Where governments do not function well, growth and sustainable development are rare, and destructive, violent conflicts are more likely. Working in such fragile and conflict-affected situations (FCASs)—common across Asia and the Pacific—requires development agencies, including ADB, to do business differently. This means cultivating a deeper understanding of fragility and conflict risks, and recognizing that successfully delivering assistance in these contexts demands a tailored response.Fragile states do not govern effectively, and have poor relationships with the societies they oversee. Weak or dysfunctional institutions and often-inadequate leadership mean that services are not provided, taxes remain uncollected, and state legitimacy is eroded. Lack of government responsiveness frequently fuels large-scale violence, in turn undermining state capacity and performance. Countries can get stuck in a vicious cycle of fragility and conflict from which it is difficult to emerge.

—blogs.adb.org/blog