CIAO DATE: 04/2012
January 2012
United States Institute of Peace
The role of health in development and aid policy in conflict-affected and fragile states remains a conundrum. Evidence is increasing that conflict and fragility have a devastating impact on health. At the same time, knowledge on how to construct effective and sustainable health systems in these states through local leadership and donor commitment is expanding. Yet, except in countries of strategic or political interest to donors, such as Afghanistan, Iraq, or the Balkans, the level of donor investment in these states remains low even as global health spending has dramatically increased. Moreover, the policy animating these investments is murky, a mixture of health goals and political objectives relating to stabilization and counterterrorism. Whether health investments can and should advance those political goals remains highly contested. At the same time, the conventional distinction between emergency health interventions and humanitarian relief on the one hand and health development on the other, although reflected in funding streams, often makes little sense on the ground. Conflict and fragility tend to be protracted, but health systems development can often proceed even before peace and stability are established. Further, fragility or conflict, and its attendant impacts on health, may well affect one or more regions of the country rather than its entirety.
Resource link: Health in Post-Conflict and Fragile States [PDF] - 212K