WASHINGTON — After more than a year of internal and external consultations, visits to 37 countries, a concept note, multiple drafts, and a launch event that never materialized, the World Bank’s first-ever strategy for fragility, conflict, and violence has been officially approved.
The bank released the new strategy — which covers the years 2020 to 2025 — last week, after it received unanimous endorsement by the bank’s board of directors. The strategy was supposed to be accompanied by a high-level launch event at the Fragility Forum in Washington this week, but the conference was indefinitely postponed due to concerns about the COVID-19 virus.
The strategy underscores a significant shift underway at the multilateral development bank as it seeks to confront a changing reality of global poverty.