Anti-corruption efforts are often undertaken in fragile and conflict-affected states (FCAS) - contexts experiencing intergroup violence, even war and where conflict dynamics are closely intertwined with abuses of power. In these contexts, programs to fight or reduce corruption inevitably interact with the dynamics of the conflict, whether they intend to or not. Like any international aid, anti-corruption programming cannot afford to be “conflict blind”, lest efforts to help cause unintended harm in fueling existing intergroup conflicts. The last twenty years of humanitarian and development aid shows us that such unintended harms can be anticipated, and even avoided or mitigated through conflict sensitive approaches. Can we use existing approaches as is developed for these other aid sectors or do we need approaches that respond to the unique dynamics of anti-corruption programming?

To answer this, CJL has begun a project to clarify the state of practice and the challenges, and to understand what approaches to conflict sensitivity could better support anti-corruption programming in conflict settings. The team lead on this, Dr. Lara Olson, brings more practitioner-focused learning experience to CJL and has worked extensively on peacebuilding effectiveness and evaluation, conflict sensitive aid, and complex systems in peace and conflict. She has written a blog summarizing our early findings from this inquiry - Does Anti-Corruption Do No Harm?

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Ultimately, we hope to develop practical ways to help agencies and activists understand and avoid or mitigate such unintended negative impacts from anti-corruption efforts. As we progress further in this initiative, we will continue to ‘think out loud’ with you - publishing new content on The Corruption in Fragile States Blog, hosting virtual opportunities for practitioners to discuss their experiences and test ideas, and publishing our final results.

Join us in this inquiry and keep connected to be included in these opportunities.