Supporting Recovery in Fragile and Post-Conflict States

Fragile and Post-Conflict states are characterised by weak governance, a legacy of conflict, ongoing insecurity and violence, and an inability to deliver public goods and services. They constantly lag behind other poor countries in terms of economic growth and achieving the Millennium Development Goals, having higher rates of malnutrition and child mortality, and lower rates of primary school completion. One billion of the world’s poor live in fragile states, including over 300 million of the world’s extreme poor. Supporting recovery in these countries is therefore an international priority.

‘Fragile states’ is a term generally used to refer to countries that have weak governance, limited administrative capacity, violence, and many have a long legacy of violent conflict. Such fragility has the biggest impact on the poorest and most vulnerable within society, including women and children. These groups are most at risk of violence, loss of livelihood, exploitation, poverty and malnutrition. Fragile states can also create transnational security threats via mass migration, environmental degradation, violent conflict and threat of terrorism. HTSPE also recognises that regions within otherwise peaceful and stables states can be fragile – such as the Delta Region within Nigeria.

In our approach to supporting recovery in fragile and post-conflict states, HTSPE recognises that there are no blue prints and that each situation is unique – therefore requiring tailored solutions. Key elements of our approach include:

Understanding and working with both the formal and informal institutions that govern behaviour and provide a framework for operating within the country concerned – while at the same time recognising the relative strengths and weaknesses of these institutions.

Understanding and addressing social exclusion which is usually both a key cause and characteristic of a fragile state.
Building citizen participation which is essential if a government is to achieve legitimacy. This includes maximising the opportunities for women to participate and make their voices heard.
Supporting and strengthening sub-national governance structures, such as local government, and their role in service delivery.
Understanding the root causes of conflict, recognise that the objective is not to restore livelihoods to their pre-conflict state, but to transform people’s livelihoods in such a way that helps to address some of the inequalities and tensions that lay behind the conflict.

HTSPE has worked in fragile and post-conflict states throughout their 50 year history including Afghanistan (since the 1970’s); Vietnam (1970s and 80s); during and post civil-war in Mozambique and Angola (1980s and 1990s); South Darfur (Sudan) in the 1980s and 1990s; and more recently in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nepal and Pakistan. Current work in fragile and post-conflict states encompasses Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Palestine, and South Sudan. The scope of our work in fragile and post-conflict states has included resettlement (including returning refugees), institution building and strengthening, natural resource management, climate change resilience, measuring results, social protection measures (from cash transfers to rebuilding of social protection systems), and supporting private sector recovery and development.

Bosnia and Herzegovina: Capacity Building for Refugee Return Programmes

Support was provided to local authorities (at state and entity levels) responsible for the implementation of refugee and displaced person return programmes. Support was based on the identification and realistic assessment of the problems, opportunities, and priorities and constraints to achieve the successful return of displaced people. Alternative solutions were identified and individually appraised in terms of relevance, feasibility and sustainability.

Specific support included:

Provision of background information on the sector and the current sector related local authority structures.
Defining policy and operational constraints.
Recommendations on capacity building needs of local authorities.
Assessment of local authorities’ capacity to implement the programme.
Identification of different options (including interim arrangements) and selecting the preferred option for the intervention, preliminary indication of the project results and activities, required resources, timing/phasing and estimated costs, and Logical Framework.
Assessment of project sustainability.

Zimbabwe: Feasibility Study for the Education Sector

The overall objective of this assignment was to provide decision-makers in the Government of Zimbabwe and the EC with sufficient information to reach agreement on the composition and timing of interventions in the education sector.

Given the political insecurity in country, a number of issues were analysed for the EU including:

an overview of the education budget preparation and execution;
the current status of education personnel;
challenges and problems affecting the education sector;
an overview of other actors in education who implement projects within the framework of the Ministry of Education Sports and Culture programmes;
identification of gaps and immediate needs in the education sector; and
identification of short, medium and long term strategies for addressing the major challenges in the education sector.

Afghanistan: Helmand Alternative Livelihood Programme

HTSPE provided support to the implementation of the Helmand Provincial Government’s counter-narcotics (CN) alternative livelihoods plan 2009/2010 by undertaking a market analysis of the wheat industry in Helmand in order to identify opportunities for economic growth and the development of alternative livelihoods in the province, supplying technical assistance to farmers and building capacity within the Provincial Government.

The team conducted an initial assessment of the context of the Helmand wheat and wider agricultural market, the existing capacity and potential areas of corruption. The delivery phase of the project included providing technical assistance, implementing value-adding activities and making recommendations on future developments. The programme had an emphasis on monitoring and evaluation (M&E) and capacity building. A programme of capacity building was also designed, and extension workers from the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock were trained.

Nepal: Seed Sector Support Project

The goal of the project was to improve the livelihoods of hill families by supporting opportunities for income generation through production of fresh vegetables and sale of temperate vegetable seeds. This was achieved through activities targeted in three areas of the middle hills as well as at the national level. The project areas were Dhankuta (East Nepal), Baglung (West Nepal), and Dhoti (Far West Nepal). With the development of the Maoist insurgency in the latter years of the programme, the SSSP remained one of the few programmes actively working in conflict and post-conflict affected areas. In response to the conflict, the programme implemented a Special Support Programme (SSP) that directly targeted food security and livelihood issues of conflict-affected poor farmers.

Mozambique: Cotton Sub-Sector Study

This study was commissioned as part of a general review of Mozambique's agricultural sector in the context of civil war and a declining economic situation. Prior to the civil war, cotton was for many years one of the main export crops and an important source of foreign exchange. The study was required to examine the current situation of the cotton industry from production by smallholders and state farms through ginning to the marketing of lint. It was found that many of the ginneries were in good condition in spite of the recent very large decline in seed cotton production and the serious security situation, and that the main policy objective should be to increase the production of seed cotton. Recommendations for the sector had to be sensitive to the security situation and what was possible and practical within the political context.

To view more detail or additional projects please click on the links below:
Monitoring and Evaluation of Livelihood Programmes
Support for Earthquake Monitoring and Evaluation
Development of a Recuitment Database for Southern Sudanese
Fragile & Conflict Affected States Framework Agreement (FCAS)