Poverty, exclusion and marginalisation contribute to state fragility, with persistent poverty an underlying feature of many conflict-prone situations; and protracted violent conflict in turn contributes strongly to impoverishment. Monetary and multi-dimensional poverty and deprivation are high in Fragile, Conflict-affected and Violent Situations (FCVS). Rates have been reducing, though the picture is heterogeneous, with recent increases in poverty incidence in some countries. Projections indicate that by 2030, up to 80% of the global extreme poor might live in fragile states, if no proper action is taken.

This handbook outlines effective strategies to better consider the interplay between poverty and fragility, conflict and violence in programmes and policies in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where most of people living in extreme poverty reside today, many in conflict-affected contexts. It gathers learning from a sample of GIZ and other projects and programs in SSA that have dual objectives to (1) reduce poverty and (2) promote peace and security in regions affected by conflict and violence. The justification for this focus is that strategies that work both IN and ON conflict can make a contribution to stability and improve prospects for poverty reduction in fragile, conflict-affected, and violent situations (FCVS). The handbook assesses what challenges donors are confronted with when implementing poverty reduction measures in FCVS in sub-Saharan Africa, and how programmers can react to better address the (growing) interplay of poverty and conflict/fragility, both in regards to working IN and working ON conflict.

 Authors: Vidya Diwakar, Andrew Shepherd, and Heiner Salomon

Download the handbook here.

Download the Executive Summary here.

This project has been commissioned and is funded by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).