Foreword
The OECD Development Co-operation Directorate (DCD) has produced Fragile States publications since 2005. These explore trends and financial resource flows in fragile and conflict-affected countries and economies (referred to hereafter as contexts). Balancing a global perspective on fragility with a focus on the most fragile contexts, the reports respond to growing concerns about the implications of fragility for stability and development, especially in the context of the 2030 Agenda and the international promise to leave no one behind. The OECD is one of only a handful of sources of aggregate data and analysis for fragile contexts as a group.
The purpose of the States of Fragility report series, now in its fifth edition, is to provide compelling evidence and perspectives that can inform development partners’ policies and underpin international debates. States of Fragility 2022 marks the introduction of a new version of the OECD’s multidimensional fragility framework. This report is supported by an online platform and three core working papers that provide the substantive content underpinning the findings set forth in this document. This approach is tailored to meet the needs of the audience of political decision makers, policy makers and practitioners to 1) monitor levels and compositions of resource flows to fragile contexts, 2) understand qualitative trends related to these flows, and 3) offer an outlook on the key issues and contexts to watch in the coming years.
This report is organised into three chapters. Chapter 1 identifies the most fragile contexts based on the most recently available data, considers their progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals and highlights prominent trends in and affecting fragile contexts. Chapter 2 provides a comprehensive overview of the state of responses to fragility, including trends in both official development assistance and other financial resources as well as in policies to address the drivers of multidimensional fragility and the complex ways it manifests in fragile contexts. Chapter 3 proposes options for navigating an environment characterised by multiple shocks and crises.
The 2021 data captured by the framework do not reflect the global repercussions of Russia’s large-scale aggression against Ukraine or the full extent of the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, given the magnitude and significance of these shocks, data are referenced when available to add detail and context to recent trends in fragility.