Pooled, predictable financing needed to move beyond fragmented, short-term responses towards national systems built to last and scale

Washington DC, USA 12 June 2026 – As geopolitical tensions, inflation and climate shocks amplify food insecurity and livelihood risks for millions, leaders at the World Bank’s Fragility Forum this week pointed to the need for more predictable and stable financing for social protection in fragile, conflict and violence-affected (FCV) settings.

“When building social protection systems in these contexts, we need to ensure that they are built to work in good times and in bad times. We must invest in national systems, not parallel ones,” stressed Haneen Sayed, Minister of Social Affairs of Lebanon, at a session hosted by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) in collaboration with g7+, the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty, the Global Network against Food Crises and the World Bank.

The session, Reimagining Financing: Social protection in FCV settings, highlighted a long-recognised but unresolved challenge: financing for social protection programmes remains fragmented across domestic budgets, humanitarian assistance and development finance. In FCV contexts, where such programmes are needed most, these inefficiencies weaken their reach and responsiveness.

According to the World Bank, FCV-affected countries were home to more than half of the people living in extreme poverty in 2024. This stark reality reveals that without a rethink of how finance can be better converged towards national social protection efforts, an essential safety net during times of crisis and foundation for long-term development, the end of hunger and poverty will remain out of reach.

“We need to have a patient and long-term vision – building national social protection systems takes time and pooled financing along country capacities,” emphasized Hind Aboud Kabawat, Minister of Social and Labour Affairs of Syria. Speakers underscored that stronger domestic financing depends on political will, evidence and a “whole-of-government” approach, while development partners will need to back longer-term, pooled approaches that can help systems respond to shocks and expand over time.

“A clear message from today is that building and strengthening social protection systems is both possible and essential in fragile and conflict-affected settings. The task now is to accelerate the pace at which it’s happening,” as Melinda Bohannon, Director General for Global Issues at FCDO, noted in her closing remarks.

For the Global Alliance, the discussion reinforced a central priority: connecting financing, policy and knowledge behind country-led solutions is essential to achieving lasting progress in the fight against hunger and poverty. In volatile contexts, including countries like Haiti and Palestine, which are currently receiving support from Alliance members for social protection programmes, that imperative is more critical than ever.