13 September 2008: AP
WASHINGTON: World Bank President Robert Zoellick warned Friday that the international community must work harder in aiding so-called "fragile" states, home to about 20 percent of the world's population, or risk them becoming the safe havens for terrorists.
Zoellick said such nations, which range from Afghanistan to East Timor, can become the weak link in the global security chain if they are infiltrated by terrorists, who take advantage of the political instability there to recruit and train new followers.
"Only by securing development can we put down roots deep enough to break the cycle of fragility and violence," Zoellick told a conference of international security experts in Geneva. A text of his remarks was made available in Washington.
He said the international community must put greater emphasis on securing development in these countries to help them overcome the effects of failed governments, persistent poverty and civil war.
"This is not security as usual or development as usual," Zoellick said.
"Nor is it about what we have to come think of as peacekeeping or peace-building," he said. "This is about securing development...first to smooth the transition from conflict to peace and then to embed stability so that development can take hold over a decade and beyond."
Without such cooperation, efforts to save fragile states are likely to fail "and we will all pay the consequences," he said, noting that what was needed in those states was a different framework to build security, legitimacy, governance and their economies.
Zoellick said the World Bank has committed more than $3 billion in 2008 to countries affected by fragility and conflict.
He said when states are breaking down, or overcome by conflict they pose waves of danger, threatening people living there with death and disease, economic stagnation and environmental degradation.
"One billion people, including about 340 million of the world's extreme poor are estimated to live in fragile states," Zoellick said "They account for about a third of the deaths in poor countries from HIV/AIDS, a third of those who lack access to clean water and a third of children who do not complete school."
Such states have poverty rates averaging 54 percent of the population, compared to 22 percent in other low income countries, he said.
Zoellick outlined 10 areas on which development and security experts should focus. These range from building the legitimacy of states and rule of law; strengthened security; local and national ownership of development projects; economic stability; a healthy private sector and the need for long-term commitment.
He said security and development need to go hand in hand
"If we are serious about the breaking the downward spiral of violence and state breakdown larger forces need to be kept in place longer," Zoellick said. "To build confidence, UN peacekeeping mandates and renewals should be authorized for much longer than 6 to 12 months."
Go to GSR homepage
