UN-World Bank Fragility and Conflict Partnership Trust Fund

The Trust Fund helps fulfill a commitment by United Nations Secretary-General and World Bank Group President to break down institutional barriers and strengthen the links between political, security, development, and humanitarian efforts in FCS countries.  The Trust Fund has three key objectives:

• To support joint initiatives or approaches in fragile and conflict-affected situations
• To strengthen capacity in both institutions to work effectively in partnership
• To collect good cooperation practices and support knowledge sharing

Applications are received on a rolling basis for proposals that have been developed jointly by UN and World Bank teams, show alignment with the Strategic Results Framework (SRF) and towards the broader strategic objectives of the two organizations, as well as in support of country priorities. The SRF outlines a number of goals and activities that aim to strengthen the collaboration between the UN and the World Bank in FCS, around three core objectives: 

• improved regional and country-specific collaboration at strategic and operational levels
• strengthened institutional co-operation and communications on policy and thematic issues
• increased operational policies, frameworks and tools to facilitate co-operation and cross financing

Activities should aim to gather broader lessons learned or other partnership-strengthening or transformative potential. To date, grants have averaged between $100,000 - $200,000, with proposals of up to $500,000 considered on an exceptional basis, going to support projects in Mali, South Sudan, CAR, DRC, Liberia, Yemen, Jordan/Syria, PNG and Honduras, as well as global initiatives to improve our collective response supporting Core Government Functions, Justice, Extractive Industries, PCNAs and Civilian Capacities in FCS settings.  All applications are reviewed and approved jointly by the World Bank and the UN.

For more information on applying to the Trust Fund, please see Guidance for Applicants.  

Examples of Grant-Supported Projects

The Fund provides resources for a range of initiatives aimed at promoting strategic dialogue, operational and programmatic collaboration, in line with the principles outlined in the 2008 UN-World Bank Partnership Framework Agreement for Crisis and Post-Crisis Situations. It welcomes proposals that advance the partnership in FCS in priority areas, including:

Upstream collaboration on analysis and strategy, including through studies, workshops and joint retreats. Examples:

• Development of a joint UN-Bank diagnostic framework for reestablishing core government functions in post-conflict situations.
• Joint economic impact assessment of the peacekeeping mission in Mali. 

Advancing key themes from the 2011 World Development Report on Conflict, Security and Development: security, justice and job creation. Examples:

• Collaboration around a joint problem-solving approach to designing justice service interventions in FCS.
• Strengthening UN-WB engagement in Security Sector Expenditure Reviews in peacekeeping settings.

Support for the development, implementation and monitoring of national development and peacebuilding strategies. This includes initiatives related to the implementation of the New Deal. Examples:

• Developing the aid architecture to implement the New Deal priorities in Somalia.
• Secondment of a senior WB Governance Specialist to the UN in Yemen to develop the UN-WB framework to support implementation of the outcomes of the National Dialogue Conference.

Strategic staffing and consultancy assignments, including secondments, to drive forward partnership initiatives in the field. Example: 

• Deployment of a Partnership Advisor to South Sudan to lead development of an action plan for closer joint UN–WB cooperation in support of national efforts toward peacebuilding and longer-term development.
• Deployment of a WB-seconded specialist seconded to MONUSCO’s Stabilization Support Unit in eastern DRC to support the implementation of the Government’s Stabilization Strategy.

Other Initiatives supported by the Trust Fund have included:

• A broad review of UN-Bank partnership efforts in order to identify good practices and lessons learned and to recommend ways to strengthen collaboration
  
• Development of targeted training and knowledge/learning activities to promote greater understanding and interaction between the two institutions and to develop a shared repository of best practices and lessons learned
• Development of instruments and guidance to strengthen interoperability and systematize collaboration at different levels.

Institutional Partners

The UN-World Bank Fragility and Conflict Partnership Trust Fund is managed by the World Bank Fragility, Conflict and Violence (FCV) Group. The UN window is administered by the UN Development Operations Coordination Office (DOCO) for the UN Development Group. 

The institutional partners in the Trust Fund’s Steering Committee, from the UN, include:

- the Executive Office of the Secretary-General (EOSG)
- the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO)
- the Department of Political Affairs (DPA)
- the Development Operations Coordination Office (DOCO) for the UN Development Group
- the UN Development Programme (UNDP)
- the Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO)
- the FCV Group and the Africa Region (AFR) represent the Bank.

For further information contact the Trust Fund secretariat:

Reidun Otteroy (rotteroy@worldbank.org) World Bank and WB Center on Conflict, Security and Development (CCSD)
Anne-Lise Klausen (aklausen@worldbank.org), Fragility, Conflict, and Violence Group, World Bank

Last Updated: Oct 22, 2015