Comments

This is a marvellous start.

What an informative and compelling piece by Andrew Anton Mako. If anyone needed further evidence that 'technical capacity building' is not the answer to Pacific Island development, this is it; as in all nations, power, conflict and leadership are the nexus and if donors want to have any influence in contributing to positive change, they seriously and intelligently need to engage with the realities that this author has so clearly outlined - and stop outsourcing this work to discredited 'projectised' modalities.

Only one province in PNG has an elderly and People Living with Disability Pension for more than 10 years. World Bank has done so much ground work such as policy which is in place but political will is missing, compounded by sociopolitical and economic issues.

Thank you Australia for this opportunity 🙏 can't wait to apply for this one.

Mbk anna ini setuju bgt, harus disebar luaskan. Terus menulis untuk hal-hal yang hidden gini mbk. Semangat

Totally agree with you, Juliet! I have worked with many expatriates who are good, great and listen.

Thank you, Stephen. Your insights on PNG are much appreciated. Hope to learn more about the context there.

Many thanks, Joy! We're in this together.

Awesome piece, Anna! I FULLY support your thinking. Local is good! Huge congratulations on your new roles as well.

What a great blog! Thank you both so much for sharing these insights and experiences.

Tremendous blog from Anna. On the mark. I have worked in PNG, a place replete with talent if you care to look. Anna’s observations that locals are best placed to negotiate the political economy, embed an intervention as a local solution to a local problem and strengthen partner government ownership of the outcomes is on the money. I shudder to think of the times I have sat in a meeting with local partners who quite correctly levelled the accusation that while the development agency loved to talk partnerships, it didn’t know what a true partnership was. Thank you, Anna for your pertinent advice.

Thanks for the great blog. I agree that we need to change our language, which can help in the process of changing our thinking and the stereotypes and bias behind our language. Perhaps we need to get to the point where the more common refrain heard is: "expatriate, but good, they listen" ...?