The European Union's Political and Development Response to Rwanda

‘Fragile states’ are understood to be countries facing latent or protracted conflict (including situations of war), countries emerging from conflict (with major uncertainties as to their future stability) and countries indirectly affected by regional conflicts. Their ‘fragility’ can take different forms. In extreme cases, state structures have disappeared. In other cases, the central state may appear strong (e.g. in terms of military control), but it lacks legitimacy, controls only part of the national territory or fails to deliver even the most basic services (including in developmental terms). The net result is generally a situation of chronic instability, insecurity, violation of human rights, economic and social collapse, high levels of aid dependency and rising levels of absolute poverty.

This study analyses the EU’s development response towards Rwanda, looking particularly into prospects for improvement in terms of policies and instruments under the new ACP-EU Partnership Agreement.