte

für die Entwicklungszusammenarbeit. ein Über-

blick zu Forschungsstand und Policy-Debatten.

Studien- und Beratungsvorhaben für das BMZ,

Bonn

Debiel, Tobias / Klingebiel, Stephan / Mehler,

Andreas / Schneckener, Ulrich (2005): Between

Ignorance and Intervention – Strategies and Dilem-

mas of External Actors in Fragile States, Stiftung

entwicklung und Frieden, Policy Paper 23, Bonn

Debiel, Tobias / Werthes, Sascha (2006): Human

Security on Foreign Policy Agendas – Changes,

Concepts and Cases, institute for Development

and Peace, Duisburg-essen

Emmerson, Donald / Bunbongkarn, Suchit /

Harymurti, Bambang (1999): Journal of Democ-

racy, Southeast Asia After the Crisis.

Evans, Gareth / Sahnoun, Mohamed (2001):

The Responsibility to Protect, report of the inter-

national Commission on intervention and State

Sovereignty, Ottawa, Canada

http://www.bmz.de/en/service/infothek/fach/konzepte/konzept128engl.pdf


GTZ-Orientierungspapier (2006): Gender und

Konflikte, GTZ Sektorberatungsvorhaben Krisen-

prävention und Konfliktbearbeitung, eschborn

Interministerial Steering Group for Civilian

Crisis Prevention (Ressortkreis zivile Krisen-

prävention) (2006): Interministerial Framework

Strategy on Support for Security Sector Reform in

Developing and Transformation Countries. Berlin

The European Consensus on Development

(2005): Joint Statement by the Council and the

Representatives of the Governments of the Member

States Meeting within the Council, the European

Parliament and the Commission, Brussels

JICA (2006): Handbook for Transition Assistance,

Japan International Cooperation Agency, tokyo

Klemp, Ludgera / Poeschke, Roman (2005):

Good Governance gegen Armut und Staatsversagen,

in Politik und Zeitgeschehen, No. 28-29, Bonn

Kloke-Lesch, Adolf (2004): German Development

Policy on States at Risk and State-Building: States at

risk – Stabilisation and state-building by external

intervention, 1st Colloquium, 20-21 January 2004,

at the Carnegie endowment for international

Peace, Washington, D.C.

Kloke-Lesch, Adolf (2003): Konzeptionelle Schluss-

folgerungen der Entwicklungszusammenarbeit

unter Bedingungen erodierender Staaten, Bonn

Klotzle, Kurt (2006): International Strategies in

Fragile States: Expanding the Toolbox? CaP Policy

analysis, München

Levin, V. / Dollar, D. (2005): The forgotten states:

aid volumes and volatility in difficult partnership

countries (1992-2002): Summary paper for DaC

Learning and advisory Process on Difficult Part-

nerships, Paris

Lindsay, Alexander (2005): Developing an EU

Strategy to Address Fragile States: Priorities for the

UK Presidency of the EU in 2005 – Saferworld inter-

national alert, London

McLean, Andy / Scheye, Eric (2006): Draft –

Enhancing the delivery of justice and security in

fragile states, OeCD, Paris

Martens, Jens (2005): In Larger Freedom: The

Report of the UN Secretary-General for the Millen-

nium+5 Summit 2005: global Policy Forum, Fried-

rich ebert Stiftung, Bonn

Nye, Joseph S. (2004): Soft Power, The Means to

Success in World Politics, New York

Ottaway, Marina / Mair, Stefan (2004): States

at Risk and Failed States – Putting Security First,

german institute for international and Security

affairs (SWP), Washington

Risse, Thomas (2005): Governance in Räumen

begrenzter Staatlichkeit, iP Zerfallene Staaten,

Bonn

Roehder, Katja (2004): Entwicklungspolitische

Handlungsfelder im Kontext erodierender Staatlich-

keit in Subsahara-Afrika, german Development

institute (gDi), Bonn

Roehder, Katja (2005): Die NATO als Kooperation-

spartner für die Entwicklungspolitik, Neue Konzep-

tionen zivil-militärischer Zusammenarbeit, Bonn

Rose, P., Greeley, M. (2006): Education in Fragile

States: Capturing Lessons and Identifying Good

Practices, Background Paper: education Service

Delivery in Fragile States, 6th Meeting of the

Fragile States group, OeCD, Paris, 15 June 2006

Rosser, A., Introduction 2006, in: IDS Bulletin,

Achieving Turnaround in Fragile States, Volume 37,

No. 2, March 2006, pp. 1-13


Rotberg, Robert I. (2004): When States Fail –

Causes and Consequences. Princeton University

Press, Oxford

Schmitz, Andrea (2006): Konditionalität in der

Entwicklungspolitik, Stiftung Wissenschaft und

Politik (SWP study), german institute for inter-

national and Security affairs, Berlin

The Fund for Peace (2006): Failed States Index

2006, Washington

Thornton, Nigel / Cox, Marcus (2005): Developing

Poverty Reduction Strategies in Low-Income Coun-

tries under Stress (LICUS). agulhas Development

Consultants, London

USAID (2005): Fragile States Strategy, Washington

World Bank (2002): Low-Income Countries Under

Stress: a task Force report, Washington

World Bank (2006): World Bank Support to Low-

Income Countries Under Stress. An Independent

Evaluation Group (IEG) Review. Washington

World Bank (2007, forthcoming): Global Moni-

toring Report 2007 – Confronting the Challenges of

Gender Equality and Fragile States. Washington

Zürcher, Christoph (2005): Gewollte Schwäche –

Vom schwierigen analytischen Umgang mit

prekärer Staatlichkeit, Berlin

Published by the

Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development

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Editor-in-chief: Dr Ludgera Klemp Supported by Christian grünhagenFinal editing: Jutta WagnerOfficials responsible: Dr eduard WestreicherAs at: May 2007

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