Comments

From Asher Zion on Why violence against women is a climate crisis
This is a powerful and important connection that often gets overlooked. Framing violence against women as part of the climate crisis helps show how environmental stressors don’t just damage ecosystems—they also deepen existing social inequalities and risks. It’s a reminder that climate policy has to be human-centered, addressing safety and protection alongside environmental action.
From Dhammika Perera on If you have your baby at home in PNG, there’s a 6% chance that baby will die
Thank you Prof. Mola for continuing to raise these issues. It's easy to get demotivated and give up in the face of government inaction and cultural challenges. Many countries continue to show similar, sad situations with little hope in the medium term.
From Mehrullah Rahmani on Hope in exile: Afghan refugee children struggle for education in Pakistan
Thank you, Anura, for your thoughtful and compassionate reflection. I completely agree that the suffering of displaced children is a global tragedy that extends far beyond one community or one border. While this blog focuses on Afghan refugee children, it also speaks for millions of vulnerable children around the world whose education, dignity, and futures are threatened by conflict, poverty, and displacement. I truly hope these stories continue to raise awareness and inspire meaningful action for those too often forgotten.
From Anura Widana on Hope in exile: Afghan refugee children struggle for education in Pakistan
So sad is this story, not only Afghan children but many others around this confused world. Regretful and painful stories are many among Rohingya. Turning to Pakistan, the country is going through a challenging task of schooling its own children. The school drop-outs count over several millions. Many girls in rural areas cannot go to school, not because there are no schools but women teachers are lacking. It’s a cultural issue where a girl is not allowed to walk to school is yet another challenge. Women literacy rate in former Tribal districts is near zero. With many girls unable to school at present, they would add to the illiterate population of women in the near future. We need a transformation to break this vicious cycle.
From Daure Kiromat on Morauta’s masterclass in economic reform: part one
Greatest Leadership under PNGs darkest economic times. He proved that it can definitely be done!!!
From Peter Graves on The confederacy of cutters: OECD aid, 2023–2028
Thanks Robin Is it time to resurrect an enhanced source of foreign aid coming from a Tobin Tax - originally intended to penalize short-term financial round-trip excursions into another currency. I am well aware it did not get much traction while wealthy countries did give increasing shares of their income as foreign aid. But now ?
From Wendy Flannery on Why violence against women is a climate crisis
In view of the growing climate emergency, it's great that these critical concerns for women have been brought to public attention. Hopefully the resources will be made available for Pacific governments to respond.
From Luish Romoke on PNG passports quick, birth certificates slow
I have applied for opening new bank account,,but have denied due to have not having a birth certificate..
From Maqsudi Daoud on A scholar who lives his ideas: my experience with Paul Collier
Dr Bezhan was my classmate in high school. His talent ist wonderful. I am proud to have such professors to bring us in brightness. Thanks also for bringing the new book to my attention, looks very relevant for us. Love you Dear Bezhan.
From Gladall Sesehala on “Change is coming”: Wale promises Solomon Islands
I believe he can only if he can realign and reconvert the previous policy to a more workable and implementation one.
From OPcare UK on Taking public health innovations to scale: pathways, drivers and facilitators
Healthcare innovation combined with compassionate care creates better patient experiences. I’ve been reading more about rehabilitation innovation and it’s good to see continued focus on patient-centred care.
From Robin Davies on The confederacy of cutters: OECD aid, 2023–2028
Patrick, thanks, and you're quite right; ideally I would be less curmudgeonly about non-DAC aid. However, I struggle to see China's loan forgiveness as "very active". There has been a fair bit of research on this, which suggests Chinese cancellations are confined to one narrow instrument — intergovernmental interest-free loans extended by the China International Development Cooperation Agency. Johns Hopkins finds around US$3.4 billion of these cancelled across Africa over 2000-2019, with subsequent FOCAC rounds in the low hundreds of millions. But interest-free loans are only around 5% of Chinese lending to Africa — total commitments over the same period exceeded US$150 billion. The remaining 95%, from China Development Bank, Eximbank and state-owned commercial banks, gets restructured but, as Harry Verhoeven has put it, "never considered for cancellation." AidData's work shows China's response to Belt and Road borrower distress has overwhelmingly been rescue lending at relatively high interest rates — the opposite of concessional relief. On in-kind and labour costs: most of what China provides is probably already reportable as official development assistance in principle — technical cooperation, medical teams, goods and materials, turnkey projects. A decent attempt to put Chinese aid on OECD-comparable terms was made by Kitano and Miyabayashi, based on China's own valuations of these in-kind contributions from its budget accounts. That puts China's aid at US$5–8 billion in recent years — significant relative to, say, us, but very small for a great power. Saudi Arabia, incidentally, has reported to the OECD on compliant standards since 2018.
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