Newsletter: Ditching neoliberalism and innovation | A new approach to health | A Pacific DFI? | Varghese to open Aid Conference | UK aid campaigning

Ditching neoliberalism and innovation

Research Fellow Terence Wood sets out to offend both sides of politics with his blog arguing that the words ‘neoliberalism’ and ‘innovation’ have nothing to offer development thought and debate. He’s much keener on learning and context. Read why here.

A new approach to health training

University of Sydney Associate Professor Joel Negin argues here and here that Australia should take a new approach to health workforce strengthening in the region based on ten-year partnerships between Australian institutions and local counterparts.

A Pacific Development Finance Institution?

This week we published Robin Davies’s analysis of the report of the Parliamentary inquiry into the role of the private sector in development. In parts scathing, Robin’s article also welcomes the Committee’s decision to recommend a review of the case for a Development Finance Institution – at least if it focuses on the Pacific. That’s a case that has previously been articulated on our blog by notables Jim Adams and Bob McMullan, and Robin thinks it could be quite a good idea as well.

DFAT Secretary Varghese to open 2016 Australasian Aid Conference

Dr Peter Varghese, Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, will open the 2016 Australasian Aid Conference on 10-11 February, 2016. Our call for papers is currently open until 15 October, with more details available here. Registrations will be open soon. The conference has been a sell-out in previous years, and early bird pricing will only be available for a limited time.

UK aid campaigning and Australian aid: 3 August 

On Monday 3 August, the Campaign for Australian Aid will host an event at the Crawford School featuring Devpolicy Director Stephen Howes, CARE CEO Julia Newton-Howes, and Micah Challenge International Director Joel Edwards. Dr Edwards is based in the UK, so if you want to find out why Australian and UK aid have taken such different trajectories, come along.

The evolving role of multilateralism in ending hunger and malnutrition: 12 August 

Although enough food is produced to feed everyone on the planet, around 800 million people remain undernourished. How can multilateralism help? In a seminar on 12 August, Gerda Verburg, Chair of the UN Committee on World Food Security (CFS) and of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Council on Food Security and Nutrition, will discuss the need for policy convergence on food security issues. Register here.

Semester 2 interns

This week, we welcomed our interns for Semester 2 under the Australian National Internships Program. Grace Castle-Burns is an international relations/commerce student at ANU, and she will look at Pacific fisheries for her project, while Josephine McLaren is an arts and social sciences student, who will look at service delivery in PNG.

Upcoming events

The evolving role of multilateralism in ending hunger and malnutrition
12 August, Weston Theatre. Register here.

2016 Australasian Aid Conference
10-11 February 2016. Call for papers open. Details here.

Blog highlights

New drugs against malaria

The disastrous local impact of Rio Tinto’s Mozambique mine

Optimists vs pessimists in the SDG debate

On the blog

Rape allegations at Manus Island challenge Australia’s commitment to the rule of law by Bal Kama

A new model of health workforce training by Joel Negin

Scale, value and innovation: a new model of health workforce training by Joel Negin

A private menagerie: Australia’s parliamentary inquiry into the role of the private sector in development by Robin Davies

Two words to expunge from development speak and two we ought to use a lot more often by Terence Wood

Private sector reservations and policies by Jim Adams

Policy choices matter, even for the resource-rich by Jim Adams

The sustainable development goals: Team Bumblebee or Team Chimera? By Benjamin Day

Mining, resettlement and lost livelihoods: a case study from Mozambique by Serena Lillywhite

Partnerships and innovation to defeat malaria: an interview with Dr David Reddy by Camilla Burkot and David Reddy

In brief

Weekend links: Žižek on Greece, Worm Wars, an empiricist strikes back, and more…

New poll on aid, charity and Australian voters

A positive prognosis for community-based NCD screening

Perceptions of economic dependency can impede justice for women: report

Weekend links: Latin America, labour rights, development results & more

Latest Pacific Economic Monitor looks at disaster impacts

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

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