World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER)
Abstract
Over the past few years addressing state fragility in the third world has become an
important priority in international development cooperation. However, it seems that the
international donor community has so far not been able to develop adequate instruments
for dealing with the problems posed by state failure. We see two reasons for this:
(i) there is growing recognition within the donor community that the lack of absorptive
capacity, or bad economic policies in the partner country can actually make aid counterproductive, even harmful; and (ii) it is very difficult to manage effective
development cooperation with weak governments. Channelling aid through NGOs, or giving limited aid in the form of capacity-building is clearly not sufficient to solve the problems fragile states face
