Introducing the Mitchell Global Humanitarian Award and Aid Profiles
As announced at our 2016 Mitchell Oration last week, we have launched a new initiative, the Mitchell Global Humanitarian Award.
The Award will recognise Australians and others supported by Australian aid who have made an outstanding contribution to the cause of international development. The Award will be given annually (starting in 2017) to a contribution to the cause of international development which inspires others, which is of lasting and significant value, which has a link to Australia, and which has not yet been adequately recognised.
The successful awardee will be selected from a short list of Aid Profiles. We published our first aid profile this week, on Robyn Alders’ fascinating work to control Newcastle disease in Africa, or ‘measles for chooks’. Read it here.
Learn more about the award, including our distinguished selection panel, here.
Nominations for the award and Aid Profiles are invited: contact us at devpolicy@anu.edu.au.
And if you were unable to make it to the Mitchell Oration to hear from Mark Dybul, head of the Global Fund, listen to the podcast here or watch a video here.
Celebrating International Women’s Day
March 8 was International Women’s Day, and to mark the occasion, we shared two posts on the challenges facing women in our region on the blog. The first was on community-based approaches to ending gender-based violence in PNG, written by one of our Greg Taylor Scholars from PNG, Logea Nao. The second was a first-hand account of the challenges of entering politics as a woman in Vanuatu, by Mary Jack Kaviamu. We’ve also shared analysis on the number of women in the PNG public service—they are well-represented in central government agencies, but still in low numbers in leadership and at the service delivery level.
The work of our friends at Femili PNG, which Devpolicy supports in a pro-bono capacity, was also featured by The Guardian newspaper ahead of IWD2016. Two powerful stories feature Femili PNG’s work with local safe houses and other partners and document the challenges faced by survivors of violence.
Read the stories:
- Women seek islands of refuge in Papua New Guinea’s sea of violence
- ‘He might track me down and kill me’: fleeing domestic violence in PNG
Femili PNG’s team in Lae does tremendous and difficult work to help survivors of family and violence, overwhelmingly women, to achieve better outcomes. If you’d like to support their efforts, donate here.
Australian aid: heading toward the budget
While the exact date of this year’s budget is still unknown, it’s getting closer. We’ve had two posts on the blog looking at the pressure cooker that is the Australian aid budget, particularly if it faces the planned further cuts, and on whether aid campaigners should be getting involved in decisions around other areas of the budget to carve out more space for aid. New polling data also reveals that Australians are losing their appetites for further aid cuts.
2015 Annual Report now available
Our 2015 Annual Report is now available in print and online. It details our achievements from last year, progress on our various projects, and our plans for the year ahead. Download it here.
Costing the Syrian crisis
A new report from World Vision and Frontier Economics tries to quantify the costs of the conflict for both Syria and the region. Join us for a discussion of this report on Tuesday 15 March (5.30pm-6.30pm, Acton Theatre). Panellists include Sahar Yassin of World Vision Jordan, Emma Wanchap of World Vision Australia, Kevin Boreham from the ANU College of Law, and Devpolicy’s Stephen Howes. Register here.
Sir Julius Chan memoirs launch
On Thursday March 17, we will be launching Sir Julius Chan’s memoirs, Playing the Game. Sir Julius was Prime Minister of PNG in the 1980s and 1990s. One of PNG’s founding fathers, he has had a remarkable career spanning almost 50 years, including as Prime Minister of PNG in both the 1980s and the 1990s. Sir Julius himself will be speaking at the launch. So will the PNG High Commissioner to Australia, Charles Lepani, and former Australian High Commissioner to PNG, Bill Farmer AC. The launch will begin at 5.30 pm and will be in the Canberry Room in the Crawford Building. Register here.
ODE forum
Our first evaluation forum for 2016 will be on the morning of April 20. We’ll be examining the 2014-15 Performance of Australian Aid report and the recent ODE report on women’s leadership and scholarships. Register here.
PNG Update call for papers
Our call for abstracts for the PNG Update, to be held at the University of Papua New Guinea on June 15-17, will close at the end of March. More details on the conference and submission details are available here.
Pacific Update call for papers
On 18-19 July we will once again hold the Pacific Update conference at the University of the South Pacific in Suva together with the USP School of Economics and the Asian Development Bank. The call for papers has just been issued.
Upcoming events
The cost of conflict: five years of the Syria crisis
Tuesday 15 March, 5.30pm, Acton Theatre. Register here.
Playing the game: the memoirs of Grand Chief Sir Julius Chan
With The Hon. Sir Julius Chan. Thursday 17 March, 5.30pm, Springbank Room. Register here.
Australian aid evaluations: performance of Australian aid and Australia Awards scholarships
Wednesday 20 April, 9.15am, Barton Theatre. Register here.
2016 PNG Update
15-17 June, University of Papua New Guinea, Port Moresby. Details here.
2016 Pacific Update
18-19 July, University of the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji. Details here.
Blog highlights
Head of CARE on Europe’s refugee crisis and aid
Pacific fisheries, sustainability and revenue
Vanuatu’s airport quagmire
On the blog
A big country or not? By Bob McMullan
Vanuatu’s neglected international airport by Jonathan Pryke and Matthew Dornan
Aid and refugees in Europe: an interview with Wolfgang Jamann by Camilla Burkot and Wolfgang Jamann
The long journey: political acceptance of women by Mary Jack Kaviamu
Achieving a larger Australian aid program will require broader budget changes by Garth Luke
State of the service: women’s participation in the PNG public sector by Nicole Haley
Under pressure: calls on Australia’s 2016 aid budget by Robin Davies
Pacific tuna fisheries: an interview with Dr Transform Aqorau by Matthew Dornan and Transform Aqorau
Policies without borders: a review of Peck and Theodore’s ‘Fast Policy’ by Grant Walton
In brief
Fortnightly links: Brexit, RCTs, Afghanistan, global finance, effective aid, and more…
Lazarus with a triple bypass: the ‘political parties for democracy’ program is back, and in the news
Polling suggests Australians do not want further aid cuts
Robyn Alders: saving chooks, empowering women
Femili PNG’s work on FSV featured by The Guardian
Mitchell Global Humanitarian Award
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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