Newsletter: New aid tracker website | Aid conference selling out | Myanmar aid lessons | WB VP on Pacific migration

Introducing the Australian Aid Tracker

This week we have launched our newest project – the Australian Aid Tracker. If you’ve ever wanted to find a fast number or fact about Australian aid, this is the place to go. With details about trends, how we fare compared to other donors, which countries and regions we support, and much more, all presented using great graphics, we hope that the site will be a valuable resource.

Read more about the website here in our launch blog, or see what you can discover from the interactive charts and visualisations yourself on the site. We’ve also been doing some blogging based on what we’ve dug up while compiling the aid tracker data—this week we wrote about Australia’s humanitarian effort and how it stacks up internationally.

For the time-poor, we’ve made an infographic with some key numbers from the site. And if you want to test your knowledge of Australian aid, try the aid tracker quiz.

The aid tracker project is supported by the Gates Foundation and the Harold Mitchell Foundation. We’ll be updating it as new numbers come in through the year.

Aid conference: don’t miss out

Registrations for the 2016 Australasian Aid Conference (10-11 Feb) have already broken the records set in the last two years. Make sure you register as soon as you can to avoid disappointment. Less than two weeks to go!

If you are wondering what all the fuss is about, check out this recent blog from the conference convenors.

matthewdornanNew Deputy Director for Devpolicy

We are pleased to announce that Matthew Dornan has been appointed Deputy Director of the Development Policy Centre. Matt has been with us since late 2011 as a Research Fellow, and has made significant contributions to the Centre during this time, particularly on our engagement with and work on the Pacific, so we are very happy he has agreed to take on this new challenge.

Post-conflict aid: lessons from Myanmar

Last week we concluded our three-part series by Simon Richards on the lessons that a Myanmar NGO, Pact Myanmar, has learnt working on a USAID-project in the post-conflict Kayah or Karenni State. Everything is political, from where you work to the staff you hire. Integrated development approaches work well, but the fundamental challenge is to build trust – and how do you prove that to your donor? It’s a fascinating account, and good reading prior to the aid conference where there will be sessions relating to Myanmar, aid and politics, and aid and conflict.

New Pacific labour mobility report launch by World Bank Vice President

Labour mobility is now widely accepted as a critical development opportunity for the Pacific. It also benefits the destination countries, including Australia and New Zealand, by filling employment gaps. However, labour mobility opportunities are both low and unevenly distributed across the Pacific. What could be possible if the potential of labour mobility were to be fully realised? What actions can sending and receiving countries take to make this a reality? The new joint ANU-World Bank report Pacific Possible: Labor Mobility answers these questions.

Axel van Trotsenburg, World Bank Vice President for East Asia and the Pacific will launch this new report (part of the Bank’s Pacific Possible series) on Friday 26th February, Barton Theatre, 9.00am. Register here.

Afghanistan in 2015: a survey of the Afghan people

Join us on February 12 (3.30pm-5pm, Barton Theatre) to hear the results of The Asia Foundation’s latest annual survey in Afghanistan. Conducted across the country’s 34 provinces, the surveys provide an unmatched barometer of Afghan public opinion over time. The 2015 survey reveals views on a range of issues including security, the economy, essential services, governance and political participation, corruption, justice, and gender equality.

This event features experts from The Asia Foundation, as well as a commentary from Professor William Maley of ANU. Register here.

Head of Global Fund to deliver 2016 Harold Mitchell Lecture

Mark Dybul, Executive Director of the Global Fund, will deliver the 2016 Harold Mitchell Development Policy Annual Lecture.

A leading voice on global health, Mark has been in the top job at the Global Fund since 2012, and previously served as the US Global AIDS Coordinator.

He will be speaking on the topic Exciting, challenging, frightening times – global health, development and the stuff of innovation”. The lecture will be held at 5:30pm in the Molonglo Theatre, Monday 29 February 2016. Register here.

Upcoming events

2016 Australasian Aid Conference

10-11 February 2016. Limited places left. Details here.

Forging a new development future

With Kitty van der Heijden. Wednesday 10 February, 10am-11am. Register here.

What will the SDGs mean for Asia?

Wednesday 10 February, 1.30pm – 3.20pm. Register here.

Launch of the 2015 Australian aid stakeholder survey

Thursday 11 February, 9.40am – 10.30am. Register here.

International climate change: perspectives on Paris

Thursday 11 February, 1.30pm – 2.50pm. Register here.

Afghanistan in 2015: a survey of the Afghan people

Friday 12 February, 3.30pm  –  5pm, Barton Theatre. Register here.

Pacific Possible: labour mobility

Friday 26 February, 9am   – 11am, Barton Theatre. Register here.

2016 Harold Mitchell Development Policy Annual Lecture

With Mark Dybul. Monday 29 February, 5.30pm, Molonglo Theatre. Register here.

 Blog highlights

Vanuatu’s snap election

Australia: a humanitarian scrooge?

How bad is coal?

PNG drought relief: politically tricky

 On the blog

Management of natural disasters in PNG — not all bad news by Felicity Herbert

Is Australia a humanitarian scrooge? By Ashlee Betteridge

Introducing the Australian aid tracker by Ashlee Betteridge

Vanuatu’s general election — some preliminary thoughts by Tess Newton Cain

For hungry people, an internet connection isn’t a priority by Ian Wishart

2016 Australasian Aid Conference: third time’s the charm by Stephen Howes, Camilla Burkot, Anthea Mulakala and Joel Negin

Connectivity can create islands of opportunity in the Pacific by Natasha Beschorner

Coal, poverty and energy access by Matthew Dornan

Aid in contested areas — reflecting diversity in staffing and measurement by Simon Richards

Politicising drought relief in Papua New Guinea by Colin Wiltshire and Thiago Cintra Oppermann

In brief

Fortnightly links: Cuban inequality, malaria, drought, Donald Trump, and more

Quiz: how much do you know about Australian aid?

Infographic: introducing the Australian aid tracker

 This is the fortnightly newsletter of the Development Policy Centre at Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University, published every second Friday.

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