Newsletter: Australia says no | PNG, Solomons and Afghanistan events | Research Officer position

Australia says no to the UN climate fund

Last week, 22 countries pledged US$9.6 billion to the new UN climate change financing vehicle, the Green Climate Fund. Australia was the only country to actually rule out a contribution. The Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop have said we’re already doing enough, and cite various programs funded by the previous government. But those programs are over, or running on empty, write Robin Davies and Jonathan Pickering in this blog post. Doing enough, they argue, would require an Australian commitment of at least $200 million per annum. At least one-third of that should be directed to the climate fund given its capacity to achieve scale and impact, its importance in the ongoing global climate change negotiations, and the confidence it has won from other major donors.

December events on PNG, Solomons and Afghanistan

Semester may be over, but we aren’t quite done with our events for the year.

Join us on 3 December to hear from experts from the Asia Foundation and ANU on the latest Survey of the Afghan People. The survey, based on face-to-face interviews with a nationally representative sample of nearly 9,300 Afghan citizens, reveals their views on security, national reconciliation, the economy, development and essential services, governance and political participation, corruption, justice, gender equality, and access to information. Register here.

For those following the Solomon Islands election, Devpolicy Research Fellow Terence Wood will provide an overview of how they went on 8 December, in an event co-sponsored with SSGM. He will also discuss what, if anything, has changed about Solomon Islands’ underlying political economy, and what this means for the country’s development prospects. Register here.

And on 11 December, we will be launching the report from our joint NRI-ANU Promoting Effective Public Expenditure program here in Canberra. The report ‘A lost decade? Service delivery and reforms in Papua New Guinea 2002-2012’ is based on two years of research and survey results on some 360 primary schools and health care clinics across the country. Speakers will include H.E. Mr Charles W Lepani, Papua New Guinea High Commissioner to Australia, and NRI Director Dr Thomas Webster. Register here (or find the report here).

Research Officer opportunity

We are looking for a new Research Officer to join our growing team. The Research Officer’s work will focus on our Gates Foundation-funded research, looking at a range of aspects of Australasian aid giving, as well as case study work on aid in recipient countries.

This is an exciting opportunity for someone with strong research skills. Applications close on December 12. You can find out more information and apply here.

Upcoming events

Afghanistan 2014: a survey of the Afghan people

With David D Arnold, Najla Ayubi, and Zack Warren from The Asia Foundation; and Professor William Maley and Professor Ian McAllister from ANU. On Wednesday 3 December, 5.30pm. Register here.

The more things change? What was different about the 2014 elections in Solomon Islands and what it means for development

With Devpolicy’s Terence Wood. On Monday 8 December, 12.30pm. Register here.

Australian launch of the ‘A lost decade?’ report

With H.E. Mr Charles W Lepani and NRI Director Dr Thomas Webster, on Thursday 11 December.  Register here.

2015 Australasian Aid Conference

Our annual aid conference will be held on 12-13 February 2015. Registrations are open, and early bird pricing ends this Sunday. For details, visit the website.

Blog highlights

How should PACER Plus handle labour mobility ?

Getting services to survivors of gender-based violence.

It’s hard to write a good aid evaluation.

On the blog

No tipping please: Australia and the UN climate fund by Robin Davies and Jonathan Pickering

The dry season’s ‘triple burden’ on rural lives in Timor-Leste by Pyone Myat Thu

Getting services to survivors: a progress report from Lae by Stephen Howes

PACER plus and labour mobility: how to do a deal by Stephen Howes

Has 25 years of children’s rights made any difference? By Sharon Bessell and Nigel Spence

The 2015 Papua New Guinea budget: the end of the expenditure boom by Stephen Howes, Carmen Voigt-Graf and Paul Flanagan

What do women and men in Fiji think about women in politics? New insights on where change is happening by Rachel Fairhurst and Joanne Crawford

Devil’s night! What goes right in Solomons elections, what doesn’t, and what to expect by Terence Wood

Party loyalties and the number of voters in Solomon Islands: the November 19th election and its aftermath by Jon Fraenkel

In brief

Together we can and must end violence against women

New report shows extent of drowning deaths in developing countries

ICAI report slams DFID’s anticorruption efforts, aid experts slam report

This is the fortnightly newsletter of the Development Policy Centre at Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University, published every second Friday.

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