Development & governance
Fragile State
A country or context where exposure to risks combines with insufficient capacity of the state, system, or society to manage, absorb, or mitigate those risks, undermining development and stability.
Definition
A fragile state is one characterised by the combination of exposure to risk and insufficient coping capacity of the state, systems, or communities to manage, absorb, or mitigate those risks. The OECD fragility framework assesses fragility across six dimensions — economic, environmental, human, political, security, and societal — and the World Bank maintains an annual list of fragile and conflict-affected situations to target support.
References
definitions and dimensions
Overview
What it means
Fragility is multidimensional: a country may be fragile because of conflict, weak institutions, vulnerability to climate shocks, or several of these at once. The concept shifted development policy away from treating poverty and instability as separate problems, and climate change is increasingly treated as a risk multiplier in fragile contexts.
How it is used
Donors, development banks, and humanitarian agencies use fragility classifications to allocate finance, adapt programming, and prioritise the "leave no one behind" agenda. Climate adaptation finance increasingly flags fragile states as underserved.
Why it matters
People in fragile states are among the most exposed to climate and environmental shocks yet receive a small share of adaptation finance; the concept anchors debates about where vulnerability and governance intersect. **Note:** 1135 Fragility merges into this entry as the abstract-noun form of the same concept.
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