124 PEACE & POLITICS

Fragile states

What do the SDGs mean in a country that is falling apart? Whose responsibility do they become if a state is unwilling or unable to live up to that responsibility?

By Fred Carver, Head of Policy, Development Programme, argued current situation in Syria has shed light on United Nations Association – UK persuasively in these pages that the others, such as the difficulty the UN faces term ‘fragile state’ may have outlived its in delivering aid when doing so requires nstability is, by its very nature, usefulness, but that the concept of fragility interacting with a number of different unsustainable and so the questions above had not (see www.sustainablegoals.org.uk). partners with varying degrees of legitimacy Imay seem strange ones to ask. One might The Fund for Peace/Foreign Policy and territorial control. Another difficulty consider that restoring a state to a level of Fragile States Index measures state fragility is the tension caused between the need to stability should be a priority, and that the using 12 factors including demographic maintain good relations with state and non- Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) pressures, migration and displacement, state actors (and thus access for humanitarian represent an agenda which can only be group grievance, uneven economic supplies) and the need to apply political implemented once a crisis has passed. development, state legitimacy, human pressure on those actors to push them But with the indicating that rights and factionalism. towards a lasting and stable solution. two billion people live in countries where This list ably demonstrates the circular This is a conundrum the UN has long development outcomes are affected by nature of the relationship between fragility struggled with. It was discussed at length fragility, conflict and violence – and that and the goals. Not only does fragility in the report by the Internal Review Panel, by 2030, the share of global poor living in hamper development, but insufficient or headed by Charles Petrie, on UN actions in fragile and conflict-affected situations is uneven development increases fragility. It is Sri Lanka. In response, the then Secretary- projected to reach 46 per cent – it is simply somewhat moot to consider which is cause General Ban Ki-moon launched the ‘Human not a question we can wait to answer. If the and which effect. More important is the Rights up Front’ initiative, which seeks to sustainable development agenda cannot be vicious feedback loop that is thus created. ensure that will never again implemented in areas of fragility, then – in Fragility is on a spectrum, and it may be sidelined for humanitarian reasons. But this increasingly fragile century – it simply not be a useful exercise to divide states the broader questions Petrie raised around will not be implemented. neatly into categories of fragile and not the tensions between access and pressure Of course, this is reflected in the SDGs. fragile. But looking at the countries remained largely unanswered, and are perhaps Goal 16 specifically talks about promoting that are universally recognised as the unanswerable except on a case-by-case basis. peace and justice. SDG 10 recognises most fragile, we see that they are almost The approach of the UN, and most the importance of inequality in driving universally among the least developed donors, in such circumstances has been to instability. SDG 9 recognises that without countries. And this is without considering implement what development it can, when , development will falter. But the clearly fragile and underdeveloped it can. As a result, development in these the links to conflict and stability do not stop regions, such as Western Sahara, that are areas frequently displays a lack of strategy, there. It should be self-evident that war under the de facto control of authorities and is rarely linked to the advancement of drives poverty, that is made more that don’t have international recognition. the SDGs. difficult when schools are destroyed, and, Furthermore, as we have seen in West This is understandable in times of crisis. indeed, that state fragility has an impact on Asia, fragility spreads. This is a challenge But when crises show no signs of abating, every single goal. the goals must meet. this approach cannot be maintained It is clear that implementing the SDGs in indefinitely. In Syria, it took both the UN fragile contexts is an integral part of the push Implementation in a time of fragility and too long to move out to meet our global targets. But if we look at The implementation strategy for the goals of crisis management mode and develop the most fragile states we see that they are envisages a partnership between the state, long-term thinking. It took nearly five frequently those left behind by the global the UN, civil society and the private sector. years to establish a forum for coordinating development agenda. State fragility causes problems for all four humanitarian responses (the Whole of Syria Last year Gary Milante, Director of partners and for the relationships between Inter-Sector/Cluster Coordination Group the Stockholm Institute’s Security and them. Many of these are self-evident. The established in January 2015).

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS 2017 PEACE & POLITICS 125 © Mohamed Abdiwahab/AFP/Getty Images © Mohamed Abdiwahab/AFP/Getty

Somali refugees after their temporary shelters their destruction is a precondition for of the crime of aggression is incorporated were destroyed by government soldiers at the Sarkusta development. This was an important, if into the Rome Statute of the International refugee camp in southern Mogadishu. has been in a state of since the dictator Mohamed Siad ancillary, line of reasoning behind several Criminal Court (ICC), it may in future be Barre was ousted in 1991 recent ‘humanitarian’ interventions. possible to utilise the ICC’s Trust Fund However, are far easier to destroy for Victims as an enforcement mechanism. A stronger emphasis on development than they are to rebuild. In last year’s issue However, this would only be the case for within fragile contexts will inevitably bring of this publication, Andrew Rathmell and ICC signatories or those the UN Security increased risk to delivery agencies, and Arthur Mellors explained why that was. Council refers. Developed nations have thus further legitimise actors whose legitimacy is Developed nations are therefore placed far largely escaped the attention of the ICC, questionable. But, despite the risks, such an in a particular position of responsibility a state of affairs that is unlikely to change approach is required if fragile states are not when they dismantle the institutions of a any time soon. to remain indefinitely left behind. fragile state. A case can be made that in This makes prevention of damage to For these reasons, the approach must such circumstances these nations should institutions all the more important. In include a clear understanding of the wider bear responsibility for the expensive and their 2011 position paper ‘Responsibility political implications of development. The prolonged process of institutional restoration, while Protecting’, Brazil made it clear political agencies of the UN Secretariat need and for mitigating the consequences of that humanitarian intervention can only to be able to give a clear steer in this regard the absence of those institutions in the be justified if the damage it causes is to the UN development agencies and funds, meantime. This should be developed as a proportionate to the damage it prevents. and to other implementing partners. political norm, but at the current moment As the global norms around humanitarian it is impossible to demand states live up to intervention develop, it is important Rebuilding institutions and footing the bill this responsibility. that this be emphasised, and that further The key to reducing fragility in the long Were institutions to be destroyed as doctrines are established requiring term is to develop lasting institutions. part of an aggressive war, it may soon be belligerents to play their part in rebuilding However, some would argue that when possible for victims to reclaim some of the fragile states. This is a task best undertaken it is the institutions themselves that are costs, but only for some states and in some under the supervision and coordination of spearheading the oppression of the people, circumstances. As the Kampala definition the UN.

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