Page 334 of 811
From Mike Rose on Food as if by magic: how can Australia thank its seasonal workers?
Hi Carol. People such as yourself who are willing to go the extra mile to help out are an often unheralded part of what makes the SWP possible- rural Australia at its best. Regulation and monitoring are essential, but a supportive community is necessary if either are to be really effective.
From Michael Maley on The diabolically difficult mid-term review
Thanks for an interesting post. One thing that has struck me over the years is that while most people agree that governance support is a long-term undertaking, people too often seek to meet bureaucratic requirements by specifying short-term, often quantitative, performance indicators. And too often, what's important isn't measurable, and what's measurable isn't important. For example, in the field in which I used to work, electoral assistance, by far the most crucial (though usually unstated) objective was to build a culture of honesty and independence, of the type which would cause an administrator faced with political pressure to stand up for proper practice. This is the sort of thing which can only be tested when it actually happens, and one lived in hope that it never would.
From Carol on Food as if by magic: how can Australia thank its seasonal workers?
Local communities can be of help. I sourced 12 blankets for Ni Van in the neighbourhood. I have requested they return them to me for storage for next winter.
From Mike Rose on Food as if by magic: how can Australia thank its seasonal workers?
Thanks Kate. Hopefully putting it up on the Development Policy blog is a good first step. We'll see where it goes from there.
From Mike Rose on Food as if by magic: how can Australia thank its seasonal workers?
Thanks for your comments Uday. I've just downloaded the NITI policy paper and will pursue with interest. The context is certainly different from that prevailing in Australia (the issue here tends to be more about the lack of labour than the lack of money), although as you point out the ethical challenges stemming from the invisible nature of much agricultural work are fairly universal.
From Satish Chand on Food as if by magic: how can Australia thank its seasonal workers?
Disturbing story on your friend being asked to leave food at the door without any acknowledgement for the service. I strongly endorse the suggestions for recognition of the service our seasonal workers provide to the community. The least Australia can do is ensure that the workers are paid and looked after well. Any recognition over and above that would be icing on the cake.
From Oksie Kunapa on Papua New Guinea’s National Standard for Community Development Workers
I can confidently and safely say that the PNG National Standards for Community Development Workers has enhanced and increased the knowledge and skills of ordinary CDW and fine-tuned them into finished products as indicated by the level of confidence demonstrated during training facilitation and project initiation, planning and implementation.
The most important thing here is to see change in people (beneficiaries) which we work with through application of these skills and knowledge gained.
Apart from introducing Oil Search Foundation to PNG National Standard for CDW, I have also incorporated and established my own Community Based Organisation under the name Agarabi Rural Development Association and managed to develop my community through the funds secured from UNDP, USAID, and Oil Search Foundation and many more still forthcoming!
I'd like to take this time to thank and appreciate Chris Gard, Rebecca Robinson and others for your efforts in establishing PNGNSCDW! The resources are awesome and mostly importantly it is PNG local content/context.
I would encourage others who are working as development practitioners to be part and parcel of this important organisation and learn the skills and knowledge required to mould and shape you to become professional CDW!
From Uday on Food as if by magic: how can Australia thank its seasonal workers?
Nice article! You are right, the "people who work out of sight and out of mind are more vulnerable". The farmers are one such group. It might be interesting for you to look at the recent policies by Indian Government that aims to double the income of farmers. How these claims are working?
From Kate on Food as if by magic: how can Australia thank its seasonal workers?
Great post Michael. Can you get this in front of some policy makers?
From Stacey Tennant on The diabolically difficult mid-term review
What a wonderful post Gordon. You’ve raised so many of the things we think about as evaluators - not least of which is how do we cut through the ‘narrative’ that gets created around a program in a way that can bring meaningful change. You’ve raised a really interesting question about whether there is something unique about law and justice programs that make this more difficult. I’m going to give that a bit more thought, and come back to you with some reflections soon. In the meantime, I thought I’d point in you in the direction of the mid-term review of for the Tonga Police Development Programme. The report is less brisk than the one I did for the Bougainville Community Policing Programme, but it resulted in some tangible changes to the programme (woohoo!). And, full kudos to MFAT for publishing these reports on their website. I think that kind of transparency is important, and doesn’t negate the confidential conversations and information that can be provided to donors/programme partners as part of an evaluation process. Also, I think of evaluations as a process, where how we do them matters as much as (in some cases more than) what we write in the report. I find this thought also helps with the drudgery of report writing 🙂
From Mike Rose on Food as if by magic: how can Australia thank its seasonal workers?