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From Vinabit Fabiano on In conversation with Odo Tevi on the Vanuatu economy
Assumption is that aid donor projects drive the economy. Challenges highlighted here are common for small low income countries. The quality of the institutional and regulatory environment is the main challenge: political stability, poor accounting and disclosure standards,weak property rights, limited government accountability, weak regulatory environment, a poorly functioning legal system (however, Vanuatu has a strong legal and independant system), prevalance of corruption. We have no solutions? To conserve a constant growth, private sector must be strong. Banks and financial intermediation is very small. With no capital, there can be no indigenous engagement in the private sector.
From Terence Wood on Devilâs Night! What goes right in Solomons elections, what doesn’t, and what to expect
Thank you Beth,
Just a quick response in case Paul is no longer checking the thread: the central facebook forum, FSII, has covered a lot of non-election-related political stuff as well. And they have, in my opinion, done a very good job of staying neutral and not being captured, which would have been challenging. However, around the periphery of FSII other social media based groups have, I think, been involved in more partisan ways - which is perhaps (but not inevitably) more problematic.
Terence
From Joseph Vile on The dry seasonâs âtriple burdenâ on rural lives in Timor-Leste
Thanks for your article Pyone. It would be interesting to add a climate change lens to your 'hungry season' analysis. What are Timor-Leste's climate projections for say, 2050, and what challenges will they present at the local level for rural livelihoods? Could you list any related studies?
From Nic Maclellan on No tipping please: Australia and the UN climate fund
In December 2012, before his party won government, Environment Minister Greg Hunt had already written off the Green Climate Fund: "This is not a fund which we support. We have no control over where the money goes, no control over how it's used, no control over how much we pay and this is something which we clearly, simply, categorically reject.â
At the time, international observers were astounded by the chutzpah of this statement. Australia had been central in the process to create the fund, with AusAIDâs then Deputy Director-General Ewen McDonald appointed co-chair of the Green Climate Fund Board for the first year of its operations. Australian officials had played a crucial role in determining the Fundâs mandate, operations and policies.
Climate finance will be a central pillar of any deal in Paris in 2015, so there's a need for real transparency from DFAT about what climate funding it currently contributes, and what adaptation outcomes have been achieved by Australian investments in the World Bank Climate Investment Funds and a bilateral "climate" infrastructure projects (such as road building in Vanuatu).
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From Beth Greener on Devilâs Night! What goes right in Solomons elections, what doesn’t, and what to expect
Hi Paul,
Can I ask about the role of Facebook or other social media more generally... are these also popular for use outside election time to discuss ongoing political issues and controversial decisions? Are they particularly captured by specific groups or campaign interests or are there useful forums that engage more independently that are worth watching?
Thanks for the above to everyone - really interesting comments.
Cheers
Beth
From Stephen Norman on Devilâs Night! What goes right in Solomons elections, what doesn’t, and what to expect
Thanks to all, this has been an interesting exchange.
Jon,
Could you clarify your last point in your most recent comment? If the Solomon Islands have typically had a high turnover of incumbents in the past, why is it strange that the media is reporting a low turnover rate this time around? Seems like it would be quite newsworthy and possibly an interesting change in political dynamics (particularly, as you say, low incumbency turnover is often the norm elsewhere).
Regards,
Stephen
From Leah Creighton on New report shows extent of drowning deaths in developing countries
This is a very well-written piece highlighting an issue of global significance. It is heartening that important data is being collected to bring to attention to, and reduce the number of deaths due to drowning.
From Palms Australia on The dry seasonâs âtriple burdenâ on rural lives in Timor-Leste
This poses a unique problem for Timor. Development does not just include education and health, but an array of equally important issues. Environmental sustainability is often overlooked. Each nation, indeed each community, experiences its own distinctive concerns and as such, development projects need to have extensive local knowledge, support and expertise. Palms aims to ensure we provide skilled and experienced volunteers across a variety of areas, including environmental sustainability and agriculture.
From Jon Fraenkel on Devilâs Night! What goes right in Solomons elections, what doesn’t, and what to expect
Spot on Paul! The 'winds of change' of change stuff back in 2006 also had some weird religious links with the moral majority crowd. Yet the 'beguiling narratives' you mention also surely convey or reflect a potentially explosive mismatch between urban (& urban youth) expectations about new governments and the inarticulate results of the rural voting patterns, which exert the predominant influence over the composition of parliaments. The trouble is that changing winds tend to bring new cohorts of politicians to office that very much resemble their predecessors (or at least do so when they operate as a collectivity on the floor of parliament), rather than bringing to bear some generational change that might alter established patterns of governance. Its strange to hear various media outlets reporting a low incumbent turnover rate as big news because, though that may be unusual for Solomon Islands (excepting 1993 when Mamaloni opened the purse strings), the proportion of MPs who lose their seats tend to be much lower in the industrialised or richer countries or even to the east in countries like Samoa. Cheers, Jon
From Andrew A Mako on Getting services to survivors: a progress report from Lae
Well done Femili PNG, the hardworking staff at CMC, Lae, and Stephen. It is such a tremendous task you all are doing considering the enormity of challenge and how prevalent domestic violence is in Lae and PNG. Well done.
From Terence Wood on Devilâs Night! What goes right in Solomons elections, what doesn’t, and what to expect
Thank you Paul, that is a very interesting comment.
I was intrigued to see how often the word 'change' appeared on people's campaign posters (in the Honiara and small set of rural constituencies I visited this time round).
It's also interesting that, as you note, it also appears to be becoming a very good election for incumbents (a product I guess of relatively high GDP growth since the last election, plus increased RCDF money, and a last minute grant MPs awarded to themselves adding up to more money in politics, and - in particular - available to incumbents, although this is just a guess).
And thank you - that is a very interesting comment on the role of Facebook.
Thanks again
Terence
From Geoff on Elections, and the state Solomon Islands is in