Engaging with Fragile States : An IEG Review of World Bank Support to Low-Income Countries under Stress
Home to almost 500 million people, roughly half of whom earn less than a dollar a day, fragile states, until recently known in the World Bank as Low-Income Countries Under Stress (LICUS), have attracted increasing attention. The Bank identified 25...
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| Language: | English en_US |
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Washington, DC: World Bank
2012
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2006/01/7312475/engaging-fragile-states-ieg-review-world-bank-support-low-income-countries-under-stress http://hdl.handle.net/10986/7155 |
| Summary: | Home to almost 500 million people,
roughly half of whom earn less than a dollar a day, fragile
states, until recently known in the World Bank as Low-Income
Countries Under Stress (LICUS), have attracted increasing
attention. The Bank identified 25 such countries in fiscal
2005 based on their income and Country Policy and
Institutional Assessment (CPIA) rating. These 25 countries
have a number of similarities: their infant mortality rate
is a third higher than that of other low-income countries,
life expectancy is 12 years lower, and their maternal
mortality rate is about 20 percent higher. There are also
important differences among LICUS. Some, Angola and Cambodia
among them, grew at around 4 percent per annum during
1995-2003; others, such as the Solomon Islands, the
Democratic Republic of Congo, and Guinea-Bissau, had
negative growth rates of similar magnitude. Some, such as
Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, and Papua
New Guinea, have abundant natural resources, but others,
such as Burundi and Haiti, are resource poor. This paper
includes the following headings: effectiveness of the
Bank's LICUS approach; operational utility of the LICUS
identification; classification, and aid-allocation system;
the Bank's internal support for LICUS Work; and
conclusions, lessons, and recommendations. |
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