Foreword

The OECD’s Development Co-operation Directorate (DCD) has produced Fragile States reports since 2005. These reports explore trends and financial resource flows in fragile and conflict-affected states and economies. They respond to increasing concerns about the implications of fragility for international stability and development progress. Also, they recognise aid as being only one component of international support to fragile environments, and put it into context. The OECD remains one of only a handful of sources of aggregate data and analysis for fragile states and economies as a group. In line with the new, broader concept of fragility presented in this 2015 report, the OECD’s annual publication will now be referred to as States of Fragility.

The purpose of this series is to provide compelling evidence that can inform donor policies and underpin international debates. By doing so, the reports seek to ensure that issues driving fragility remain high on the international development agenda. Concretely, the reports aim to enable policy makers in the international community to: 1) monitor levels and composition of resource flows to fragile states (official development assistance [ODA] and non-ODA); 2) understand qualitative trends in the delivery of aid; 3) gain an outlook on key issues and countries of concern over the coming years. The publication also seeks to shed light on a different key aspect of fragility every year. In 2014, the report included a special focus on domestic revenue mobilisation, a key aspect of one of the five Peacebuilding and Statebuilding Goals.

With regard to the data used in the current volume, this report draws on 2012 official development assistance data, the latest available data at the time of writing. All amounts referring to 2012 are denoted in current 2012 USD, unless specified otherwise. For time series, constant 2012 USD are used. Figures reflect OECD statistics unless indicated otherwise. Further, data on concessional flows reflect the different donor interpretations and OECD-DAC adjustments, as explained at: www.oecd.org/dac/stats/concessionality-note.htm.