Within and Without the State: Strengthening civil society in conflict-affected and fragile settings

Overview

This report sets out the main findings from the global study commissioned as part of the development of the DFID-funded Fragility and Conflict Global Programme, co-ordinated by Amanda Buttinger in the Programme Policy Team at Oxfam GB. There is a growing sense within Oxfam that traditional approaches to working with civil society are yielding insufficient results in conflict-affected and fragile states. This global study was undertaken to help develop innovative approaches to strengthening civil society in such settings and, in particular, to identify lessons for the development of three planned pilot programmes. It was based on a review of existing literature and interviews with representatives of INGOs, academic institutions, and donors, complemented by a scoping exercise undertaken in South Sudan in September 2011.