The New Deal... At Half Time, by Yannick Hingorani

The New Deal Monitoring Report 2014 was endorsed by the International Dialogue on Peacebuilding and Statebuilding in October 2014.  The Report is the first effort to take stock of progress (and challenges) with respect to implementing the principles of the New Deal for Engagement in Fragile States. 

The state of the state: building confidence, trust and political will, by Alan Whaites

To mark the centenary of The First World War, we will be publishing a series of articles looking at what has changed over the last century in a number of domains. In his second article, Alan Whaites ‎team leader, Governance for Peace and Development at the OECD discusses statebuilding and the role of the state.

1914-2014: Shifting the balance between peace and war, by Alan Whaites

To mark the centenary of The First World War, we will be publishing a series of articles looking at what has changed over the last century in a number of domains. In the first article in the series, Alan Whaites ‎team leader, Governance for Peace and Development at the OECD, discusses peace-building and conflict. In a second article on Wednesday, Alan will look more in detail at the role of the state.

The New Deal for Fragile States: a reply to Cedric de Coning, by Yannick HINGORANI

In today’s post, Yannick Hingorani of the OECD Development Co-operation Directorate replies to yesterday’s article by Cedric de Coning on the New Deal for Fragile States

Cedric de Coning’s article yesterday, “Can the New Deal Live Up To Its Promise to Significantly Shift Agency to the Local?” reminds us that the New Deal is meant to be a “game changer” in the way countries and organisations undertake development cooperation in fragile states. The New Deal calls for national ownership over the development process, involving “country solutions” to the challenges of peacebuilding and statebuilding. However, in fragile states, national ownership cannot be taken for granted. It needs to be built up, and this may require significant time and resources. It is not just about what countries and organisations do, but also how they go about doing it. The process counts.

Can the New Deal for Fragile States Live Up To its Promise to Significantly Shift Agency to the Local?, by Cedric DE CONING

Today’s post is by Cedric de Coning, head of the Peace Operations and Peacebuilding Research Group at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI) and Special Advisor to the Head of the Peace Support Operations Division of the African Union Commission. Tomorrow, Yannick Hingorani of the OECD Development Co-operation Directorate will reply.

On a recent visit to Mogadishu I was reminded again of the overwhelmingly complex set of challenges facing the government and people of Somalia, and their regional and international partners. The legitimacy of the government is challenged and its capacity to deliver is weak. At the same time, this government represents the best chance the people of Somalia have had in decades to benefit from some level of stability, rule of law and provision of basic services.

Why Finland isn’t fragile – and three reasons for linking gender equality to statebuilding in the post-2015 framework, by Diana KOESTER

On Thursday, 26th September, the UN’s Conference Room 1 was packed with over 25 ministers from around the world. They had accepted an invitation by the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) and UN Women to discuss “women’s economic empowerment for peacebuilding” only a day after the UN General Assembly (UNGA) Special Event on achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

New deal for fragile states needs time and political commitment to flourish, by Helder DA COSTA

Some claim the 2011 Busan agreement is already in crisis, but statebuilding demands patience, resources and resolve

Continue reading the blog on the guardian website here

Backing the new development deal for fragile states, by Siafa HAGE

Focusing on peace and stability in conflict-hit countries while holding both donors and partners accountable for progress will help them escape the 'aid dependency merry-go-round'

Read the full blog at the Guardian website here

Don't Give Up on the Central African Republic, by Donata GARRASI

In the words of the UN Security Council, there has been “a total breakdown in law and order” in the Central African Republic (CAR) following the March overthrow of the government by the Séléka rebel group.


*This blog has been reposted with the permission of OECD Insights Blog. Click here for the original post*

To mark UN International Day of Peace, today’s article is by Donata Garrasi of the International Dialogue on Peacebuilding and Statebuilding

In the words of the UN Security Council, there has been “a total breakdown in law and order” in the Central African Republic (CAR) following the March overthrow of the government by the Séléka rebel group. UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos reported that CAR faces “a complex emergency characterised by violence, acute needs and grave protection issues.” According to Amos, all 4.6 million CAR citizens have been affected and 1.6 million people are in dire need of food, protection, health care, water, sanitation and shelter. Amos’s words were echoed by EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs, Kristalina Georgieva when she exposed the gravity of the situation of CAR to the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) and called for greater international attention to what she described as a “forgotten crisis” and a country at risk of disintegration, in a region characterised by high levels of instability.