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Conflict Pool






The Conflict Pool (CP) supports activities that seek to reduce the number of people around the world whose lives are, or might be, affected by violent conflict.  The Pool funds discretionary conflict prevention, stabilisation and peacekeeping activities. It focuses on tackling threats at source in high-risk and fragile and conflict-affected countries where UK interests are most at stake and where HMG can have an impact.  

Conflict Pool Programmes

The Conflict Pool currently funds five regional programmes that support a range of conflict prevention activities as diverse as security sector reform, rule of law projects, training peacekeepers and supporting political settlements. The CP also funds a thematic programme, Strengthening Alliances and Partnerships, which aims to develop the capacity of key international institutions, such as the UN, to tackle upstream conflict prevention effectively. Lastly, the Conflict Pool also provides funding for the Stabilisation Unit, which coordinates and supports cross-government stabilisation planning and execution, as well as maintaining a small Reserve. Programme allocations for 2011/12 are:

  • Africa (£33.1m)
  • Afghanistan (£68.5m)
  • South Asia (£15.5m)
  • Middle East (£11.4m)
  • Wider Europe (£27.5m)
  • Strengthening Alliances and Partnerships (£5m)
  • Stabilisation Unit (£12m)
  • Reserve (£7m)

Strategy

The Strategic Defence and Security Review set out an ambitious vision for a results-focussed approach to building stability overseas, with a strong emphasis on upstream work to prevent conflict and tackle emerging threats to the UK. The Building Stability Overseas Strategy (BSOS), which was published on 19 July 2011, will provide the overarching framework for the UK's approach. It will enable the National Security Council to decide on strategies, priorities and resource allocations for the remainder of the Spending Review period to 2015, focussing on the countries that matter most to the UK and where it can have the greatest impact. The BSOS will guide the allocation of Conflict Pool resources from 2012/13 onwards.

History of HMG Conflict Funding

The Conflict Pool was created in 2009 from the merger of the Africa Conflict Prevention Pool (ACPP), covering Sub-Saharan Africa, the Global Conflict Prevention Pool (GCPP), covering the rest of the world and cross-cutting thematic issues, and the Stabilisation Aid Fund, which had been established the previous year to support stabilisation planning in Iraq and Afghanistan. The ACPP and GCPP were themselves established in April 2001 in response to a series of cross-Government reviews of conflict prevention work. These concluded that the UK’s contribution could be more effective if it was coordinated across departmental boundaries and focussed more on conflict prevention, in addition to conflict resolution and post conflict reconstruction.
The Conflict Pool aims to increase the effectiveness of HMG’s engagement by bringing together the work of the three departments traditionally involved in conflict prevention work: the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), the Department for International Development (DFID) and the Ministry of Defence (MoD). The mechanism requires the three departments to conduct joint analysis, establish shared priorities and design and implement joint conflict prevention and management programmes on the ground. The Conflict Pool aims to fund innovative work to influence broader HMG policy and mobilise support from other international actors.