These are only a few of the impacts felt by approximately 1.5 billion people living in fragile states, according to World Bank figures. Despite international engagement, there has been little progress in alleviating their suffering, as no low-income fragile or conflict-affected country has yet achieved any of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.
Voices from Fragile States will bring together policy makers and academics from fragile and conflict-affected countries to develop action plans on fragility and education. Their work will be presented at a conference in New York in April 2013.
The debate around the causes and appropriate responses to fragility has often lacked input from the countries to which the term is applied; however, the recent New Deal for Engagement in Fragile States, endorsed by 35 countries and international organizations following the fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in December 2011, identifies the urgent need for fragile states to develop country-led development plans and emphasizes collaboration and participatory dialogue.
There is now a unique opportunity to ensure that these voices from fragile states are heard. The University of York’s Post-war Reconstruction Unit (PRDU) and Institute for Effective Education (IEE), in partnership with Columbia University, are establishing the Voices from Fragile States initiative to facilitate discussions between policy makers and academics from fragile and conflict-affected countries in a non-politicised context which will lead to real and positive results on the ground. Focusing particularly on fragility and education policy, these experts will develop country position papers, with the support of University of York academics, which will be presented and developed into action plans at a two-day conference in New York on 15-16 April 2013.
The conference will bring together a broad coalition of fragile states, countries emerging from conflict, donors, UN agencies, and academic experts. Building an evidence-base for the contribution of education to peacebuilding will be a central feature of the conference.
This conference forms part of the University of York's 50th anniversary celebrations, which will take place throughout 2013.
In partnership with
Partners
University of York:
- Post-war Reconstruction and Development Unit
- Institute for Effective Education
Columbia University:
Institute of International Education: