This new framework for working in fragile contexts proposes five key peacebuilding and statebuilding goals: legitimate politics, security, justice, economic foundations, and revenues and services. It focuses on country-led, inclusive ways of engaging that increase harmonisation and donor co-ordination. It seeks to build mutual trust and achieve better results in fragile states through increased transparency in both donor and national systems, capacity-building, joint donor risk-sharing, and quicker, more predictable aid delivery.
The New Deal has been formulated and agreed by the g7+ group of 19 fragile and conflict-affected countries, development partners, and international organisations, and will be implemented in a trial period between 2012-15. It will be piloted in self-nominating countries, including Afghanistan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and Timor-Leste, and by self-nominating donor partners in these countries.
The Peacebuilding and Statebuilding Goals (PSGs) will guide the identification of peacebuilding and statebuilding priorities at the country level. The five goals are:
- Legitimate politics – Foster inclusive political settlements and conflict resolution
- Security – Establish and strengthen people’s security
- Justice – Address injustices and increase people’s access to justice
- Economic foundations – Generate employment and improve livelihoods
- Revenues and services – Manage revenue and build capacity for accountable and fair service delivery.
In addition, the New Deal will involve supporting inclusive country-led and country-owned transitions out of fragility. This will include:
- F: Fragility assessment – a periodic country-led assessment on the causes and features of fragility and sources of resilience. It will involve key national stakeholders and non-state actors.
- O: One national vision and one plan. These will be country-owned and -led, developed in consultation with civil society and based on inputs from the fragility assessment. Plans will be flexible so as to address short-, medium- and long-term peacebuilding and statebuilding priorities.
- C: A country compact to implement the plan, ensuring harmonisation and donor co-ordination. The compact will draw on a broad range of views from multiple stakeholders and the public, and be subject to annual multi-stakeholder review.
- U: Using PSGs to monitor implementation. PSG targets and indicators will be used to monitor country-level progress.
- S: Support for political dialogue and leadership. This will include support for youth and women’s participation, and for global, regional and national initiatives to build the capacity of government and civil society leaders and institutions to lead peacebuilding and statebuilding efforts.
The New Deal will also include building mutual TRUST by providing aid and managing resources more effectively, and aligning these resources for results:
- T: Transparency. This will involve monitoring aid against individual goals and supporting national reporting and planning systems and domestic oversight mechanisms.
- R: Risk-sharing. This will involve joint donor assessments of the specific risks associated with working in fragile situations and context-specific, joint risk-mitigation strategies.
- U: Use and strengthen country systems. This will involve strengthening national oversight and accountability measures, increasing the percentage of aid delivered through country systems and national governments increasing the proportion of public expenditure funded by domestic revenues.
- S: Strengthen capacities of the state and civil society in a balanced way. This will involve increasing the proportion of funds for capacity development through jointly administered and funded pooled facilities.
- T: Timely and predictable aid. This will involve simplified, accountable fast-track financial management and procurement procedures and three-to-five year indicative forward estimates.
