-FRAGILE STATE OR BECOMING A FRAGILE STATE?

SEE INDICATORS AND JUDGE FOR YOURSELF

Attention is drawn from prevailing economic, political, social activities and cross-border engagement with citizens of other nations surrounding us. It is for us to determine if our country is a fragile state or becoming a fragile state, looking at the various indicators and prevailing situation.    

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, let us look at the meaning and interpretation of a fragile state. A fragile state or weak state is a country characterized by weak state capacity or weak state legitimacy leaving citizens vulnerable to a range of shocks. This is not our meaning, neither is it our interpretations. What is important to know is our role to digest or dichotomize the meaning of the fragile state and compare it with our situation in Liberia.  Now, what this phrase mentioned above means is that a country becomes a fragile or weak when she can not adequately protect the sovereignty and territorial confines of the motherland, thereby leaving the citizens vulnerable like in the case of Liberian citizens in Lofa, where foreign troops from the Republic of Guinea and farmers from Bokinafaso matched in to our country and forcefully seized potion of our land with ease. Our government is not able to put up a defense to reclaim our land, even though, we have military and para-military structures that have failed to defend the state.

The World Bank, for example, deems a country to be ‘fragile’ if it (a) is eligible for assistance (i.e., a grant) from the International Development Association (IDA), (b) has had a UN peacekeeping mission in the last three years, and (c) has received a ‘governance’ score of less than 3.2 (as per the Country Policy and Institutional Assessment (CPIA) index of The World Bank). A more cohesive definition of the fragile state might also note a state's growing inability to maintain a monopoly on force in its declared territory.

While a fragile state (Liberia) might still occasionally exercise military authority or sovereignty over its declared territory, its claim grows weaker as the logistical mechanisms through which it exercises power grow weaker.

While many countries are making progress toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, a group of 35 to 50 countries (depending on the measure used) are falling behind. It is estimated that out of the world's seven billion people, 26% live in fragile states, and this is where one-third of all people surviving on less than US$1.25 per day live, where half of the world's children die before the age of five, and where one-third of maternal deaths occur.

All of these conditions set forth by global developer index, Liberia is entrapped into every means mentioned above. No doubt that our citizens live far below US$1.00 a day. It is indeed an open secret that Liberia’s maternal death is on the increase due to poor healthcare delivering system. It is clear that half of the world's children die before the age of five, and Liberia is no exemption. 

The question is, what can we do as Liberians to minimize these situations that are posing threat and impediment to the growth and development of our nation-state?    

Fragile states are also known as weak states.  Fragile states fail to fully meet key needs of their citizens. The shortcomings are termed gaps, with three core gaps: security gap, capacity gap, and legitimacy gap. The security gap means the state does not provide adequate protection to its citizens; the capacity gap means the state does not fully provide adequate services; and the legitimacy gap means that the authority of the state is not fully accepted. This differs from a failed state, whose governments totally lack legitimacy. Weak states may be difficult to define, as the states fail to collect thorough statistics on crime and education.