Time to step up on Australian aid communications
If you got the most aid-illiterate person in your family to visit the DFAT aid website, would they be able to figure out what the aid program actually does? In a new policy brief [pdf] and blog series (here, here and here), Ashlee Betteridge argues that the aid program doesn’t do enough to communicate its work and achievements to the Australian public in a compelling or easy-to-understand way. She also looks at what has changed since the integration of AusAID into DFAT, how much space DFAT devotes to aid news on its homepage and on Twitter, and on what other aid agencies are doing. There are also several recommendations on how DFAT could start improving.
Does government funding silence NGOs?
Terence Wood and Sachini Muller continue to report on their NGO website content analysis. In the second blog of a two part series, they look at a surprising pattern: NGOs that receive a greater share of their funding from the government tend to devote more internet media space to raising public awareness about development issues and encouraging people to take action.
Solving public financial management problems in Pacific island countries
The World Bank, DFAT and MFAT have recently released a report that makes the case for adopting a problem-driven approach to public financial management reform in Pacific island countries (PICs). The report undertakes a number of case studies to examine how well reform programs have focused on the key challenges that PICs face in managing fiscal policy and financing delivery of public services. On October 31, one of the authors, Richard Bontjer from DFAT, will present its key findings, and a panel of experts from the World Bank, DFAT, and the Nossal Institute for Global Health will discuss the implications of the report’s recommendations for delivery of health services in the Pacific. The seminar will be held on October 31 at 1–2.30pm in the Barton Theatre at Crawford School, ANU. Register here.
Call for papers – Australasian Aid Conference 2017
Our call for papers for the 2017 Australasian Aid Conference (AAC) is still open, until October 1. Whether you’re an academic, practitioner, or student, based in Australia or abroad, we welcome your abstracts on a wide variety of topics related to aid and international development. The AAC is Australia’s premier academic aid and development conference, and a great opportunity to share your work with an engaged audience. Find out more and submit your abstract here.
Femili PNG seeks case management volunteer
Our friends at Femili PNG (who we support in a pro-bono capacity), are looking for an experienced family and sexual violence case manager to spend a year working with the team in Lae, Papua New Guinea. The position is voluntary, but flights, accommodation, a living allowance and appropriate insurance will be provided. Further details can be found here [pdf]. Applications close on 16 September.
The theatre of development
What does it mean to be good in the face of poverty? This is the question driving an original play, The Faithful Servant, which premiered this week at The Street Theatre in Canberra. The playwright, Tom Davis, this week wrote on the Devpolicy Blog about what inspired him to bring the drama of development to the stage. Read his blog post here and then get your tickets to the show here – it runs through September 18.
Upcoming events
State of the Pacific 2016
13 – 15 September, Coombs Lecture Theatre, HC Coombs Building, ANU. Register your interest here.
Australasian Aid Conference 2017
15 – 16 February, Crawford School of Public Policy, ANU. Event details here.
Blog highlights
The case for more Australian support for the Global Fund
Australia’s asylum policy lags behind Europe
On the blog
Evaluating impact evaluation in PNG and the Pacific by Anthony Swan
DFAT and aid communications: how to improve by Ashlee Betteridge
Australian aid communications by the numbers by Ashlee Betteridge
The theatre of development by Tom Davis
A call to alms by Tara Davda
Will Australia step up in Montreal? by Bill Bowtell
Does government funding silence Australian NGOs? by Terence Wood and Sachini Muller
Australia sounds the alarm on PNG’s proposed rice policy by Anthony Swan
The need to resurrect aid communication efforts by Ashlee Betteridge
What happened to the UN I used to know? by Camilla Burkot
In brief
Fortnightly links: evaluation and data, immunization, the ethics of aid, Ethiopia, and more
Evidence and practice in an age of inequality
Femili PNG seeks case management volunteer
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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