Development in fragile states

Conflicts and potential conflicts overshadow long-term development prospects in many countries. Terror attacks create uncertainty, paralyse the economy and divide society. This can destabilise entire regions and cause governments to lose control.

These dangers are also mirrored in the work of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, which operates around the globe in more than 130 countries. More than half of these countries are fragile states, and GIZ supports them in fulfilling their public duties. Practice shows that this task is becoming more difficult. It is not always possible to reach those in need, and employees are put at risk.

GIZ is implementing around 500 short-term and long-term projects in Africa on behalf of the German Government and the European Union (EU). GIZ’s actions are grounded in the German Government’s guidelines on crisis prevention ‘Preventing crises, transforming conflicts, building peace’.

Long-term reform processes and reliable partnerships are particularly valuable in ensuring success when working in complicated security situations. It is important to identify and bolster political actors who play a role in forming a new, peaceful system of government. Investing in risk containment and prevention helps to keep conflicts from recurring.

The interplay of diplomatic measures, development policy and military action, and the solutions that arise through working together, are the topics of a discussion at the Munich Security Conference. ‘Stabilisation and Development in Africa: What Works and What Does Not?’ is the title of a GIZ dialogue event. The event provides a forum for development policy perspectives as part of the 54th Munich Security Conference. This is the fifth time that GIZ, a partner of the conference, will be taking part with its own event.