Journal Special Issue
Fragility and Development in Small Island Developing States

In recent years there is a growing concern within the international donor community regarding the plight of a special group of countries labeled as 'Fragile States'. These states, which according to current donor lists currently numbers more than 40 countries, are diverse in many respects. But, compared with other aid-receiving countries, all are thought to use aid poorly and to have lower capacities to absorb aid efficiently due to having especially bad policies, especially weak institutions or both. In addition they are all especially income poor, each belonging to the low-income country group. Alongside this rather recent concern is a more longstanding one for Small Island and Landlocked (SIL) countries . These countries can also be considered fragile, not necessarily in the way in which donors use that term, but in the sense that they are vulnerable to external shocks. The proposed project looks at aid and related governance issues in the first group of countries and a range of development challenges faced by SILs in the South Pacific and the Caribbean.