Fragility and Conflict: On the Front Lines of the Fight against Poverty

The report Fragility and Conflict: On the Front Lines of the Fight against Poverty was published by the World Bank in February 2020. It states that worldwide, the prevalence of fragile and conflict-affected situations (FCS) continues to rise. Globally, the number of forcibly displaced people worldwide has more than doubled since 2012, exceeding 74 million in 2018. 

The authors estimate that by 2030 up to two-thirds of the global extreme poor may be living in FCS. They say that global poverty goals will not be met without enhanced efforts to reduce conflicts, noting that countries which have escaped FCS have cut their poverty rates by more than half.

Economies facing chronic fragility and conflict have had poverty rates stuck at over 40 per cent in the past decade, the authors note. Today, a person living in an economy facing chronic fragility and conflict is 10 times more likely to be poor than a person living in a country that has not been in conflict or fragility in the past 20 years.

According to the report, the 43 countries in the world with the highest poverty rates are in FCS and/or Sub-Saharan Africa. The number of people living in proximity to conflict — defined as within 60 kilometres of at least 25 conflict-related deaths — has nearly doubled since 2007, with one in five in the Middle East and North Africa region now living near conflict.

(The World Bank/ile)

Read more and download the report at World Bank website