The Fragility Forum 2022 is committed to peace and development in the midst of new and intensifying crises

Over the last two years the world has been on edge, with serious implications for the most fragile economies.

Since the last Fragility Forum in 2020 and in a year dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic, peace and development around the world have faced massive setbacks from Asia to Africa to Latin America.  Fragility and conflict risks are also on the rise in middle-income countries. Our most recent economic forecast indicates that, by 2023, the output of fragile and conflict-affected countries will be 7.5 percent below pre-pandemic levels. This is well below prospects in emerging and developing countries at large. For the most vulnerable, this means food insecurity, extreme poverty, loss of human capital and fewer economic opportunities in addition to the threat of violence and forced displacement.

For institutions such as the World Bank, a significant challenge is having to pause our support to countries during times of significant government upheaval – such as through a coup d’etat. This means that we are unable to continue implementing critically needed services to millions of poor and vulnerable people. We need to find a workable solution to this challenge – and welcome the upcoming Fragility Forum 2022 as an opportunity for the global community to identify ways to help the ones hit hardest by the confluence of crises.

The Fragility Forum 2022: Development and Peace in Uncertain Times, which will be held on March 7-15, offers a platform for the global community to gather and gauge the way it has been responding to fragility, conflict, and violence (FCV) over the past decade and how to move forward.

The global response to FCV is constantly evolving to adapt to ongoing changes in the international context – of which there have been many.  From the effects of climate change to the unprecedented socioeconomic crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic as well as increasing political tensions and violence, these compounding challenges hit especially hard those populations that were already dealing with structural fragility and violent conflict.

The Fragility Forum 2022 will bring together thousands of representatives key to tackling this agenda.  This includes policymakers; practitioners from humanitarian, development, peace and security communities; the public and private sector; academia; and civil society.

Over the course of eight days, this community will exchange ideas and knowledge to improve development approaches in FCV settings that can help foster peace and stability.

It has been a decade since the  2011 World Development Report (WDR) on Conflict, Security and Development was published. This report advocated for country leadership and  collaboration across humanitarian, development, peace and security actors. Now is a good time to take stock of what has worked to achieve these aims, as well as identify the areas where we, the international community, can do better to achieve an international system fit to address 21st century risks.

The conversations and sessions of the Forum will be organized along four major themes :

1. Addressing compound risks and increasing resilience in FCV contexts with a more multi-dimensional, comprehensive understanding of how those risks interact.
2. Changing the economic trajectory in FCV settings: by highlighting new tools and approaches required to contribute to economic transformation and opportunities, jobs, financial sector resilience, inclusive connectivity and technology/digital development.
3. Rethinking the link between development and security: with conversations around concrete experiences of coordination and integration of efforts across development and peace objectives, lessons learned, operational successes and failures of collaboration, and more.
4. Challenges and realities of governance and institution building in FCV settings: discussions that invite a deep and honest look at realities and challenges of state and institution building, particularly given the lessons learned and experiences from the past year in Myanmar, Afghanistan, Sahel, Horn of Africa, and others.

The Forum will offer a rich menu of over 60 sessions to be held virtually. This will include panel discussions, workshops, and podcasts focusing on issues such as climate change and conflict, governance and institutions, reducing urban violence, security and justice institutions, engaging the private sector, or the next generation of human security among other topics.  

We are eager to convene these crucial conversations with our many partners in this arena, and to do so on the heels of the recent approval of the IDA20 replenishment. IDA financing to Fragile and Conflict-Affected States (FCS) has nearly tripled in the last 5 years. With its record financing for the 74 poorest countries in the world, its ongoing focus on FCV, and a new cross-cutting issue on crisis preparedness added to its agenda, IDA20 will remain a key financing and policy tool  to not only improve the lives of the most vulnerable in fragile, conflict and violence-affected settings but also support defensive and prevention mechanisms. Addressing fragility is at the heart of the World Bank’s mission to end poverty.

As fragility deepens in many parts of the world, the challenges ahead are daunting. We are looking forward to meeting up with the FCV community again and holding these hard but necessary conversations.  And we are confident that you are just as eager to reflect,  rethink, redraft and resolve to move forward energized by the lessons and innovations we’ll share at this event.

Registration for the Fragility Forum 2022 is now open and we welcome your comments here or by contacting fragilityforum@worldbank.org.

See you in March!