2017 Australasian Aid Conference

2017 Australasian Aid Conference

10 reasons to attend the 2018 Australasian Aid Conference

By Sachini Muller
29 November 2017
  1. Penny Wong: as Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, when it comes to the development sector, she knows what she’s talking about– see her Devpolicy blog post on aid cuts undermining health security here, and her speech at the 2017 ACFID Conference here. We heard from Julie Bishop at the 2017 Conference on the Government’s aid policy, and in 2018 we’ll hear from Senator Wong about the Opposition’s plans for Australian aid.
  2. The strugglers: those who are not poor by conventional international poverty measures, but are far from the middle class. Hear from Nancy Birdsall, President Emeritus of the Center for Global Development, on the challenges and prospects of this large but neglected group of people in development discourse. You can also hear Nancy, one of the world’s leading development thinkers, speak on the future of multilateral development banking.
  3. Health security and medical research plenary. It’s the Coalition’s biggest aid initiative, but does it make sense? Hear from DFAT’s Health Security Ambassador and the heads of Burnet, Devpolicy and Policy Cures.
  4. NGOs in Asian aid plenary. It’s not all about infrastructure. Increasingly, Asian donors are partnering with NGOs. Learn about this from those leading the charge in Asia.
  5. The return of 3MAP: the 3-minute aid pitch – it was a big hit last year, so we’re bringing it back. Following the 3-minute thesis competition format, rival advocates will speak for three minutes on an innovative idea to do international development policy better; a battle for audience votes that will result in only one winner. (If you have an idea, it’s not too late – submissions close on 9 December, more information here).
  6. Something for everyone, whether you work on economics, gender, politics, health, education, governance, or pretty much anything else in the development sector. This year we have a record 33 parallel sessions featuring over 100 speakers (see the full range in our draft program).
  7. Revisited photographic exhibition: come to the opening of the provocative Revisited exhibition by world-renowned photojournalist Nick Danziger. You can also hear Nick speak at the opening (on the afternoon of Monday 12th December – it’s our opening event) about his experiences and provide a human face to development issues, and during the conference about the aid apathy crisis.
  8. Mitchell Humanitarian Award – for the second time running, don’t miss our conference gala dinner, where we will celebrate and be inspired by the five people featured in this year’s Aid Profiles, and the one selected as the winner of the 2018 Mitchell Humanitarian Award.
  9. Aid Suppliers Conference follows the day after the AAC, on Thursday 15 February. DFAT puts its annual get-together with aid stakeholders on during this week for a reason – so that you can attend both. Separate registration here.
  10. Everyone else will be there – it is Australia’s premier development conference, after all.

Don’t delay. Register before 1 December and you’ll even get the discounted early bird registration price.

About the author/s

Sachini Muller
Sachini Muller was a Research Officer at the Development Policy Centre. She is currently completing a Master of Globalisation at ANU.

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