Report
As extreme poverty concentrates in fragile and conflict-affected states, the humanitarian system faces not just a resource crisis but a structural one. This IRC brief, timed to the 2026 World Bank and IMF Spring Meetings, argues that the New World Disorder demands a fundamental rethink of how aid is funded and delivered: directing at least 60% of ODA to fragile and conflict-affected states, expanding partnerships with CSOs who can reach communities that governments cannot, and using cost-effectiveness evidence to drive investment decisions. Drawing on IRC's own results — from delivering 28 million vaccine doses at under $1 per dose to proven malnutrition treatment protocols that cut costs by 20% — the brief makes the case that the tools to contain the crisis exist; what's needed now is the political will to deploy them at scale.
