After years of concerted effort by FCNL’s lobbyists and grassroots advocates, in December 2019, Congress passed the Global Fragility Act, and then-President Trump signed it into law (P.L.116-94). More than 2,500 FCNL advocates sent more than 7,600 letters to Congress in support of this legislation in that year alone. Their voices reached 84 percent of representatives and 98 percent of senators.
What initially excited us about the Global Fragility Actwas the opportunity it presented to ‘flip the script’ in U.S. foreign policy, shifting the focus from crisis response to conflict prevention.
The past two years have shown the importance of that work, as fragile states have faced significant shocks from pandemic disease, weather extremes, economic downturns, political conflict, and forced displacement.
What initially excited us about the Global Fragility Act (GFA) was the opportunity it presented to ‘flip the script’ in U.S. foreign policy, shifting the focus from crisis response to conflict prevention. The law mandates a long-term, government-wide strategy to address fragility and violence—pushing the focus upstream toward preventing the outbreak of conflict. It also aims to strengthen the effectiveness of a prevention-focused approach by requiring detailed 10-year plans in at least five priority countries, collecting data on impact, and regularly reporting on progress.
Yet enacting a law is not the endpoint of our work. We must remain engaged and hold the government accountable for properly implementing the law. Unfortunately, as with the Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act (P.L. 115-441), administrations have not fully complied with the GFA’s requirements. President Trump failed to submit the required comprehensive strategy on time or fully. Instead, the administration offered a short 6-page summary of what a future strategy would include. Three months after the deadline, the U.S. government released its complete “U.S. Strategy to Prevent Conflict and Promote Stability.”
Recently we celebrated another milestone in GFA implementation. On April 1, 2022—15 months past the deadline—the Biden administration announced its list of priority countries and a National Security Council-led steering committee for GFA implementation. The priority countries are Haiti, Libya, Mozambique, Papua New Guinea, and Coastal West Africa (including Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, and Togo).
This renewed energy on GFA implementation is a welcome sign, and we appreciate the geographic diversity of the priority nations.
Each selected country faces unique challenges: Haiti is experiencing recent political, economic, and environmental shocks. Libya is grappling with ongoing political instability following decades of civil war. Mozambique continues to struggle with armed groups like ISIS-M in its north. Papua New Guinea, which faces high levels of inter-communal violence, recently reached a tenuous agreement with the Autonomous Region of Bougainville to allow for its full independence by 2027. Although the coastal West African countries of Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, and Togo each have distinct challenges, they all face a shared threat from armed groups such as Boko Haram spreading through the Sahel.
Enacting a law is not the endpoint of our work. We must remain engaged and hold the government accountable for properly implementing it.
By selecting a variety of different contexts, the administration will be able to gather essential data and lessons on which prevention approaches work best. We hope this information will help strengthen the case for early prevention, improve the effectiveness of existing peacebuilding tools and methods, and help practitioners develop new ones.
Getting the administration to publish a list of focus countries was harder than anticipated. While the recent country announcements are a positive step, the Biden administration still has not released detailed 10-year plans for each country. We will continue our efforts to ensure these plans are created in close collaboration with local partners and are responsive to the needs of those most vulnerable to the effects of violent conflict.
One crucial way that Congress can support the implementation of the Global Fragility Act is by fully funding it. We urge Congress to appropriate $60 million this year for the Complex Crises Fund, which allows USAID to swiftly and flexibly respond to early warning signs of conflict and crisis. Only by providing adequate resources and attention to prevention and peacebuilding accounts can we ensure that the vision of the GFA will be fulfilled.
