Social Cohesion and Resilience

As of 2026, more than half of the world’s extreme poor live in settings affected by fragility, conflict, and violence (FCV). In 2024, one in eight people worldwide was exposed to violent conflict, which caused direct economic losses estimated at nearly $20 trillion, or about 11.6 percent of global GDP in 2024.

In addition to violent conflict, interpersonal, gang-related, drug-related, and gender-based violence take hundreds of thousands of lives each year—about half a million people die from violence annually, two-thirds from intentional homicide. In some areas, homicide rates are higher than deaths in conflict zones, causing major human suffering, as well as economic and social disruption. The global economic impact of interpersonal and self-inflicted violence was estimated at $2.6 trillion in 2023. Gender-based violence also remains pervasive: while one in three women worldwide experiences physical or sexual violence in her lifetime, this rate rises by 34 percent in conflict settings.

By the end of June 2025, 117.3 million people remained displaced globally, of whom internally displaced persons (IDPs) constitute about 58 percent. The largest displaced populations are found in Sudan, Colombia, Syria, Yemen, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Myanmar, Nigeria, and Somalia. Furthermore, forced displacement has become increasingly complex and protracted, with substantial socioeconomic impacts on both refugee and host communities. Women and children together comprise about 70 percent of all forcibly displaced people worldwide.

Conflict and violence also interact with climate challenges, magnifying fragility by destroying livelihoods and infrastructure, driving increased displacement, and straining government institutions. In Ethiopia, for instance, about 85 percent of IDPs have been displaced by conflict, with droughts and seasonal flooding driving an additional 10 percent of displacement.

Ending extreme poverty and building shared prosperity will require addressing these intersecting drivers—violence, fragility, and climate vulnerability—through long-term investments that build resilience, restore trust, and expand opportunities for all.

The World Bank Group’s work on social cohesion—defined as a sense of shared purpose, trust, and willingness to cooperate among members of a given group, between members of different groups, and between people and the state—focuses on a tailored, evidence-based approach to engagement in diverse FCV contexts and complements the full spectrum of interventions highlighted in the World Bank Group FCV Strategy for 2020-2025:

• Preventing violent conflict and interpersonal violence,
• Remaining engaged during conflict and crisis situations,
• Helping countries transition out of fragility, and
• Mitigating the spillovers of FCV, particularly those resulting from forced displacement.

The World Bank Group’s engagement on social cohesion and resilience is defined by three key pillars:

Resilient communities: Social cohesion and resilience create opportunities for people who live in fragile societies to thrive by building strong households and communities that can withstand divisions caused by conflict and violence. The World Bank Group helps countries tackle deep-rooted social problems through people-centered, participatory solutions that build on local values and institutions. We call this “process legitimacy.” To strengthen this work, the World Bank conducts research on what builds process legitimacy and social cohesion in FCV settings, ensuring evidence can directly inform operations and policy dialogue with client governments.

Inclusion of all people in service delivery: As the World Bank’s Pathways for Peace study highlights, inclusion is a critical element of conflict prevention. When some people do not have access to health, education, jobs, fair wages, or financial markets, this can create grievances and perceptions of exclusion and injustice that can drive fragility and, in some cases, violence. The World Bank Group is aligning its research initiatives toward this goal, conducting in-depth investigations of the gender-specific dimensions of forced displacement.

Empowering citizens: Expanding opportunities for all people to shape their own futures and have a meaningful voice in society is essential for responsive and transparent governance. It also helps ensure that people feel ownership and view the way development happens as legitimate. Supporting social empowerment calls for strengthening the last mile of decentralization programs to communities and fostering citizen-driven accountability from the bottom up. Social accountability plays a critical role in making this possible.

Together, these three pillars help promote social cohesion. To translate lessons learned into operational guidance, the World Bank has developed practical resources that set out concepts, measurement approaches, and tools to help teams diagnose social cohesion challenges and design appropriate responses.

Building on this foundation, the World Bank is also conducting ongoing research to strengthen the evidence base on what works to build intergroup cohesion in divided societies, helping to more effectively tailor development interventions to context. In partnership with UNHCR and FCDO, the World Bank has published 26 analytical papers on forced displacement and social cohesion. The reports provide new evidence on how policy measures and development investments can help reduce inequalities, alleviate social tensions, and promote social cohesion between and within displaced populations and host communities. The World Bank is also advancing research on how to better include IDPs into development projects, policies, and country strategies.

In fragile countries, the World Bank supports monitoring, participatory service delivery, peace building and reconciliation processes, and targeted efforts to reduce interpersonal violence and build trust within and between communities. Over the past few years, the World Bank has expanded efforts to address GBV, supporting over $300 million in operations, while forced displacement work in Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia and Djibouti also includes a focus on GBV. Finally, we are coordinating a new, cross-sectoral work program across the World Bank Group focused on reinvigorating our strategic, programmatic, and policy engagement on crime and violence prevention.

Community and Local Development (CLD) programs have proven particularly effective in building social cohesion and resilience in FCV situations, given their ability to reach remote or insecure areas where state presence and capacity is limited or non-existed. CLD approaches help deliver efficient, timely, and inclusive development support through support for local infrastructure, clinics and schools, agribusiness, and skilling and finance local entrepreneurs and enterprises.

Many of the challenges related to building social cohesion and resilience are multi-sectoral. The World Bank Group collaborates closely with a broad range of stakeholders including community leaders, civil society, non-governmental organizations, and other development partners, which furthermore enhances the humanitarian-development-peace nexus that in turn supports creating social sustainability and resilience.