Development Policy Centre Podcast

The small states of the Asia and Pacific region face unique challenges in raising their growth potential and living standards relative to other small states due to their small populations, geographical isolation and dispersion, narrow export and production bases, exposure to shocks, and heavy reliance on aid. Higher fixed government costs, low access to credit by the private sector, and capacity constraints are also key challenges. The econometric analysis confirms that the Pacific Island Countries (PICs) have underperformed relative to their peers over the last 20 years. Although these countries often face more limited policy tools, policies do matter and can help build resilience and raise potential growth. The Asia and Pacific small states should continue rebuilding buffers and improve the composition of public spending. Regional solutions should also continue to be pursued. Dr Patrizia Tumbarello, Unit Chief for the International Monetary Fund Pacific Island Unit presented on the IMF’s recent work on smal

After decades of poor economic performance, Africa is doing much better, with higher economic growth. Why? What role did aid play? And what are the lessons for the Pacific? Jim Adams knows both Africa and the Pacific well. In the 2014 Harold Mitchell Development Policy Lecture, he focussed on how effective economic reform emerged in Africa and related institutional and capacity issues. Drawing on this and his Pacific experience, he reviewed a number of proposals that could be taken by donors in the Pacific to accelerate economic reform and support the emergence of improved government institutions and capacity on policy making. Jim Adams retired a year ago after 37 years at the World Bank. His last assignment was as the Vice President for East Asia and the Pacific from 2007 – 2012, where he worked on and travelled extensively in the Pacific island region. He spent almost half of his career working on Africa, leading the Bank’s program as the Regional Director in Kenya in the late 1980s and as Country Director

The most serious problems that developing countries face are increasingly international in nature. Climate change, water scarcity, communicable diseases, food insecurity and the depletion of forests and fisheries—all these things call for cooperation at the regional or global levels, as well as action at the national level. Such cooperation is often mediated by international organisations and much of it is funded by aid. But global aid is shrinking in this era of austerity and international organisations face strong incentives to direct scarce resources to urgent national priorities. Moreover, international cooperation has had few wins in recent years and international organisations are increasingly facing crises of identity and relevance, with their missions, policies and governance arrangements coming under fire from many directions. What would it take for international organisations to play a more effective role in dealing with global challenges important for development? Our three panelists addressed this

Tess Newton Cain sits down with Katy Leroy, a constitutional lawyer who has lived on Nauru for seven years. Until very recently she was Parliamentary Counsel for Nauru with responsibility for drafting legislation and advising the Speaker of Parliament and parliamentary committees. A full transcript of the interview is available here: http://devpolicy.org/pacific-conversations/6.%20Transcript%20of%20interview%20with%20Katy%20Le%20Roy.docx Blog post available here: http://devpolicy.org/nauru-politics-asylum-seekers-more-20130920/

Throughout the developing world, millions of people lack access to safe water and improved sanitation, which has high social and economic costs. The World Bank’s Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) has been advising client governments on the effective engagement of domestic private sector in the delivery of services and the development of water and sanitation markets that cater to the poor. In this public event, Ms Jaehyang So and Bob Warner presented the findings of the WSP’s recently published report ‘Tapping the Market: Opportunities for domestic investments in water and sanitation for the poor’. The report is the first study of its kind to systematically assess the constraints of domestic firms in investing for increased supply to the poor. The study discusses the paradox of a large market dominated by small firms and concludes that enabling the domestic private sector to supply the base of the pyramid requires addressing a range of commercial, policy and institutional issues, and some rethinking about val

Oxfam's Duncan Green speaks with Devpolicy's Associate Director Robin Davies about the realities of doing development in complex systems.

How do we plan, campaign and work in development when we don’t know what is going to happen and we don’t know what solutions will work? Aid professionals know that real life has a way of ignoring our plans and procedures, but often we block out that knowledge in order to keep functioning. In this talk, Duncan Green asks what would we do differently, if we acknowledge and try to adapt to the messiness of reality. Dr Duncan Green is Senior Strategic Adviser at Oxfam GB, Honorary Professor of International Development at Cardiff University and a Visiting Fellow at the Institute for Development Studies. He was previously a Visiting Fellow at Notre Dame University, a Senior Policy Adviser on Trade and Development at the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID), a Policy Analyst on trade and globalisation at the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) and Head of Research and Engagement at the Just Pensions project on socially responsible investment. He is author of From Poverty to

Until recently, discussions on a new post-2015 framework to succeed the Millennium Development Goals mostly revolved around general principles or else very particular features of a possible landscape. Now, several proposals for an integrated post-2015 agenda have emerged. Most prominent among these is the illustrative framework offered by the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel (HLP) of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda. Robin Davies gave a comparative assessment of the frameworks on offer, identified some pervasive defects, and suggested ways of repairing these. Robin Davies is the Associate Director of the Development Policy Centre at Crawford School of Public Policy, ANU. 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. Robin was Australia’s representative on the G20 Development Working Group from its establishment in 2010 until late 2011. He

Decades of conflict have eroded the physical and social fabric of Afghanistan, with severe impacts on the lives of children. Kerry Boland, consultant to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), talked about her experience building formal and informal mechanisms to protect children in Afghanistan. Kerry drew on her experience with UNICEF in supporting the Afghan government to set up a Child Protection Action Network (CPAN). Reflecting on her work with the Afghan government, NGOs, community and religious leaders in the provinces, she will illustrate how child protection issues are identified and dealt with in local communities. In particular, she gave her perspective on initiatives to prevent and eradicate abuse and exploitation, with special attention to ending early and forced marriage and hazardous and exploitive labour. Kerry has worked in a range of conflict-affected situations in Afghanistan, Chad, Sri Lanka, Turkey and elsewh

Australia’s aid program has increased massively over the last decade, but its future is unclear, and aid policy has become controversial. The Labor Government has repeatedly delayed its target to lift aid 0.5 per cent of Gross National Income (GNI), and just this month slashed $900 million from the forward estimates for aid. The Coalition has not put any date to achievement of 0.5. There are also major aid policy and effectiveness issues at play, including aid for asylum seekers, aid to PNG, and aid to Africa. Labor has introduced a number of aid reforms, but the Coalition has called for “an increased focus on accountability, transparency and a reassessment of priorities within the aid program” (Julie Bishop at ANU, June 2012). The Greens support a lot more aid, and want an independent evaluator for the sector. In this special 2013 Election forum, the ACT candidates discussed their parties’ approaches to aid. Speakers at the event were: Dr Helen Szoke, Chief Executive Officer, Oxfam Australia; Professor Step

Since the mid-1990s, economic growth rates in large and populous middle-income countries have substantially outpaced those in OECD countries. This has reshaped the global economy and favoured convergence in global income per capita. The process of ‘shifting wealth’ was led by China and India, but other countries are also contributing to it, including Brazil and South Africa. In spite of the persistence of large gaps in income per capita between OECD and non-OECD economies and the wide inequality within developing countries, most developing countries have improved their macroeconomic management and have started to address long-term structural challenges. Developing countries are still accumulating capital and labour but they are also improving capabilities and increasingly using and producing innovations. However, mastering technology and knowledge in order to move up the value chain is still a goal to be achieved for most of them. To address the new development challenges, some countries are implementing indu

Aid agencies increasingly stress the importance of value for money, but what does this mean, and might a managerial focus on results actually undermine aid effectiveness, or simply result in aid confusion? This public forum addressed these questions from a variety of perspectives. Speakers at the forum were: Dr Cathy Shutt, Institute of Development Studies (IDS), University of Sussex and convenor of the Big Push Forward initiative. Dr Shutt has over 19 years’ experience working as a researcher and practitioner in international aid. She started her work as a development practitioner helping southern-based community organisations and NGOs in the Philippines, Cambodia and Thailand to manage relationships with donors and demonstrate accountability. In this forum Dr Shutt critiqued UK approaches to value for money in aid. Russell McKay, Effective Development Group, GRM International. Mr McKay is a seasoned agricultural economist who, after success as a regional manager, lecturer and agricultural economist in the M

Over the past decade, the world has witnessed a digital revolution and its impacts have not been limited to those living in wealthy countries. By 2014, it is predicted there will be more active mobile phones on the planet than people. Increasingly, those in the aid sector are seeing the potential for these media and communication technologies to be harnessed for development. But can these tools transform democracy, governance, transparency, accountability and humanitarian responses? Or does their power lie in generating hype rather than impact? Drawing on their experience implementing programs and conducting research in Asia and the Pacific, panelists from ANU and Internews, an NGO working to strengthen information quality and access in developing countries, discussed and answered questions on the potential of new communications technologies and approaches. Speakers at the panel were: Oren Murphy, Regional Director for Asia, Internews; Dr Nicholas Farrelly, Research Fellow, School of International, Political

Tess Newton Cain sits down with Tara Chetty program director at the FIji Women's Rights Movements. A full transcript of the interview is available here: http://devpolicy.org/pacific-conversations/5.%20Transcript%20of%20interview%20with%20Tara%20Chetty.docx Blog post available here: http://devpolicy.org/tara-chetty-fiji-democracy-and-womens-rights-20130806/

Tess Newton Cain sits down with Francis Herman, Program Manager of the regional Pacific Media Assistance program (PACMAS) and a highly experienced media professional to give his assessment of the media landscape of the Pacific region. A full transcript of the interview is available here: http://devpolicy.org/pacific-conversations/4.%20Transcript%20of%20interview%20with%20Francis%20Herman%20.docx Blog post available here:

The end of official development assistance (ODA) has been confidently predicted for decades. But a funny thing happened at the end of the 90s. A set of development targets identified by the OECD mutated into the Millennium Development Goals and political momentum returned to the aid effort. Annual ODA rose by two-thirds in the decade leading up to 2010. But the knives are out again in finance departments around the world, and critics charge that ODA measurements are inflated in any case. Will ODA always be with us? Simon Scott heads the Statistics and Monitoring Division of the OECD’s Development Cooperation Directorate. He oversees the collection and analysis of data on flows of ODA and other resources, and advises the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee on ‘performance against its members’ ODA volume commitments’, trends in financing for development and questions relating to the scope and limits of the concept of ODA. Before joining the OECD in 1993, he worked for AusAID for 14 years. He is the author o

The 2013 Pacific and PNG Update provided a forum for the discussion of the latest economic, social and political developments in the region. The Update was hosted by the Development Policy Centre, and supported by: the Asian Development Bank’s Pacific Economic Management Technical Assistance Project; and the Asia and Pacific Policy Studies, the flagship publication of the Crawford School of Public Policy, ANU in partnership with Australian Aid, AusAID. The 'Gender-based violence' panel consisted of: Jo Chandler, Journalist and Honorary Fellow at the Alfred Deakin Research Institute, presenting on 'Violence and the media' Kamalini Lokuge, from the ANU's National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, presenting on 'Integrated support for survivors - what is needed?' Cathy Rimbao, a sergeant in the PNG Lae Police Force, presenting on 'A policing perspective' Closing remarks for the conference were delivered by Devpolicy Director Stephen Howes. Presentation slides are available from the Devpolicy event

The 2013 Pacific and PNG Update provided a forum for the discussion of the latest economic, social and political developments in the region. The Update was hosted by the Development Policy Centre, and supported by: the Asian Development Bank’s Pacific Economic Management Technical Assistance Project; and the Asia and Pacific Policy Studies, the flagship publication of the Crawford School of Public Policy, ANU in partnership with Australian Aid, AusAID. The 'Economic policy challenges' panel consisted of: Aaron Batten, PNG Country Economist at the ADB, presenting on 'PNG's evolving trade and investment flows' Margaret Callan, Visiting Fellow at the Development Policy Centre, presenting on 'The contribution of mining companies to PNG Development' Billy Manoka, Commissioner and CEO of the PNG Independent Consumer and Competition Commission, presenting on 'Regulation of infrastructure SOEs' Presentation slides are available from the Devpolicy events page: https://devpolicy.crawford.anu.edu.au/event-extra/past

The 2013 Pacific and PNG Update provided a forum for the discussion of the latest economic, social and political developments in the region. The Update was hosted by the Development Policy Centre, and supported by: the Asian Development Bank’s Pacific Economic Management Technical Assistance Project; and the Asia and Pacific Policy Studies, the flagship publication of the Crawford School of Public Policy, ANU in partnership with Australian Aid, AusAID. The 'Issues in public service delivery' panel consisted of: Stephen Howes, Director of the Development Policy Centre, presenting on 'PNG budgetary trends and issues' Colin Wiltshire and Andrew Anton Mako, from the Development Policy Centre and National Research Institute respectively, presenting on 'Public expenditure tracking' Thomas Wangi, Lecturer of Economics at UPNG, presenting on 'Solid waste management in PNG' Presentation slides are available from the Devpolicy events page: https://devpolicy.crawford.anu.edu.au/event-extra/past

The 2013 Pacific and PNG Update provided a forum for the discussion of the latest economic, social and political developments in the region. The Update was hosted by the Development Policy Centre, and supported by: the Asian Development Bank’s Pacific Economic Management Technical Assistance Project; and the Asia and Pacific Policy Studies, the flagship publication of the Crawford School of Public Policy, ANU in partnership with Australian Aid, AusAID. The 'PNG economic and political update' panel consisted of: Tim Bulma, Country Economist for PNG at the World Bank, delivering the 'Economic update' Deni ToKunai, Political commentator and blogger at the Garamut blog, delivering the 'Political update' Presentation slides are available from the Devpolicy events page: https://devpolicy.crawford.anu.edu.au/event-extra/past