In response to international debates on state fragility, 15 nations and regions that are farthest from reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) founded in 2010 the “g7+”-group. According to its mission statement the group wishes to “monitor, report, and draw attention to the unique challenges faced by fragile states”. The members of the group aim to “provide a fragile state perspective on fragility in order to work with donors to improve the effectiveness of their assistance and help the membership to transition out of fragility”. Thus, for the first time, the poorest recipients of foreign aid seek to speak with one voice intending to influence donor policies before they are applied to fragile countries. These recent developments of interest formation need be taken into consideration when it comes to analyse the terms and the effectiveness of aid conditionality. This paper analyses first how the “g7+” deal with Western donors’ demands of implementing principles such as good governance, poverty reduction, social development and conflict resolution. Second, the paper will investigate what influence the group currently has on the formulation and implementation of political conditionality towards fragile states. The paper is based on a series of interviews conducted with representatives of major donor organizations and members of the “g7+”-group.
