As the international community focuses resources in fragile and conflict-affected states, the role of human rights in development and state-building efforts in these contexts arises as an important issue.

A key question is whether and how, even in contexts where it may be legally and politically difficult to enforce human rights, a human rights perspective can contribute to identifying both developmental blockages that inhibit transitions from fragility and conflict towards more inclusive and resilient state-society relations, and opportunities to support such transformative change.

This report examines the interface between human rights, fragility and development. The study aims to inform development partners on the merits and challenges of working with human rights in these challenging contexts, and to provide practical guidance on how they can do so more effectively. A key finding is the importance of taking context-specifity and the politics of conflict and fragility seriously .

Pilar Domingo, Lene Brandt, Lisa Denney, Marta Foresti, Siri Gloppen, Tam O’Neil, Alina Rocha Menocal and Leni Wild, with input from Clare Ferguson and Andrew Norton