Peace and stability encourage development, while conflict and instability hold it back.
Nine out of ten of the world’s poorest countries are affected by conflict and fragility, and according to the World Bank's World Development Report, not one low income fragile country has met a single Millennium Development Goal. Around the world, 1.5 billion people around the world live in countries affected by conflict and fragility.
Conflict and instability overseas can also affect us in the UK. Conflicts may provide fertile ground for terrorists and criminal networks to recruit and plan, create large numbers of refugees, and disrupt trade and investment.
Once conflict has broken out the cost of dealing with the consequences is high. It is much better value for money to invest in conflict prevention and de-escalation than to pay the costs of responding to violent conflict.
Work to tackle conflict and fragility is therefore both good for development and in our national interest. The UK Government’s Building Stability Overseas Strategy sets out how we will work alongside the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Ministry of Defence and Stabilisation Unit to bring development, diplomacy and defence together to help shape a stable world. The strategy sets out three pillars of a new approach that is integrated across UK Government:
- Early warning: improving our ability to anticipate instability and potential triggers for conflict. A cross-government early warning system is being set up to help us spot where the risks of conflict and instability are high
- Rapid crisis prevention and response: improving our ability to take fast, appropriate and effective action to prevent a crisis or stop it from escalating. When a crisis does emerge, the UK needs to be able to move quickly. A £20 million early action facility within the UK’s conflict pool will enable faster responses to warnings and opportunities
- Investing in upstream prevention: helping to build strong, legitimate institutions and robust societies in fragile countries that are capable of managing tensions and shocks so there is a lower likelihood of instability and conflict. This includes using the cross-government conflict pool to invest in support for inclusive political systems, effective and accountable security and justice, and building local capacities for conflict resolution.