One of the most urgent issues for the Addis Ababa Financing for Development (Ffd) Summit in July is addressing the challenges facing fragile states. These countries are resource-constrained, will be the main location of extreme poverty in the coming years, and are extremely vulnerable to shocks such as those caused by climate change.

We cannot achieve the Sustainable Development Goals without supporting fragile states to address their resourcing challenges. However, early drafts of the Addis Outcome Document suggest that fragile states are unlikely to receive the kind of big push that is needed. There is a real danger that this agreement will fail to prioritise ambitious action to support these countries.

One reason is the perception that aid and other support programmes in fragile states are not effective and cannot be delivered at scale. Yet fragile states themselves, and research from organisations such as ODI, have demonstrated that aid can be effective in such contexts if it is provided in the right ways.

This event will discuss what practical steps could ensure that an ambitious financing agenda for fragile states emerges as a central feature of the Addis Ababa FfD Accord.