Comments

Very interesting analysis of the two prime ministers.

I share your scepticsm regarding international donors and their use of funds. On the other hand, resources can obviously be helpful to strengthen and accelerate transformative processes. So gold standard would be to provide funding in a way that avoids the power money has on shaping and prioritizing the development work, with respect for the concerns and the energy of the people Is that possible? I think so.

Vanuatu is not alone in this.

Very much so, Michael - when they come to the UK from Timor, their extended family network comes with them! One agency told me that they can't employ Timorese interpreters to do work for some clients like police forces or courts because they know the people they're translating for from back home, so there's a conflict of interest. My joke is that Oxford (or Blackbird Leys) is twinned with Lospalos and their children speak Fataluku as well as Tetum despite having been born and raised here.

Time for donors to do development differently - I appreciate your reflections on donor assistance to organic Indigenous movements and make no claims to understand the dynamics of collaborative partnerships to achieve your movement's objectives and donors' expectations. However, in reading your article, I sense that the reliance on donor funds and expertise may be counter productive. Is it also time for organic Indigenous movement to do development differently and perhaps obtain the bulk of their funding organically and rely less on donor agencies? Donor fatigue may also be an issue. I wish your movement all the best in the 2022 elections.

This is a very interesting blog on an important subject. Sandra provides good insights. Once again, it is the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation helping to generate useful and usable knowledge products through commissioning and funding these and other studies. As it turns out, Professor Sophie Witter and colleagues (including me) recently did a complementary study, also for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, titled "What, why and how do health systems learn from each other: insights from eight low and middle income country case studies". The article, published earlier this year, is available <a href="https://health-policy-systems.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12961-018-0410-1" rel="nofollow">here</a>. Also available <a href="http://devpolicy.org/pdf/blog/quotable-quotes-about-political-economy-analysis-in-the-health-sector.pdf">here</a> is a collection of what I personally found to be thoughtful, well-written, and in some cases juicy, "quotable quotes" from the international literature about the political economy of decision making and use - or abuse - of evidence in the health sector of low and middle income countries.

Good start for our young people thinking about this important issue that undermines our human development efforts. At the same time we need to be cautious when using 'culture' in our narrative. For a long time culture or some aspects of it has been used as a factor or an excuse for this issue, however it is not the same for the whole country. What is typical for a region, or part of PNG should not be generalised for the country. In some culture, women are valuable, backbone to a family and community and are overprotected. Outside observers, advocates and writers on this issue have over emphasised culture which in itself is reinforcing a culture mindset amongst our young people.

I think critics and comment will never eventuate maybe he has a version for this nation, let us abide by his government to see the next event. Every prime minister has their own policies for the nation. We can only spectate and see where the wind blows. Our voice will never make any impact changes unless you are politically mandated by people's choice.

Thanks Michael. Interesting article. Particularly interested in your last paragraph.

Thanks Ken. I agree that the notion of labour migration spurring a 'brain drain' is a misplaced concern. There's all sorts of social and economic benefits to having a population with more experience of the world and access to some money. Even in the case of people who migrate permanently, as some have done to the UK, they're still linked into family networks back in Timor.

Thanks Manuela, both for the compliment and your own research in such an interesting and important field.

Good luck Sheilla, I'm sure you understand more about the issue than me in many ways. If I had one piece of advice it would be to make sure your research also draws on the lived experiences of people within the SWP and PLS (importantly I think) as well as policy and economic research. Feel free to be in touch (you can easily find my ANU email through Google) if I can be of any help.