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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Executive Summary
This report examines the ways in which donor interventions in fragile situations can “do no harm” or positively contribute to processes of statebuilding, by focusing on the ways in which donor interventions affect five central statebuilding dimensions: the endogenous political processes that drive statebuilding; the legitimacy of the state in society; the relations between state and society; the expectations society has of the state; and the capacities of the state to perform its basic functions (security, the rule of law, taxation, management of economic development and the environment, and the delivery of essential services).
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