Meeting the Challenge of Reconstruction and Development in Fragile States: Lessons from Aceh, Haiti, and South Sudan

Reconstruction and development in poor, fragile countries present a double challenge: tackling the issues of poverty and underdevelopment as well as the constraints posed by instability, poor governance, and weak capacity. This context generates a range of problems that include: insecurity, insufficient planning, inadequate implementation capacity, poor financial management, misprocurement, corruption, a volatile fiscal environment, ineffective donor coordination, and negative environmental and social impacts. The paper draws lessons from positive and negative experiences in meeting these challenges in three conflictand/or disaster-affected cases: Aceh Province, Indonesia (postdisaster reconstruction and postconflict development following the tsunami and earthquakes of 2004), Haiti (postdisaster recovery following the earthquake of 2010), and South Sudan (postconflict development following independence in 2011). These lessons are then organized in an assessment framework of risks and mitigation measures to assist academics and practitioners to understand and address the challenges of reconstruction and development in fragile states.