Conference program and abstract book

Update (13 Feb): Please be advised that the opening session of the conference will now commence at 8.30am on Wednesday 15 February (30 minutes ahead of the scheduled start time as listed in the conference program). This is to accommodate the schedule of the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The conference program is available for download here. Hard copies will also be provided to conference attendees.

The conference abstract book is available for download here. Please note that the abstract book will only be available in soft copy.

At the 2017 AAC we presented plenary sessions on rethinking governance, the crisis in humanitarian aid, and Asian approaches to engaging the private sector in development cooperation.

Livestream

For those who are unable to attend in person, the conference plenary sessions and selected parallel sessions will be available to watch via livestream:

Wednesday 15 February - morning
» Opening address: The Hon Julie Bishop MP (8.30-9.30am)
» Keynote address: Michael Woolcock (9.30-10.45am)
» Parallel session: The role and relevance of the ADB in the 21st century (11.20am-12.50pm)

Wednesday 15 February - afternoon » Plenary session: Asian approaches to engaging the private sector in development cooperation (1.50-3.20pm)
» Parallel session: Country ownership and transitions (3.40-5.10pm)

Thursday 16 February - morning
» Parallel session: Private sector innovation (8.00-9.30am)
» Plenary session: 3MAP – the Three-Minute Aid Pitch (9.40-10.40am)
» Parallel session: Working with and through markets (11.00am-12.30pm)

Thursday 16 February -afternoon
» Plenary session: The humanitarian system in crisis (1.30-3.00pm)
» Parallel session: Beyond capacity building - how development assistance can improve justice outcomes (3.20-4.50pm)

Additionally, all conference parallel sessions were audiorecorded and uploaded to the conference website here.

Opening address

The Hon Julie Bishop MP
Minister for Foreign Affairs

Julie Bishop is the Minister for Foreign Affairs in Australia’s Federal Coalition Government. She is also the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party and has served as the Member for Curtin in the House of Representatives since 1998. Minister Bishop was sworn in as Australia’s first female Foreign Minister on 18 September 2013 following four years in the role of Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. She previously served as a Cabinet Minister in the Howard Government as Minister for Education, Science and Training and as the Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women’s Issues. Prior to this, Minister Bishop was Minister for Ageing. Minister Bishop has also served on a number of parliamentary and policy committees including as Chair of the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties. Before entering Parliament Minister Bishop was a commercial litigation lawyer at Perth firm Clayton Utz, becoming a partner in 1985, and managing partner in 1994. Minister Bishop graduated with a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Adelaide in 1978 and attended Harvard Business School in Boston in 1996 completing the Advanced Management Program for Senior Managers.

Keynote address

Michael Woolcock
Lead Social Development Specialist, World Bank and Lecturer in Public Policy, Harvard University

Michael Woolcock is Lead Social Development Specialist in the World Bank’s Development Research Group, where he was worked since 1998. He is also a (part-time) Lecturer in Public Policy at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. His current research focuses on strategies for enhancing state capability for implementation, on crafting more effective interaction between informal and formal justice systems, and on using mixed methods to assess ‘complex’ development interventions. In addition to more than 75 journal articles and book chapters, he is the co-author or co-editor of eight books, including Contesting Development: Participatory Projects and Local Conflict Dynamics in Indonesia (with Patrick Barron and Rachael Diprose; Yale University Press 2011), which in 2012 was a co-recipient of the best book prize by the American Sociological Association’s section on international development. He served for many years on the World Bank’s Social Development Board and co-founded the Justice for the Poor program; in 2007-2009 he was the founding research director of the Brooks World Poverty Institute at the University of Manchester (on external service leave from the Bank), and in 2002 was the Von Hugel Visiting Fellow at St Edmunds College, University of Cambridge. He recently returned from an extended assignment in Malaysia, where he helped establish the World Bank’s first Knowledge and Research Hub. An Australian national, he completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Queensland, and has an MA and PhD in comparative-historical sociology from Brown University.

Invited speakers

Simon Cramp
Director of Private Sector Development, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Simon is the Director of Private Sector Development in Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. He has played a central role in the development of the aid program’s policy and strategy development on engaging with the private sector, in particular its Shared Value approach. He is also leading the development of a range of new innovative initiatives designed to support the new policies and the intersection between aid and trade, including on business partnerships and impact investing. Simon has worked in AusAID/DFAT for 14 years, the majority focussed on economic development and private sector development in Asia and the Pacific.

Robin Davies
Associate Director, Development Policy Centre, and Honorary Professorial Fellow, Australian National University

Robin Davies is an Honorary Professorial Fellow at the Australian National University and is Associate Director of the Development Policy Centre. He heads Devpolicy’s program of research into global development policy. He was previously a member of AusAID’s senior executive service for a decade, both in Australia and overseas. Most recently he headed AusAID’s international programs and partnerships division. His policy and research interests include multilateral cooperation for development, development and climate change financing models and public-private partnerships for development.

Jeon Hyunjin
Manager, Corporate Social Responsibility Team, LG Electronics HQ

Ms Hyunjin Jeon has worked at LG Electronics since 2010. She is currently a Manager in the Corporate Social Responsibility Team of LG Electronics where she works on creating and implementing social contribution projects in developing countries such as Ethiopia and Myanmar. In addition, she devises social contribution policy and guidelines for overseas subsidiaries to follow. Prior to her time at LG, Ms Jeon served in a leadership role in the UNEP National Committee for the Republic of Korea for five years, promoting awareness on the environment and its substantiality among children and youth under the cooperation of a diverse range of relevant actors such as the UN, Korean government, NGOs and the private sector. Ms Jeon received a BA in History and International Studies and a Master of Arts in International Development Consulting from the Graduate School of Pan-Pacific International Studies at Kyung Hee University. She is also a PhD candidate at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Seoul National University.

Jamie Isbister
First Assistant Secretary and Humanitarian Coordinator, Humanitarian, NGOs and Partnerships Division, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Jamie Isbister joined the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (formerly AusAID) in January 2009 and has over 20 years experience working in the humanitarian and development field. Jamie is the First Assistant Secretary of the Humanitarian, NGOs and Partnerships Division at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Prior to this he was Minister Counsellor Development for Africa based in Pretoria, and Assistant Director General for the Africa and Middle East Branch of AusAID. He was also the Humanitarian Coordinator for the Australian Government between January 2009 and October 2010. Before joining government Jamie worked in a range of international policy and development positions with NGOs including the International Programs Director for Caritas Australia from 2001-2008. In 2004, he coordinated the initial assessment and response efforts of the Caritas International’s network in Aceh following the Asian Tsunami. Jamie has worked for the Action by Church Together network and was the International Director for ACT – Australia from 1998-2001. In the late 1990’s Jamie worked in the Asia Pacific region particularly in Cambodia, Burma and Thailand on refugee policy and internally displaced issues.

Adam Kamradt-Scott
Associate Professor, Centre for International Security Studies, Department of Government and International Relations, The University of Sydney

Adam specialises in global health security and international relations. His research and teaching explores how governments and multilateral organisations respond to adverse health events such as epidemics and pandemics, as well as emerging health and security challenges. Adam’s most recent research examines civil-military cooperation in health and humanitarian crises, and the correlations between gender, sexuality, health and security. Adam’s professional background before entering academia includes having worked as a health professional, a political adviser, and public servant in national health security and pandemic planning. Prior to joining the Centre for International Security Studies in November 2011, Adam worked as a Research Fellow at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine on a €2.5 million project that examined how different values, ideas, and beliefs shape global health policy. He currently serves on a number of editorial boards, was a founding co-convenor of the BISA Global Health Working Group, and currently serves as an executive member of the ISA Global Health section.

Eun Mie Lim
Professor, Graduate School of International Studies, Ewha Womans University

Eun Mie Lim is director and professor of Ewha-KOICA Master’s Program at the Graduate School of International Studies, Ewha Womans University. She is a development sociologist who specializes in Asian economic development, gender and development, international development cooperation, and migration and development. She has carried out numerous ODA projects including an evaluation of Korea’s aid for gender equality as well as Korea’s aid system. Recently she conducted extensive research on the role of remittances as effective development finance in Nepal. Her research also focused on the financial and investment behaviors of Nepali labor migrants in Korea through the Employment Permit System (EPS). She teaches courses on International Development Cooperation, Gender and Development, and Korean Economic Development.

Paul McPhun
Executive Director, Médecins Sans Frontières Australia

After working with international UN agencies in Africa in the early 1990s Paul joined Médecins Sans Frontières in 1997, setting up medical relief programs in Central Asia and Latin America. As Operational Manager for Médecins Sans Frontières in Canada from 2006, Paul was responsible for programs in countries including Haiti, Russia North Caucuses, Ivory Coast, Colombia, Nigeria and Papua New Guinea, and was one of the coordinators that led the emergency response in Haiti following the 2010 earthquake. In December 2010 Paul moved to Sydney to take up the role of Executive Director for Médecins Sans Frontières Australia, where he is responsible for the medical, financial and human resource support that Médecins Sans Frontières Australia provides throughout the world.

Guo Peiyuan
General Manager, SynTao

Dr Guo Peiyuan, who holds a PhD in Management from Tsinghua University, is the general manager of SynTao and chairman of SynTao Green Finance. Dr Guo Peiyuan focuses on research and practice in corporate social responsibility (CSR) and socially responsible investment (SRI), with abundant experience on research, training and consulting services. SynTao has become a leading CSR consulting company in China with offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Washington, DC. Dr Guo Peiyuan has served for over one hundred companies, governments, and social organizations in China and abroad, including China Mobile, China Pacific Insurance, Amway China, Volkswagen, International Finance Corporation (IFC), and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). He has served as a judge in multiple CSR awards. He also teaches an MBA course on Business Performance and Sustainability in School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University, and an international student course on Social Innovation and CSR in the School of Social Development and Public Policy, Beijing Normal University.

Prabodh Saxena
Principal Secretary, Government of Himachal Pradesh

Mr Prabodh Saxena, a career civil servant from the Indian Administrative Service, is currently Principal Secretary to the Government of Himachal Pradesh. Prior to this he was Senior Advisor to the Director for Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Lao PDR, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan at the Asian Development Bank. Previously, he served for two years as Joint Secretary in the Bilateral Cooperation Division of the Department of Economic Affairs in the Ministry of Finance, working on bilateral relations and dialogues with India’s major partners, including issues of economic diplomacy. He has also acted as Joint Secretary to the Multilateral Division, India’s interface with institutions such as The World Bank Group, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the African Development Bank (AfDB). This résumé has given him a rare first-hand exposure to both the bilateral and multilateral aspects of Indian engagement. Mr Saxena’s previous positions include Secretary of Home and Vigilance/Director of Vigilance to the Government of Himachal Pradesh, Chief Executive Officer of Himachal Energy Development Agency (HIMURJA), and Deputy Commissioner of Kangra and Mandi. When in India, he regularly teaches at national institutes such as the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration. Mr Saxena has published extensively on diverse topics in academic journals; recent examples include ‘Pathological Pace of Dispute Settlement in India: Implications of International Arbitration’ (Jindal Journal of Public Policy 2012). Mr Saxena obtained his Bachelor of Laws (LL.B) from Delhi University and his Master of Laws (LL.M) from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

Phoebe Wynn-Pope
Director, International Humanitarian Law and Movement Relations, Australian Red Cross

Phoebe has over 25 years experience in the humanitarian sector and has worked in complex humanitarian emergencies and conflict zones throughout Africa, the Middle East and Europe. This field work included working in Iran responding to the humanitarian impacts of the first Gulf War, and leading a humanitarian response to the Somali famine. Phoebe also established programs in Bosnia Herzegovina during the armed conflict and worked in the Great Lakes region as part of the humanitarian response to the Rwandan genocide. Following this experience Phoebe returned to Australia to undertake a PhD in international law focussing on the role of the international community when confronting war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. Previously Phoebe was a Principal Executive of Fundraising and Communications and from 1996-2002 Phoebe was the Commonwealth representative on the National Council for the Centenary of Federation. In this role she was Convenor of the Communications Committee and chaired the organising Committee of the Yeperenye Festival, the largest gathering of Aboriginal peoples since Federation. Most recently, Phoebe was a founding Director of the Humanitarian Advisory Group where her work focussed on the protection of civilians in armed conflict, the use of information technology for the prevention of mass atrocity crimes, as well as researching policy development for businesses operating in fragile and conflict affected states.