We close the blog for the year on Wednesday 22 December, and resume on Monday 10 January 2022. Thank you to everyone who has written for, read, commented on, edited, promoted and supported the Devpolicy Blog in 2021. We wish you a restful holiday.
Here’s a chance to recap the year with a listing of some of our favourite and most popular blogs, and some suggestions for summer reading at the end.
Aid and development
Australia hits (almost) rock bottom in new global aid rankings by Stephen Howes
Insights on China’s 2021 white paper on international development cooperation by Anthea Mulakala and Hongbo Ji
Useful outsiders by Anna Gilbert
What good did we do in Afghanistan? by Mary Venner
COVID-19
Ethnic migrants in Hanoi: hit hard by lockdowns by Tran Chung Chau and Nicola Nixon
COVID-19 in PNG: the silent dead by Win Nicholas
Navigating uncertainty: Cambodian tourism businesses and the pandemic by Men Pechet and Marly Augustine
Social media “bullshit” threatens control of COVID-19 outbreak in PNG by Sue Ahearn
The vaccine donation model is broken – a new approach is needed by Joel Negin
The Pacific and Timor-Leste
Nauru: riches to rags to riches by Stephen Howes and Sherman Surandiran
Solomon Islands’ slippery slide to self implosion by Transform Aqorau
Timor-Leste will soon be running on fumes by Charles Scheiner
Tuvalu’s Future Now Project: preparing for climate change in the worst-case scenario by Simon Kofe
Pacific politics and elections
All change in Tonga by Henry Ivarature and Ema Finau Ivarature
Patriarchy and corrupt political practices are hindering female participation in PNG politics by Loretta Dilu
Samoa’s historic election result by Mata’afa Keni Lesa
What political crises in Vanuatu and Samoa tell us about their past and future by Terence Wood
Women’s political leadership in Vanuatu by Jennifer Kalpokas Doan
Fiji
No poverty reduction in Fiji over the last six years by Neelesh Gounder
Why has Mauritius left Fiji so far behind? by Stephen Howes and Sherman Surandiran
PNG
A response to ‘failed state’ narratives of PNG by Kylie McKenna, Senala Morona and Cooniebhert Samgay
Booming business, absent government in the Sepik by Desmond Narongou
Foreign exchange rationing in PNG: six years on by Rohan Fox
PNG: the hungry country by Manoj K. Pandey and Stephen Howes
Tommy Baker: PNG’s Ned Kelly? by Sinclair Dinnen and Grant Walton
Pacific regionalism
Another Pacific plan, really? by Stephen Howes and Sadhana Sen
Dual crises at USP and Pacific Islands Forum: the chance for a different future by Collin Tukuitonga
Pacific regionalism forever changed by Transform Aqorau
The future of the University of the South Pacific by Biman Chand Prasad
Labour mobility
Australia needs more Pacific mid-skill migration: here’s how to facilitate it by Satish Chand, Michael Clemens and Helen Dempster
Flaws in the Australian Agricultural visa by Richard Curtain
I-Kiribati female seasonal workers in New Zealand: lived experiences by Charlotte Bedford, Richard Bedford and Rena Tekanene
Pacific Labour Scheme: expanding while borders are closed by Holly Lawton
Personal stories
A kiap in Bougainville: lessons for today by Anthony Regan
One day in the life of a fruit picker by Michael Rose
Unwanted sexual behaviour in the workplace: an aid worker’s story by Anonymous
USP remembering expulsions past by Robbie Robertson and Akosita Tamanisau
Farewells
Farewell Maev O’Collins by Michelle Nayahamui Rooney
Mekere by Ross Garnaut; Vale Sir Mekere Morauta by Rabbie Namaliu; and Morauta’s masterclass in economic reform by Matthew Morris.
Obituary: Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare by Ronald J. May
Summer reads
An important book at a difficult time by Michael Rose
Doing better without aid: the case of Somaliland by Gordon Peake
Is education really a waste of time and money? by Matthew Woolf
