Education and Fragility: A New Framework

The author describes the evolution of USAID's education framework for programming in fragile and conflict countries. Developed in 2006, it casts education in the forefront of programming priorities as a response to the risks or the reality of conflict in countries affected by potential or actual unrest. The framework revolves around three main questions: How does education contribute to fragility? How does fragility affect education? How can education mitigate fragility and promote stability?

The Education and Fragility Framework positions education at the center of four key areas of influence related to economic, governance, security and social domains. Education is viewed within the context of specific root causes of fragility or conflict such as organized violence, corruption, exclusion and elitism, transitional dynamics, insufficient capacity and public disengagement. Each of these issues can be addressed through education. In all cases, the premise is that if education can contribute to a given driver of fragility, it can also contribute to finding its remedy and thus to promoting stability.