The European Commission and the World Bank Group, hereby envisage to define a framework for collaboration in situations affected by fragility, conflict and violence (FCV). We believe that in FCV situations, more than anywhere else, stronger and better partnerships among international actors are key to the success of the Sustainable Development Goals. We are committed to strengthen our strategic dialogue, coordinate our approaches, and develop joint operational solutions for sustaining peace, preventing violence and conflict and achieving development in FCV that will also ensure synergies and complementarities with our respective collaborations with other international organisations.
A framework for collaboration
By creating a dedicated framework for collaboration in FCV situations, we intend to provide the conducive environment for our institutions, at both headquarters and country levels, to avoid doing harm and maximise our joint development impact by leveraging each other’s interventions. Therefore, in situations affected by FCV, we intend to:
- Increase shared understandings, by developing common methodologies and instruments to collect, analyse, and share information, in synergy with the EU comprehensive approach to external conflict and crises;
- Strengthen in-country policy dialogue and planning processes, by more systematically consulting one another, promoting joint initiatives, and using common risks and results monitoring;
- Promote and apply the principles encompassed in the New Deal for engagement in Fragile States in our cooperation and strengthen country ownership;
- Increase the conflict-sensitivity of our cooperation programmes;
- Initiate transformational interventions, including the provision of global public goods, by supporting international collective action, making best and most effective use of financial resources and combining them where possible;
- Address the gender dimension of FCV and prioritise the needs of women and children in our cooperation programmes;
- Improve the overall mobilisation, allocation, and conflict sensitive delivery of resources, by working together in the development of innovative financial solutions;
- Deepen our partnership by encouraging active collaboration, exploring different possibilities such as joint staff trainings, staff exchanges, and other appropriate initiatives; and
- Focus on results, by monitoring the use of this framework through an annual senior-level meeting that provides priorities and themes for the following year.
So doing, we are committed to bring a decisive contribution to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, leaving no-one behind in the pursuit of a sustainable future.
The European External Action Service (EEAS) will be associated in the implementation of this Joint Declaration.
Adopted on 14 June 2016
