Do No Harm
International Support for Statebuilding
How can donors ensure they do no harm? How can they be sure they intervene constructively in fragile situations? Do No Harm provides practical guidance based on the results of research undertaken on behalf of the OECD DAC International Network on Conflict and Fragility (INCAF). The book is based on comparative case studies of six countries (Afghanistan, Bolivia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nepal, Rwanda and Sierra Leone) and a comprehensive literature review. It addresses how the interventions of OECD countries may risk undermining positive statebuilding processes, and makes recommendations as to how this may be avoided in the future. Do No Harm is an important source to guide external engagement in situations of fragility and conflict, both at the policy and the field level.
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Annex B
Statebuilding and “doing no harm”: a review of the literature
The first section of this literature review explores some of the conceptual issues central to an assessment of donor impact: reviewing the working definitions of the state and statebuilding that inform OECD policy work; tracing the evolution of thinking in the policy world about “state fragility”; and discussing why a “do no harm” approach is relevant to an examination of donor impact on statebuilding processes. Section 2 reviews the literature with the objective of exploring donor impact on “ five dimensions of statebuilding” that are at the heart of the OECD’s (2008d) current understanding of statebuilding challenges. Section 3 examines existing evidence on the ways in which donors deal with the trade-offs involved in aid-delivery mechanisms and their impact on statebuilding processes. Section 4 reviews the literature concerning the direct impact donors may have on the creation of capacities within the state to perform its basic functions.
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