Comments

Thanks Marianne, there is indeed a big job ahead but I am advised that the way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. If and when I get 10 uninterrupted minutes I will try to put down on paper some further thinking on the issue of resilience as it manifests itself in many forms.

Thanks for this Terence, it raises an important point. The government of Vanuatu has subsequently made it clear that Mr Shing's comments were indeed aimed at the influx of donor agencies, NGOs, etc who had commenced work without coordinating their efforts through the Vanuatu Humanitarian Team (VHT), which is a network of NGOs and other agencies who have invested in supporting the National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) for more than 3 years. They are working to support the government (via the NDMO) including by providing coordination of those agencies who do not have the benefit of the established networks and access to local knowledge that the VHT draws on.

Dear Tess, thank you for this wonderful representation of local resilience. The research repeatedly shows local responses as critical and usually overlooked post-disaster. The question for international responders is: "how can we support local capacity, how can we build on what they know, how can we learn from them". As a small child growing up in Vanuatu and enduring many cyclones, I saw this again and again - communities rebuild, even from apparently nothing. You sound chipper, and I know there is a lot of more to be done and to process yet. A big hug. xx

Thanks Bob and Joel, The 'tyranny of the measurable' is indeed a dilemma for someone such as myself who also applauds the virtues of evidence-based policy decision making. Good public policy and governance should be driven by evidence, and hard numbers tend to drive out "soft" information. Joel highlights how this may affect education sector funding relative to health funding. This is even more the case for governance activities. These are very difficult to measure - although the World Bank at least makes an effort through its support for worldwide governance indicators. Time scales are very long - well beyond a usual election cycle, especially if trying to measure sustainable reform. In addition, there are real differences as to what is regarded as a success in the governance sector (for example, whether creating statutory authorities in PNG for immigration and taxation is a positive governance outcome or not). A third issue in the 'tyranny of the measurable' is that even when there is information on "measurable wins", it often cannot be released in public. Some of the best contributions from advisers working in the governance sector cannot be revealed as they could break the secrecy provisions of another sovereign country (this would be the same issue for any foreign adviser working in Australia on issues that went to the Australian Cabinet). I will do a blog on these issues in the context of PNG and the governance sector in coming weeks.

O'Neill has mastered the art of diverting attention all the time. When he is allegation against him/his government for being corruption he quickly comes up with some mega development strategy or major changes in government or policy shift to quickly divert attention. O'Neill is also very luck the PNG politics is heavily based on personality and tribalism. People vote you because of personality and because the tribe is satisfied that you are the best person to represent them, No emphasis is placed on your person integrity, morals, or honesty. That is for PNG to worry about, not your tribe. On a national scale, he can't be removed as a leader because he has the power of influence over his tribe/clansman as the best person to represent them. The only way to get rid of this controversial politician is by the laws of this country. We have to enforce the laws without fear or favour to ensure O'Neill is removed from Parliament and PNG politics for good. It would take a selfless Chief Ombudsman, Public Prosecutor, Police Commissioner and the rest of PNG to apply enough pressure on O'Neill to make him succumb.

Dear Bob, Thanks so much for this piece. Wonderful to hear. I have long wondered how and why education aid funding paled in comparison to global health funding. And I think you are right about the measurability aspect. I would also argue that the elements of global health that people like to fund are acute and finite - "people diagnosed", "treatments provided". While good, quality education is a multi-year, multi-faceted endeavour. I was discussing this with students in class last week - in education, we like to measure enrolment (ie. see the MDG report which reports on enrolments rates) but we don't measure completion or, even more importantly, quality nearly as much. On a slight tangent, I think this is part of the reason why health systems are often seen as too hard to support. We like supporting polio eradication or malaria elimination because they are finite. But supporting a health system is a long-term complex endeavour with uncertain outcomes. All the more reason for long-term predictable aid - something that seems to be eluding us at present. All the best, Joel

Satish, I drink kava pretty much every evening and agree with you about its importance - but it tastes foul, even after 18 years - come visit us soon and we will have a shell!

Any discussion that blatantly glosses over O'Neill's corruption, as this one does, is a worthless discussion. This is a gross insult to all those individuals, institutions and organisations that are fighting the overwhelming evil of corruption in PNG.

Tess, thanks for this update. We have many friends and relatives in Vanuatu and our thoughts and prayers are with them. The ni-Vans will bounce back: wait just six months to see the return of the food, the festivities, and the lush bush that you miss now. My lone qualm with your story is the claim that kava is "the most foul tasting substance you would ever voluntarily put in your mouth". I drink kava every week, Vanuatu kava is the best around (hard for a Fijian to admit though), and I pay good money for the product. And the drink is desperately needed to soothe the pains of Pam right now - taki!

Hi, The points you raise are critical to the development endeavour and much broader than my specific contribution in this book. You ask, what do we do when religious/cultural values don’t align with those of mainstream Western development. Well, for those who believe in grassroots development the answer should be that we don’t impose our values on others, but of course communities are not homogenous units but complex constellations of individuals some who may welcome Western development and others who don’t. This leads into the much more complex debate of whether all aid is a universal right or only humanitarian aid being universal and development assistance being an extension of Western values, the former being apolitical the latter highly political. Rather than arguing a particular perspective, my book offers a model that offers insights into the extent of the assistance that religious groups could offer in the statebuilding endeavour and then providing insights into how to better understand the relevant doctrines of two religions in relation to post-conflict statebuilding, but I leave it to individuals to interpret for their particular situation whether this is to be used as a tool to avoid potential challenges from religious groups or as a means of better tailoring assistance to believer’s hopes and aspirations. As for religion and culture, yes I agree that religion is a factor that shapes the broader concept of culture, but its a particularly important one that seems to be wilfully taken off of our radar. Its as if there is an unwritten rule that allows for discussions of tribal structures, traditions and practices but none that may fall under the rubric of religion and in particular if its one of the major religions. Thanks for your comment. Please note that the first chapter of my book is available for free from the Palgrave site.

Very interesting and important post. I absolutely agree that organizations need to recognize the value of people's time and labor, particularly in the case of research, which likely will not bring any benefit to the participants. In Timor-Leste and elsewhere in Asia/Pacific, is the norm for attendants at such meetings not to receive any compensation at all? In many places I've worked in Africa, meetings like these would provide meals, in-kind gifts, or per diems - some type of compensation. It's almost the opposite of what's described in the article, as per diems for say, a 2-hour meeting can easily be the equivalent of multiple days of labor. It became clear in many cases that people attended almost solely for the goods/money they would receive simply for showing up. I'm curious whether this is a regional difference or difference in who the largest donors are in each region, or perhaps due to the aid industry having a larger presence and longer history in some parts of Africa?

Thanks Tess for the article. It is a great summary of the very changed situation here in our island home. The speed at which the people have come together to get things up and running is impressive to say the least. As you say there are many challenges ahead in the rebuilding of Vanuatu after Pam. I am optimistic and even more so after witnessing the initial response of the people in the first stages of recovery.