Comments

The real issue is that the non-OECD reject the OECDs counting methodology and have done so for the last 50 years (see Zhou Enlais eight principles) China’s very active loan forgiveness (see FOCAC reports) doesn’t seem to be counted nor does equivalent in-kind and how China (and Saudi e al) count in kind and staff labour costs. So the fact that the Global South is/maybe picking up the slack may or may not be a bad thing but certainly worth noting with more enthusiasm.

Additional commentary and analysis of the draft Bougainville constitution can be found here: https://www.academia.edu/167159943/The_Bougainville_Draft_Constitution_Sovereignty_the_Common_Law_and_the_Judicial_Construction_of_International_Law

I do wonder if we are "much less of a generous nation" or whether people think the world is a more wealthy place than it used to be and in need of less help. Extreme poverty has decreased and become less obvious and we don't see famines and massive deaths from natural disasters as used to be the case. When your main images of India and Africa come from cool music videos and when Asian countries are clearly thriving is it surprising that aid support from the Australian public has dropped?

Thanks, Stephen. Economists clearly understand the Iran war as an “economic disaster”: energy prices, inflation, weaker growth, and pressure on vulnerable import-dependent economies. But has DFAT, and the wider Australian Government, really internalised what this means for the Pacific? DFAT appears alert to the immediate fuel security risks. Less clear is whether the wider economic effects have been fully assessed. If understanding of those wider risks is patchy, that may partly explain why the response looks inadequate. It may also reflect a broader loss of confidence in bilateral aid as a policy instrument, and the need for DFAT to make a stronger public case for its economic capability, analysis and impact. Lots to think about.

I went to the NID office and registered on February and did paid the k40 agent fee but I haven't get my Birth certificate yet.

These important insights need to be included in the governance of the UN BBNJ treaty.

A very apt and timely reminder in an era of AI. These lines are so powerful: “We are free to speak the truth — we are not free to misinform, deceive or propagate falsehood. There is a huge difference between the freedom to speak truth and the freedom to speak lies.” Malo ‘aupito Kalafi Moala.

Thanks for this post and for all your efforts. There is much to celebrate. Well done. This partnership (along with your four principles for aid effectiveness) provides an important and much-needed model for other contexts and programs.

The long shadow of excluding girls from education is not only educational but economic, social and intergenerational. The question is not only what girls lose, but what entire societies lose when half a generation is locked out. Helpful related read from Borgen: https://borgenproject.org/keeping-girls-in-school/

A very important point and very well written. Reprioritising girls’ education also means recognising the daily frictions that make dropout rational in contexts of poverty: distance, care work, hunger and stigma. This Borgen article gives a concise overview for general readers: https://borgenproject.org/importance-of-girls-education/

It is very encouraging to see the emphasis on aid effectiveness and the distillation of the four key factors in the blog from the UPNG experience. These factors align with the findings from research and experience elsewhere. I hope I am wrong but I fear aid effectiveness in education sector projects and support will decline in coming years as two factors come into play. First, the dilution of attention away from improving and sustaining change in education towards other broader matters, as important as they may be, such as climate change. I believe the concept of focus, as stressed in the blog, is so very important. Second, in Australia’s case in particular, the abandonment of a development policy focus on sustainability in the main aid ‘quality criteria' which are now limited to effectiveness, efficiency, gender equality and disability equity. I fail to see how development aid can be considered to be ‘effective’ in the broadest sense unless benefits from development interventions are sustained, and hopefully scaled and deepened as illustrated so well in this case study of ANU’s work at UPNG. The reporting of the sustained success of work in the university sector is a powerful example of how universities can be assisted to achieve successful and sustained change. Universities have often responded poorly to development assistance compared to schools and the technical and vocational education sectors.

An analysis of the draft Bougainville constitution can be found here. https://www.academia.edu/166254730/A_Note_on_the_Draft_Bougainville_Constitution_Part_I_Vailala_Analysis_of_the_2024_Draft_Constitution_of_Bougainville_Schmittian_Exception_and_the_Catholic_Katechon