COVID-19 and fragile contexts

Fragility is the combination of exposure to risk and insufficient coping capacities of the state, system and/or communities to manage, absorb or mitigate those risks. It occurs in a spectrum of intensity across six dimensions: economic, environmental, political, security, societal and human.

The socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic led to a global reversal in human development in 2020 and saw the number of people in extreme poverty rise, while between-country inequality also increased.

The 60 fragile contexts identified this year account for 24% of the world’s population but 73% of people living in extreme poverty worldwide. Such a concentration of extreme poverty has exposed people living in fragile contexts to a range of compounding risks that affect their livelihoods and resilience.

One compounding risk in fragile contexts is a significantly lower COVID-19 vaccination rate, which led to a higher number of COVID-19 deaths and signals poorer resilience for the future.

Read the report: States of Fragility 2022