Countries in the Pacific and Southeast Asia are amongst the most vulnerable to disasters and the impacts of climate change. Since 2010, the Australian Government has invested $34 million in the Community-Based Climate Change Action Grants (CBCCAG) program, in which ten Australian and International Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) have worked with local partners in the Pacific and Southeast Asia to build resilience to climate change and address development issues at local level.

At the end of this period, these projects have been evaluated and have shown real results in increasing the resilience of communities to the impacts of climate change, whilst achieving broader development outcomes. The panel discussion shared the results and lessons from CBCCAG program.

This public seminar was presented by the Development Policy Centre at Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University in partnership with CBCCAG implementing agencies CARE, Live & Learn, Oxfam and Plan.

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The centrepiece of government policy in Papua New Guinea over recent years has arguably been the Tuition Fee Free (TFF) policy implemented in 2012. The TFF effectively eliminated school fees for elementary, primary and secondary students and provided schools with direct funding at a level which on average over-compensated for their loss of school fees. While the TFF has improved access to education and school resources, little is known about its effect on education outcomes as measured by exam results, particularly across gender, location and student age dimensions.

In this public seminar, Dr Anthony Swan – Research Fellow at the Development Policy Centre – presented findings based on multilevel modelling of grade eight student level exam results across PNG. The presentation highlighted positive impacts but also the unintentional and negative consequences of the TFF on student learning outcomes.

This public seminar was presented by the Development Policy Centre at Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University.

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Many young people are interested in a career working on some of the toughest challenges facing our world. Thousands volunteer in development organisations across the country, and development studies and international relations are among the most popular undergraduate university courses in Australia. Working in a field that aims to make a difference is no doubt appealing, but it can be tough for students to know where to start.

This public seminar, hosted by the Development Policy Centre and the ANU Aid and Development Learning Community, gave students the opportunity to hear from those working in the development sector and to ask questions. Panelists have had diverse careers in government, NGOs, the private sector, and as volunteers.

Speakers included:

• Ms Kath Taplin Senior Development Manager, Femili PNG

• Mr Nat Burke Policy Adviser, Advocacy & Justice for Children, World Vision International

• Mr Peter Russell Project Manager, International Development Assistance, GHD

• Ms Alison Chartres Assistant Secretary, Development Policy and Education Branch, Development Policy Division, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

This public seminar was presented by the Development Policy Centre at Crawford School of Public Policy and the Aid & Development Learning Community, the Australian National University.

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The Honourable Malakai Tabar MP discussed the issues and challenges that Papua New Guinea is currently facing in the higher education sector, and the reforms underway.

In 2007, The Hon Malakai Tabar MP was elected Member of Parliament representing the Gazelle Open Electorate. During his first term in parliament he was in Opposition, and was appointed Shadow Minister for Agriculture and Livestock. In 2012, he joined the Goverment through the National Alliance Party and in 2014 he was appointed Minister for the Department of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology (DHERST).

Mr Tabar visited Australia to participate in the ANZ | PNG Gender Parity Symposium, held from 13- 15 October in Canberra, Brisbane and Sydney. For more information, go to: http://www.asiapacificprofessionals.org/png-gender-parity-symposium-2015/

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In this public lecture, Dr Jaikishan Desai summarised the results of a cluster randomised control trial which sought to measure the impact of exposure to family planning and credit programs in two regions of Ethiopia over a three-year period.

Results show that family planning programs had no effect on contraceptive use, fertility and desired family size. The microcredit programs were successful in increasing engagement in the credit market (increased borrowing) but had no measurable impact on a range of outcomes related to income generation and economic well-being.

Dr Desai is a Senior Lecturer and Director of International Students in the School of Government at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. He has graduate degrees in economics (PhD) and biostatistics (MSc) and teaches undergraduate and post-graduate courses in development policy and policy research methods. His research interests include issues in development, health, and behavioral economics in India, Vietnam, Myanmar, Ethiopia, and New Zealand. Prior to joining Victoria University he worked in international development in more than a dozen countries in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean and for a variety of organizations including the Government of Mozambique and the World Bank.

This public lecture was presented by the Development Policy Centre at Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University.

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Although enough food is being produced to feed everyone on the planet, more than 795 million people remain undernourished. Even as global food production is stepped up to feed an anticipated global population of more than 9 million people by 2050, one third of all currently produced food is lost or wasted. Farmers struggle to maintain a profitable livehood, and are confronted with increasing environmental constraints in the face of climate change and depleted natural resources. In developing countries agriculture employs as much as 60 per cent of the labour force but fewer and fewer see agriculture as a viable career. The problems are well-known. But how can multilateralism help? The year 2015 marks the end of the monitoring period for the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets. As the world prepares to adopt the post 2015 Sustainable Development Goals, it is high time to reflect on the necessarily evolving role of multilateralism in ending hunger and malnutrition globally.

In this public lecture, Ms 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 - talked about the interconnected challenges faced today by the immense variety of actors, and the role global policy convergence can play to positively transform agriculture and food systems and eradicate hunger and malnutrition globally.

This public lecture was presented by The Crawford Fund and the Development Policy Centre at Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University.

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How can Pacific island economies, including those of Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste, tap into projected growth in Asia? How can economic and financial integration between Asia and the Pacific be expanded to benefit both regions?

This seminar featured two authors of a recent Asian Development Bank (ADB) book, Leveraging the Benefits of Asia’s Integration and Growth for Pacific Economies, who explored these issues, identified critical constraints to integration and suggested relevant policy reforms.

Dr Christopher Edmonds is the Senior Economist in the Pacific Department at ADB, where he manages much of the Department’s economics research, including acting as Editor-in-Chief for the Department’s flagship publication, the Pacific Economic Monitor. He is also responsible for managing ADB’s work on a number of technical assistance projects in the Pacific Region—including acting as chair of ADB’s Impact Evaluation Committee — and joins project teams preparing ADB loan and grant projects.

Dr Matthias Helble joined the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) as a Research Fellow in August 2013. His research interests include international trade, health, environment, and urban economics. His work has been published in flagship reports of international organisations such as the World Trade Organization’s World Trade Report, as well as in numerous books and scientific journals, including the Review of World Economics, Kyklos, Journal of World Trade, World Economy, Health & Place, and the Bulletin of the World Health Organization.

This public seminar was presented by the Development Policy Centre at Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University.

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Traditional assessments of progress against poverty and inequality put no explicit weight on increasing the standard of living of the poorest— raising the consumption floor. This public lecture showed that there has been remarkably little progress in raising the world’s consumption floor over the last 30 years. Neither economic growth nor greater coverage of social safety nets in the developing world has helped much in raising the floor. The poorest have seen very little progress. There has, however, been much progress in reducing the number of people living near the floor, and in reducing the numbers below international poverty lines. The presentation argued that the sharply rising gap between the top one per cent and the poorest is just one (albeit extreme) aspect of rising absolute inequality in the world. Modern economic growth has come with a rising absolute gap between the rich and the poor.

Dr Martin Ravallion holds the Edmond D Villani Chair of Economics at Georgetown University. Prior to joining Georgetown in December 2012 he was Director of the World Bank’s research department, the Development Research Group. He joined the Bank in 1988 and worked in almost all sectors and all regions over the following 24 years. Prior to joining the Bank, Martin was on the faculty of The Australian National University. He holds a PhD in economics from the London School of Economics (LSE) , and has taught economics at LSE, Oxford University, The Australian National University and Princeton University.

This public lecture was presented by the Development Policy Centre at Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University.

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Last December, the Coalition announced the largest cuts to the aid budget in the history of the Australian aid program: $1 billion or 20 per cent in a single year. How and where will these savings be made? To what extent will key bilateral partners, such as PNG and Indonesia, be protected – and which countries and regions will experience the brunt of the cuts? Will multilateral and NGO allocations be protected, or savaged? Which sectors will be cut? Will humanitarian aid again be compressed?

On Wednesday 13 May, experts delivered detailed analysis and commentary during the third Development Policy Centre 2015 Aid Budget Breakfast. If you missed it, you can watch it on demand.

Speakers included:

• Prof Stephen Howes Director of the Development Policy Centre, and colleagues, who discussed aid volumes, allocations and policies.
• Dr Anthony Swan Research Fellow at the Development Policy Centre, who analysed the macro and fiscal context of the budget.
• Dr Julia Newton-Howes AM CEO of CARE Australia, and Ms Jacqui de Lacy, General Manager for Global Strategy at Abt JTA, who provided commentary on what the budget may mean for NGOs and other members of the Australian development community.

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Make sure you also read our in-depth analysis on the blog and media mentions in the the lead-up to, and post-budget here.

This forum was presented by the Development Policy Centre at Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University.

As in past years, the Development Policy Centre hosted a forum to discuss and debate recent Australian aid evaluations. This year we focused on the new annual report on Australian aid Performance of Australian Aid 2013-14 and on two recent evaluations from the Office of Development Effectiveness (ODE) on Australia’s responses to humanitarian crises in the Horn of Africa and Syria. We heard from ODE and the Chair of the ODE’s Independent Evaluation Committee.

Speakers included:

• Mr Jim Adams Chair of DFAT’s Independent Evaluation Committee and former World Bank Vice President.
• Mr Scott Dawson First Assistant Secretary, Contracting and Aid Management Division, DFAT.
• Mr Simon Ernst Office of Development Effectiveness, DFAT.
• Professor Stephen Howes Director of the Development Policy Centre and Professor of Economics, Crawford School of Public Policy, ANU.
• Mr Jamie Isbister Acting First Assistant Secretary of the Humanitarian Division, DFAT.
• Dr Karen Ovington Assistant Director for the Office of Development Effectiveness, DFAT.
• Mr Dereck Rooken-Smith Assistant Secretary for the Office of Development Effectiveness, DFAT.
• Ms Joanna Spratt PhD Candidate, Crawford School of Public Policy, ANU.

This forum was presented by the Development Policy Centre at Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University.

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» view presentations
» listen to podcast - Part 1
» listen to podcast - Part 2

The Seasonal Worker Program (SWP) was established in 2008, initially as a pilot, then in 2012 as a permanent program, to help meet the labour needs in Australia’s horticultural sector and to provide labour mobility opportunities to Pacific islanders. Despite continuing growth, the SWP remains small in comparison both to the overall number of workers operating in the sectors it covers and to New Zealand’s equivalent Recognised Seasonal Employer Scheme. For the SWP, the binding constraint remains low employer demand.

Why aren’t more employers demanding SWP workers? And what reforms would increase employer demand? Jesse Doyle from The World Bank and Stephen Howes from ANU presented findings from a joint World Bank-ANU survey undertaken in 2014 of employers and industry associations across the Australian horticulture industry, and it was followed by a panel discussion with stakeholders involved with seasonal migration. Mr Axel van Trotsenburg, World Bank Vice President for East Asia and Pacific, chaired this public forum.

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Blog posts
Where are all the seasonal workers? The most comprehensive survey of employers yet by Jesse Doyle and Stephen Howes
Reforming the SWP: a recruiter’s perspective by Grant Owen
Benefits of the Seasonal Worker Program: an employer’s perspective by Susan Jenkin

Media
» Backpackers undermine Pacific program, 7 News, 18 February 2015
» Call for Pacific seasonal workers to share costs, Radio New Zealand International, 18 February 2015
» Backpackers take Pacific seasonal workers jobs, Radio New Zealand International, 18 February 2015
» Changes needed to make Australian work scheme work, Radio New Zealand International, 18 February 2015

This event aimed to answer all the big questions posed by perhaps the most controversial international development issue of 2014.

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB): why is China setting it up, and what should other countries think? we heard from a senior advisor to the Chinese Government on the AIIB and other key international development issues, such as the BRICS Development Bank and the Silk Road Fund.

Speakers included:

Mr Qiangwu Zhou, Executive Deputy Director-General of Asia-Pacific Finance and Development Center (AFDC) Beijing Office, the Ministry of Finance, China. Under his leadership, AFDC Beijing Office, a think tank of MOF, provides strategic and overarching policy advice on global and domestic economic issues.

Professor Stephen Howes, Director, Development Policy Centre and Professor of Economics at Crawford School of Public Policy at the Australian National University.

This forum was part of the 2015 Australasian Aid Conference

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This panel event explored what the new aid landscape means for those on the receiving end of aid. Speakers discussed how the development/aid landscape in their countries has changed over the years, the opportunities and challenges new modalities and diverse partnerships offer, and how partner governments are managing this new situation in terms of public financial management, aid coordination, public perceptions and expectations.

The three speakers discussed:

Managing diversity: the changing aid and development landscape in Timor Leste by Mr Fidelis Manuel Leite Magalhães, Chief of Staff to the President of Timor Leste

The changing aid landscape and Cambodia’s future development agenda by Mr Heng Chou, Director General of the Department of Policy and Development Assistance Coordination, Council for Development of Cambodia

Aid to Laos by Dr Phanthanousone (Pepe) Khennavong, Technical National Consultant for the National Round Table Process in Laos, Department of International Cooperation, Lao Government
Ms Anthea Mulakala, Director for International Development Cooperation at The Asia Foundation, acted as chair.

This forum was part of the 2015 Australasian Aid Conference.

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» listen to podcast