This is the Bank’s third fragility and
resilience strategy, built upon previous strategies in 2008 and 2014. It draws
on lessons learned from the Bank’s 20-year engagement on fragility in Africa
and its increasingly sophisticated understanding of its drivers.
The strategy has been informed by extensive
consultations with partners and stakeholders, and identifies three
interconnected and mutually reinforcing priorities, namely: strengthening
institutional capacity, building resilient societies and catalyzing private
investment.
“These priorities have clear synergies with
many of the Bank’s existing sectoral and thematic strategies, including the
Strategy for Economic Governance in Africa, the Private Sector Development
Strategy, and all the High 5 priorities,” said Dr. Yero Baldeh, Director of the
Transition States Coordination Office.
Despite major economic gains across Africa
over the past two decades, evidenced by improvements in basic services,
infrastructure and governance, significant parts of Africa have been left
behind. These have been found to be regions most vulnerable to instability and
crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic and the effects of climate change have further
underscored that fragility can arise in any context.
While looking at fragility as a condition
that can arise in any context, the strategy details how the Bank Group will
adapt its operations and instruments to tackle the root causes of conflict and
fragility, recognising the need to scale up investment in crisis prevention. It
is anchored in a theory of change that links measures to strengthen the Bank
Group’s capacity and portfolio to deliver better results in fragile contexts
with an end goal of increasing resilience in Africa.
The strategy also defines a set of
operational levers that will enable it to work more effectively in fragile
contexts, including a strong program of analytical work, systematic application
of the fragility lens in country and regional strategies, planning, and project
design.
The African Development Bank’s evolved
understanding of fragility has enabled it to draw up a blueprint anchored in an
approach focused on building resilience in all its African member countries,
and the recognition of the need to shift
resources from crisis response to long-term investment in crisis prevention.
Progress will be tracked through a results measurement and reporting framework
(https://bit.ly/3IuNO3D) and a mid-term review.
Ms. Yacine Fal, Ag. Vice-President,
Regional Development, Integration, and Business Delivery said: “This is an
ambitious yet realistic strategy, grounded firmly in the Bank’s comparative
advantage, unique mandate, and position within Africa’s development
architecture. It will reinvigorate and scale up the Bank’s engagement on
fragility in Africa by making its full suite of operations and instruments more
effective at preventing crises and building resilience.”
0 comments:
Post a Comment