Comments

Really agree there is so much joy to be had and understanding to be gained from learning a second language. When I was working in Indonesia (in the private sector, before jumping to development land) I really knuckled down to try to get to a good conversational level. It allowed me to have so many interesting conversations with people from all walks of life as I travelled across the archipelago in annual leave-sized chunks, and it really deepened my interest in how systems and structures and policies affect people's lives. So in a round-about way it was language that sparked my interest in development as much as anything else. Also I really love learning those words that don't exist in other languages! My favourites in Indonesian are 'jayus' (the telling of a joke that is so unfunny or delivered so poorly that you end up laughing anyway) and 'gemes' (something so cute that you want to squish it).

The participation of women in peace negotiations & grassroots/women's organizations in confidence-building, transitional justice/ healing & reconciliation & alternative dispute resolution schemes cannot be over-emphasized.

Mark, you nailed it! The essay reminded me of my experiences with international volunteers whilst working with CUSO and VSO in PNG. I was one of a very few people who had the privilege of seeing and experiencing such differences in language and culture both from an in-country (host community) perspective as well as from a pre-departure orientation perspective for international development volunteers. I was fortunate to have been part of an AVI pre-departure briefing organised by Scope Global for international volunteers leaving for placements in the Pacific Islands whilst studying at ANU. These experiences have certainly made me more appreciative and understanding of differing development perspectives both from the global north and the global south. Thanks Mark.

Thanks for highlighting this important disease burden, Ian. Tobacco is one of the leading contributors to the burden of disease among Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. In 2014-15, approximately 39% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 years and over reported being a current daily smoker - well above the global average (29%). In remote communities it is closer to 70%. The Indigenous Health Minister Ken Wyatt AM said last week that ‘Smoking is the most preventable cause of disease and early death among Aboriginal people and accounts for almost one-quarter of the difference in average health outcomes between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. Reducing smoking rates is central to efforts to Closing the Gap in life expectancy’ On the Department of Health funded ‘National Best Practice Unit for Tacking Indigenous Smoking’ programme, we are using evidence to enable service providers to improve the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Last week, the TIS programme released its Preliminary Evaluation report, which found that it is operating effectively; using proven approaches to change smoking behaviours, and is delivering evidence-based local tobacco health promotion activities. There is still a huge gap to close in Australia.

Thanks Robert; it's a skim across the surface of the topic, so I am glad you found it resonated.

I totally agree with this research paper. DDA is a mechanism for service delivery at the district level but it has been politicized by the MP for their own personal gain and to support their own political cronies. The reason is because most of those MP,s dont attend proper induction to understand their roles and responsibility and their functions as a legislature and not service provider, donors or project implementors. When they do understand their role effectively thats where corruption and misconduct in office comes into play and causes lot of poor service delivery to reach rural and marginalize communities.

Nailed it! Should be made compulsory reading in particular for anyone going to live and/or work abroad (where the first language differs, of course).

An outstanding essay on an important and little discussed topic. Thank you, Mark.

Thanks Colin for this piece- agree with Dr Puloka that it is a very important message and that diabetes remains one of the major public health problems in the Pacific Islands region. It is responsible for a huge amount of preventable morbidity and mortality, which should be a cause for concern for anyone interested in public health in the region. I would encourage anyone interested in Pacific Island health to read the Pacific NCD Roadmap and I hope that investments can be stepped up to fully fund and implement the strategies that it proposes.

Thank you so much for your work. It is a must have source of reference for students, researchers and public here in PNG. Cheers! I've adapted your datasets for private and public presentations where I have acknowledged my primary source of data. With appreciation. Thank you. Henry Boas Kopapa

The media landscape has been changing/evolving, arguably for the worse, for some time now, as attested by several reports, including the McBride Commission (1981),'Many Voices One World'. UNESCO's attempt at a 'New World Information and Communication Order' to address the inequalities in the flow of information between the North and the South came to naught. McBride highlighted the importance of strengthening the national media to avoid dependence on external sources, an underlying theme in this DevPolicy article. The problems are well known and will no doubt be highlighted by yet another inquiry, by Australia this time. The challenge is finding effective and lasting solutions. It's tricky because the media landscape is in a constant flux and the issues compound and become more complicated due to political upheavals and technological changes. One is sometimes resigned to the fact that maybe it is the normal and natural order of things - as VS Naipaul's book title says, 'The World is What it is'. The jaded outlook notwithstanding, the search for solutions is also a natural and instinctive human survival trait/reaction. Allow me too share <a href="http://ssgm.bellschool.anu.edu.au/experts-publications/publications/5286/dp20171-state-media-review-four-melanesian-countries-fiji" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">my paper on the 'State of the media in Melanesia'</a> as it corresponds with some of the points on hand. The findings highlight the need to continue striving for improvements rather than give in against the odds.

A "home grown" perspective of Pacific governments on development effectiveness that best contextualises some of the issues raised in this article for the period 2010-2015. http://www.forumsec.org/pages.cfm/strategic-partnerships-coordination/pacific-principles-on-aid-effectiveness/forum-compact/cairns-compact-1.html