Working Paper
Aid targeting to fragile and conflict-affected states and implications for aid effectiveness
While significant amounts of foreign aid have been allocated to the group of so-called fragile and conflict-affected states in recent years, it is not clear whether that aid is targeted to where it is most needed. This paper extends recent work by...
Project workshop
Deals and Development in Fragile and Conflict-affected States
On 24-25 February 2021, UNU-WIDER and the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) will hold a policy innovation lab titled Deals and Development in Fragile and Conflict-Affected States (FCAS).
Wed, 24 February 2021
–
Thu, 25 February 2021
Online,
Finland
Past event
Parallel session
Fragile states and conflict
Fragile states pose continuing challenges for development and peacebuilding, and fragility is a major hurdle in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Considerable international resources are directed to fragile states, but with...
Working Paper
Assessing Vulnerability Before, During and After a Natural Disaster in Fragile Regions
Current approaches of measuring vulnerability to natural hazards generally use a rather static perspective that focuses on a single point in time—often before a hazardous event occurs. In contrast, the paper argues that vulnerability assessment...
Blog
Common factors in conflict-induced state fragility
by
Lual A. Deng
December 2016
What does it mean to be a fragile state? According to the IMF, fragile states are those in ‘which the government is unable to reliably deliver basic...
Presentation
Fragile Development 2015-2030: Understanding how insecurity and poor governance will affect sustainable development
On 19th June UNU-WIDER Non-Resident Research Fellow Roger Williamson, participated in a panel entitled “Fragile Development 2015-2030: Understanding how insecurity and poor governance will affect sustainable development”. The panel was organized by...
Fri, 19 June 2015
Guoman Tower Hotel,
St Katharine's Way,
London,
United Kingdom
Past event
Research Brief
Neotrusteeship in Post-Conflict States – Lessons from Kosovo and East Timor
Kosovo and East Timor share many similar characteristics, and yet they have had divergent results in post-conflict state building. East Timor has enjoyed far greater development success since its independence, whereas Kosovo is now the poorest and...
News
MEDIA ADVISORY: International conference gathers conflict experts in Helsinki
Next week a high-level conference on peacebuilding and conflict brings more than 250 experts to Helsinki to discuss new research and current policy challenges in preventing and resolving conflicts and sustaining peace across the world. The two-day conference is organised by the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER).
Workshop
Tax & conflict workshop and roundtable – pathways to statebuilding
Thu, 27 March 2025 08:30
–
Fri, 28 March 2025 16:00
Scandic Marina Congress Center, pressroom,
Katajanokanlaituri 6,
Helsinki,
Finland
Parallel session
Aid, peace, and fragile states
Although considerable international resources have been devoted to state-building and institutional strengthening in fragile and conflict-affected states, results have been generally mixed. Why and how have some states transitioned successfully from...
Presentation
UNU-WIDER at the Fragile Lives 2024 conference
Households in Conflict Network celebrates its 20th anniversary during the conference Fragile Lives 2024 on 1–2 October in Berlin. UNU-WIDER Deputy Director Patricia Justino, one of the founders and directors of the network, hosts a keynote panel at...
Tue, 1 October 2024
–
Wed, 2 October 2024
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin,
Unter den Linden 6,
Berlin,
Germany
Past event
Panel discussion
How to get inclusive growth started in fragile contexts
Wed, 9 June 2021
Online,
Helsinki,
Finland
Past event
About
Speakers - How to get inclusive growth started in fragile contexts?
Panel Chair Patricia Justino is a Senior Research Fellow at UNU-WIDER and Professorial Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) in Brighton, UK (on leave). She is a leading expert on political violence and development, and the co-founder...
Seminar
Fragile states: Causes, costs, and responses
Overcoming state fragility is one of the most important international development objectives of the 21st century. Many fragile states have turned into failed states, where millions of people are caught in deprivation and seemingly hopeless conditions...
Mon, 19 March 2012
St Catherine's College,
Manor Road,
Oxford,
United Kingdom
Past event
Seminar
Fragile states: Causes, costs, and responses
Presenter Amelia U. Santos-Paulino, UNCTAD Chair Gordon Alexander, UNICEF Office of Research Discussant Gerárd Roland, University of California Overcoming state fragility is one of the most important international development objectives of the 21st...
Wed, 14 March 2012
Istituto degli Innocenti ,
Piazza della Santissima,
Florence,
Italy
Past event
Conference
The puzzle of peace – towards inclusive development in fragile contexts
Mon, 16 May 2022
–
Tue, 17 May 2022
Scandic Marina Congress Center,
Katajanokanlaituri 6,
Helsinki,
Finland
Past event
Blog
From conflict preventor to security actor: European Peace Facility, Ukraine, and the evolution of EU’s role
by
Katariina Mustasilta, Tyyne Karjalainen
March 2022
Russia’s war of aggression on Ukraine has catalysed the European Union (EU) — criticised as a paper tiger yet acknowledged to evolve through crises —...
About
Poster session: The puzzle of peace – towards inclusive development in fragile contexts
In collaboration with the Conflict Research Network – West Africa (CORN West Africa), this conference poster session is focused on 'overcoming the barriers towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16 in Africa'. This collaboration...
Parallel session
Peace and conflict
While the pandemic has presented undeniable challenges to public health and the global economy, we still have limited understanding of its political implications. How has the pandemic, and its related policy response, affected violence, rebellion...
Working Paper
State-Building Through Neotrusteeship
Why do some states, with foreign assistance, transition from ‘fragile’ to ‘robust?’ Scholars in state-building have argued that neotrusteeship is an effective strategy by which external organizations might build post-conflict states. This working...
Working Paper
Understanding Somalia’s social contract and state-building efforts
Building on a World Bank regional study in Africa aiming at measuring social contracts concepts and within the framework of reflecting on future donor interventions, this paper applies social contracts measurement and complements with qualitative...
Working Paper
New estimates of the cost of ending poverty and its global distribution
This paper makes new estimates of the cost of ending poverty and the global distribution of both the cost and poverty itself. First, the paper discusses definitions of ‘ending’ poverty, arguing that there is an overemphasis (e.g. SDG 1) on the...
Blog
Is poverty really declining again? What falling poverty doesn’t tell us
by
Göran Holmqvist
January 2025
After a temporary increase in 2020 due to COVID-19, global extreme income poverty is reportedly falling again, according to World Bank estimates...
Blog
New estimates of the cost of ending poverty: What does it mean and how much would it cost?
In a new UNU-WIDER paper, which provides background for this year’s OECD Development Cooperation Report, we take a closer look at the end of poverty...
Seminar
UNDP and Oxford Policy Management present findings from upcoming report
Wed, 5 June 2019
UNU-WIDER,
Katajanokanlaituri 6 B,
Helsinki,
Finland
Past event
Presentation
Kunal Sen presenting at Centre for Development and the Environment
Kunal Sen gives a presentation on 7 October 2021 at 2.15-4.15pm at the Centre for Development and the Environemnt, University of Oslo. The topic is his presentation is "How to Get Inclusive Growth Started in Fragile Contexts?". His talk is based on a...
Thu, 7 October 2021
Arne Næss, Centre for Development and the Environment,
Sandakerveien 130,
Oslo,
Norway
Past event
Presentation
From fragility to resilience – Kunal Sen joins roundtable event hosted by Foreign Policy
On 7 February, Kunal Sen joins the virtual roundtable event 'From fragility to resilience' hosted by Foreign Policy in partnership with Food for the Hungry. The pandemic and recent Russian invasion of Ukraine —compounded by soaring inflation, supply...
Tue, 7 February 2023
Online,
United States
Past event
Seminar
Sustainable cities discussion forum: SDG8
Tue, 31 May 2022
Helsinki City Hall,
Pohjoisesplanadi 11-13,
Helsinki,
Finland
Past event
Working Paper
The use of social accountability mechanisms by Syrian diaspora organizations providing aid in the Syrian crisis
This paper presents data from a study of Syrian diaspora organizations providing assistance to conflict-affected Syrians in Europe, the Middle East, and North America. Using interview data from leaders in three Syrian diaspora non-profit...
Blog
Can Entrepreneurship Make Peace Work?
Tony Addison and Tilman Brück There is a special role for entrepreneurship to play in making peace work. The recently published UNU-WIDER study...
Journal Special Issue
Development Assistance for Peacebuilding
Development assistance to fragile states and conflict-affected areas can be a core component of peacebuilding, providing support for the restoration of government functions, delivery of basic services, the rule of law and economic revitalization...
Blog
Working together on the puzzle of peace: The role of partnerships
When the theme for the first WIDER Development Conference of 2022—peace, security, and conflict—was chosen some years ago, no one could have predicted...
Book Chapter
Foreign aid and peacebuilding
Foreign aid is a core component of peacebuilding and among the largest external financial flows to fragile states and conflict-affected areas. Nevertheless, troubling critiques have been raised about its overall impact and effectiveness. Some of the...
Blog
Fragility is also an opportunity
by
Carl-Gustav Lindén
October 2013
One of the more difficult issues aid organizations are facing is how to plan and conduct interventions in fragile situations where armed conflict is...
Working Paper
Foreign Aid, Resource Rents and Institution-Building in Mozambique and Angola
Sharing similar colonial and post-independence civil war experiences, Mozambique and Angola’s development paths are often contrasted, with foreign aid-dependent Mozambique hailed a success compared to oil rentier Angola. This paper questions the so...
Presentation
The root causes of large scale forced migration
Director Finn Tarp made a contribution on international migration in a policy seminar hosted by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland.
Wed, 24 August 2016
Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland,
Laivastokatu 22,
Helsinki,
Finland
Past event
Blog
From the Editor's Desk (March 2013)
Tony Addison This month saw UNU-WIDER in Stockholm for the ReCom results meeting on ‘aid and the social sectors’, which took place at Sida on 13 March...
Book
Development Assistance for Peacebuilding
This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence. It is free to read at www.tandfebooks.com and offered as a free PDF download from Taylor & Francis Group and selected open access locations. Development assistance...
Blog
From the Editor's Desk (April 2012)
Tony Addison With our temperatures now well above zero, we head for the official end of the Finnish winter on 1st May (the ‘Vappu’ holiday). As...
Blog
Getting ready for Copenhagen
by
Carl-Gustav Lindén
September 2013
After two ReCom Results Meetings in Stockholm we are returning to Copenhagen. The next event ‘Challenges in Fragility and Governance’ is coming up...
Blog
How to get back on track to ending poverty – the imperative for a livable planet
by
Luis Felipe López-Calva
June 2024
We are off track to end poverty. Despite remarkable progress over the past few decades, the goal of eradicating poverty remains elusive, and SDG1: End...
Blog
Accelerating progress towards the SDGs in Africa: focusing on three thematic priorities
by
Malang Bojang
January 2024
I was recently invited to attend the event co-hosted by UNU-WIDER and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) in Addis Ababa...
Blog
Securing a future for the next generations – navigating today’s global challenges
by
Frederik Matthys
May 2024
In an era frequently described as ‘unprecedented’, the global landscape often seems daunting. Countries classified as democracies are increasingly...
Blog
Transforming economies, states, and societies – building evidence for achieving the SDGs
I am delighted to take the helm at UNU-WIDER, an institution which has been associated with some of the most advanced thinking in development...
Blog
Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and What Can be Done About it
by
Paul Collier
2007
by Paul Collier Alarge group of smallish countries totalling about a billion people have sheered off from the rest of mankind. As the world becomes...
Blog
From the Editor's Desk (April 2013)
30 April 2013 Tony Addison As April closes, our thoughts turn to UNU-WIDER’s spring/summer programme. And it’s a busy one. June sees us back in...
Blog
Owning our destiny: economic prospects for Africa
by
Yemi Kale
September 2024
Yemi Kale is the Group Chief Economist of the African Export-Import Bank. In this editorial, he reflects on the prospects for Africa’s future...
Blog
Looking back, moving forward – a photo retrospective of the 2019-2023 WIDER Work Programme
As we conclude the groundbreaking years of the 2019–2023 work programme on transforming economies, states, and societies, we reflect on the milestones...
Blog
Climate Change Adds to Risks in North Africa
by
Imed Drine
September 2011
Imed Drine The climate change threat North Africa is going through a turbulent year. With much of the focus on political transition, there is a danger...
Blog
The Macroeconomic Management of Foreign Aid
by
Tony Addison, Tseday Jemaneh Mekasha, Milla Nyyssölä, Lucy Scott,
Finn Tarp, Tuuli Paukkeri
January 2012
Tony Addison, Tseday Mekasha, Milla Nyyssölä, Lucy Scott, Finn Tarp, Tuuli Ylinen To meet development objectives, aid recipients and their donor...
Blog
Youth Unemployment in the Arab World: What Do We know? What is the Way Forward?
by
Imed Drine
June 2012
Imed Drine Many observers see youth unemployment as the major reason behind the recent popular uprisings in a number of Arab countries. Increasing...
Blog
Report from Gender Equality Results Meeting
by
Roger Williamson
January 2014
Roger Williamson The Danish State Secretary for Development Policy Charlotte Slente, welcomed the participants and contributors to the meeting and...
Blog
From billions to trillions – can the international financing for development system deliver this?
by
Betty N. Wainaina
August 2024
It is surreal, sitting on this side of history. Many who were involved in shaping the 2030 global development agenda recall the intense process and...
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