Aid & Development

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Aid links: Traffic jams, conflict minerals, humanitarian tech, more

To solve the social costs of congestion, such as long commuting times and high pollution, cities in developing counties often turn to Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems. But in Indonesia, BRT made things worse. Arya Gaduh et al. look at the case of TransJakarta to understand why.Yuhua Wang explains the

By Alexandre Dayant

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The new development banks: Paradigm shift or poor imitation?

2014 marked the 70th anniversary of the Bretton Woods conference, and it was a turning point for the global financial architecture. In July that year, the BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa – established the New Development Bank (NDB). A few months earlier, China

By Robert Wihtol

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Stepping up in the Pacific at the expense of Pakistani women and girls

Since coming into office in 2013, the Coalition has cut aid by 17% in nominal terms and 27% adjusting for inflation. More cuts are in the pipeline, and by 2021 aid will have been subject to a real cut of 31%. Given that the Coalition’s justification for cutting aid was the budget deficit, you

By Stephen Howes

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Economic diplomacy: Australia’s BRI, aid revamp, and integrating Asia

The big boost When Prime Minister Scott Morrison put the South Pacific at the centre of his foreign policy priorities last year, the relatively low-profile Export Finance Insurance Corporation was suddenly thrust into the strategic limelight. But last week’s foray into a form of state

By Greg Earl

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Aid links: Timor-Leste luxury, RCT ethics, unsung Ebola doctor, more

Among all the things the Oecussi enclave in Timor-Leste needed for its development, a luxury hotel, a state-of-the-art airport, and posh villas weren’t high on the list. Michael Rose looks at the implementation of the original concept behind the “development” of the region.In 1995, more than

By Alexandre Dayant

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Aid links: the financial boon of open borders, Timor tourism, more

Bryan Caplan makes the argument for his “Trillion Dollar Idea” – international open borders, which would allow productive labour to work in productive places.A group of Stanford researchers found Russian-run fake Facebook accounts attempting to influence public political opinion in four

By Alexandre Dayant

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Kinship is vital to Pacific disaster response

“Category 5 strength cyclones have occurred in some years with similar conditions leading into the 2019/20 season,” New Zealand’s National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research recently reported. “Therefore, all communities should remain alert and well-prepared for severe events.”

By Jeevika Vivekananthan, Tara Cartland

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Chart of the week: Australian versus Chinese aid in the Pacific

In the last two years China’s engagement in the Pacific – particularly through its aid program – has sparked alarm in Canberra. The spiking orange line in 2017 is part of the story. In 2017 China committed to spend almost US$5 billion in the Pacific. US$4.1 billion of that was to upgrade

By Alexandre Dayant, Jonathan Pryke

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China, the Pacific, and the “debt trap” question

“Debt trap” diplomacy has been a recurrent rallying cry for critics of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and its overseas infrastructure lending activities. Over the past two years, this debate has taken centre stage in the Pacific, with China accused of drowning these tiny economies in

By Roland Rajah, Jonathan Pryke, Alexandre Dayant

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Aid links: development how-to guides, Nobel winners, more

Three development specialists (MIT economists Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee, and Harvard economist Michael Kremer) won the Nobel Prize in Economics for their groundbreaking work on global poverty, studying interventions in a range of areas: combating teacher absenteeism, direct cash transfers to

By Alexandre Dayant

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Ocean of debt? Belt and Road and debt diplomacy in the Pacific

China has not been engaged in debt trap diplomacy — at least not yet

By Roland Rajah, Alexandre Dayant, Jonathan Pryke

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The underappreciated value of Japanese aid in the Pacific

In the varied debates about influence in the Pacific, rarely does Japan’s position in the region feature prominently. On the off chance that Japan’s presence in the Pacific is discussed, its “aid diplomacy” is usually characterised in quid pro quo terms. Yet a closer examination of Japan

By Michael Nguyen , Alexandre Dayant

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Aid links: Rohingya crisis continues, China’s Africa education, more

In response to Donald Trump’s scepticism about climate change, French President Emmanuel Macron is now offering US scientists four-year grants to move to France and carry out research on global warming.In this blog and working paper, Lauren Post, Rachel Landry and Cindy Huang argue that both the

By Alexandre Dayant

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Can the Pacific Islands be insured?

The Pacific Islands are grappling with the effects of disasters and climate change, which have the potential to make entire countries inhospitable, posing significant development challenges. Small Pacific Islands countries have limited natural resources, are far from major markets, and are

By Vijaya Ramachandran , Junaid Sadiq Masood

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Aid links: Plastics in paradise, five lessons for education, more

Each year, former World Bank economist David Evans releases his five tips on education. This year, among his key findings are: let your kids learn from MTV, go to school, don’t just enrol, and education is not just for children anymore.Mark Hayward looks at a program that has embraced adaptive

By Alexandre Dayant

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Pacific Aid Map: An update

In August last year, the Lowy Institute launched our flagship Pacific research project, the Pacific Aid Map. Foreign aid is an important resource flow for many parts of the Pacific, making up 7% of regional GDP. Leaving out Fiji and Papua New Guinea, this number shoots up to 27%. But the world of

By Jonathan Pryke, Alexandre Dayant

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Aid links: Greta in New York, Rohingya crisis two years on, more

Media forecasts ahead of natural disasters are often misunderstood. The New York Times has a great visual piece about trying to communicate statistical uncertainty about hurricane paths.Linda Calabrese offers a very interesting view on China and development issues, from domestic inequality to debt

By Alexandre Dayant

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Aid links: Ebola drugs, Mugabe’s economic legacy, Trump cuts, more

Fin Tarp and Sinikka Parviainen discuss the economic benefits of migration and refugees.An African doctor is believed to have found anti-Ebola drugs, with an efficiency rate of 90%. Zimbabwe’s former finance minister explains the deep roots of the economic crisis in the country at the time of

By Alexandre Dayant

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Timor-Leste, 20 years on

This month, Timor-Leste is in a festive mood, celebrating the 20th anniversary of its independence referendum. On 30 August 1999, the people of Timor-Leste cast their ballots in a United Nations–administered popular consultation to determine the fate of the country, with 78.5% voting to separate

By Mica Barreto Soares

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Does Chinese aid make Australians more generous?

China is changing the way Australia’s political elites think about aid. Chinese aid to the Pacific isn’t new, but in recent years, “China the aid donor” has become an unavoidable presence. In response, the Australian government is increasing the Pacific focus of its aid programs. It has also

By Terence Wood, Christopher Hoy, Jonathan Pryke

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Aid links: colonial comeuppance, a sting in the bite, and more

Car crash rates run high across the world, and often proportionally higher in developing countries. But a simple nudge can change this. In India, a firm is now using behavioural science to decrease the number of accidents on the roads.Why do parents invest in girls’ education? In this analysis

By Alexandre Dayant

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China’s aid: lend your money, (don’t) lose your friend

Despite the recent spotlight on Chinese aid and labels of China as an “emerging donor”, China has actually been delivering foreign aid since as far back as the 1950s. Indeed, China provided aid to North Korea for reconstruction purposes after the Korean War, along with Cambodia, Nepal and Egypt

By Sulagna Basu, Alexandre Dayant

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Aid links: environmental ethics, a tech edge in managing cities, more

Rory Stewart, Britain’s international development secretary, announced the UK will have an “ethical” development policy focusing on climate emergency and environmental protection. It will consist of spending on low-carbon energy and projects to help developing countries adapt to the effects of

By Alexandre Dayant

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The US does more in the Pacific than it gives itself credit for

What counts as aid? Whether it’s disaster relief, infrastructure, or a much longer term and less visible type of development assistance, in the end it all comes back to money. But the many differing types of aid does create awkward discrepancies when seeking to rank the contributions by nations

By Michael Walsh

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Aid links: labouring along the Belt and Road, carbon cash, more

The UN has partially suspended its aid to parts of Yemen controlled by Houthi rebels, accusing them of misappropriating supplies.Interesting piece by Richard E. Feinberg on Cuba, talking about how the weakening of two foundational pillars of the revolution – regional equality and social betterment

By Alexandre Dayant

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Australia’s aid in PNG: the need for a gendered approach

Gender equality is fundamental to human development. Papua New Guinea is Australia’s closest neighbour and biggest recipient of Australia’s bilateral development aid globally – but significant and persistent inequalities remain when it comes to the status of women in society, sexual violence

By Divya Venkataraman, Jonathan Pryke

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A chance to “step up” to support girls’ education in Solomon Islands

A group of adolescent girls in Solomon Islands huddle around a piece of butcher’s paper. They are considering their answers to a question put to them as part of a research project: What makes it so hard for girls and young women in Solomon Islands to finish high school? The spur for the research

By Kate Phillips

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Aid links: the cost of a missing shipping container full of cash, more

If you are interested in teaching people what development economics is, look at David Evans’ presentation to a youth group, making it easy for everyone to understand the wealth inequalities of this world.Similarly, Professor Lord Nicholas Stern analyses an extraordinary dataset that has been

By Alexandre Dayant

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Aid links: the degrees of influence, female role models, more

Devex reporter Lisa Cornish looks at how the Australian election result will affect the aid sector.Alwyn Chilver compares two schools of thought to escape poverty: market systems and social protection. He explains how Palladium International succeeded in taking the best of both approaches.Amr Darrag

By Alexandre Dayant

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Aid links: fixing the climate to reduce poverty, more

Speaking at the launch of Christian Aid Week in Westminster on Sunday morning, former UK prime minister Gordon Brown set out a passionate defence of the international aid budget and the importance of the fight against global poverty, before addressing the themes behind the Brexit debate.In this

By Alexandre Dayant

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Aid links: counterpoint to China’s “debt-trap”, malaria vaccine, more

China has renegotiated US $50 billion in loans to developing countries in recent year, according to the findings of a new study, countering the talk of debt-trap diplomacy that surrounds Beijing’s loan activity.Good news! We might have found a vaccine against malaria, one of the world deadliest

By Alexandre Dayant

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Follow the money: how foreign aid spending tells of Pacific priorities

The Pacific, when measured by aid inflows as a proportion of GDP, is the most aid-dependent region in the world. Geographic remoteness, exposure to frequent natural disasters and vulnerability to climate change are several of the causes that make the region vulnerable. Because of this

By Alexandre Dayant

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Book Review: Utopia For Realists

Book Review: Utopia For Realists, And How We Can Get There, by Rutger Bregman (Bloomsbury, 2017) Rutger Bregman shot to public fame calling out billionaires at this year’s World Economic Forum meeting in Davos. “1500 private jets flying in here to hear Sir David Attenborough speak about

By Paul Ronalds

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Budget 2019: the race to the bottom for foreign aid

There were few surprises for the Australian aid program in this week’s federal budget, which has disappointingly continued the downward trend of Australian aid spending. At $4.044 billion in 2019, when adjusting for inflation, aid will have now been cut by 27% since its peak in 2013–14.

By Jonathan Pryke

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Reset required for DFAT-AusAID integration

“Foreign policy alignment” was the political “abracadabra” used to explain how the late 2013 integration of what was then AusAID into the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade would deliver better outcomes. DFAT would have direct control over Australian aid and by virtue of that,

By Richard Moore

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Aid links: cyclones, “confusopoly”, collaboration, more

At a speech delivered at the University of Queensland last week, Shadow Foreign Minister Penny Wong accused the current government of having “damaged Australia’s reputation as a reliable partner in the region” by cutting the aid budget, and committed to increase development assistance as

By Alexandre Dayant

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Book Review: A Partnership Transformed

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By John West

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Aid links: donation paradox, surface-water tension, and more

Last week, at a special one-day conference to ease the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, $2.6 billion was raised. Paradoxically, more than half was donated by countries that are involved in the conflict. Dave Evans, lead economist in the chief economist’s office for the Africa region at

By Alexandre Dayant

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Economic diplomacy: Development aid in the Belt & Road era

Mergerplomacy Five years after the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) swallowed AusAID in the first major spending cuts of the new Coalition Government, two contradictory trends seem to be emerging. The reality of the takeover is getting some grudging acceptance in the

By Greg Earl

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Aid links: calls for Australia first, the upside of dengue, more

Floods in north Queensland, a summer of bushfires around Australia, and one of the worst droughts in living memory have pushed some Australians to ask for a cut in spending on foreign aid and to help Australians “first and foremost”. Morten Wendelbo discusses the reason

By Alexandre Dayant

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The curious case of aid concentration in Papua New Guinea

The aid industry is complex. Dozens of bilateral donors, hundreds of multilateral agencies, and thousands of non-governmental organisations litter the development landscape in all corners of the globe. In aid jargon, this is known as “fragmentation”. Conventional aid-effectiveness literature

By Jonathan Pryke

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Aid links: Ebola strikes, donations drop, and Gates debates

Ebola is back. Photographer Kate Holt documents efforts to contain the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, challenged by conflicts and the fear of treatment centres. On Tuesday, the United Nations and its aid partners, together with the Government of Libya, launched a humanitarian

By Alexandre Dayant

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Aid links: Spice Girls and factories, redistribution, and more

Chris Hoy and Franziska Mager conduct the first cross-country survey experiment on preferences for redistribution in the developing world and find that poor people are not as in favour of greater redistribution as what you might expect. Simon Murphy interviews Salma, a worker in a&

By Alexandre Dayant

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Aid mergers: no unscrambling the egg

Britain’s former foreign secretary Boris Johnson has called for the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) to be rolled into the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). This would be a monumental mistake for a country looking for relevance in a post-Brexit world. Over the past two

By Jonathan Pryke

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Aid links: food theft in Yemen, open mics in India, and more

Mark Cutts, UN Deputy Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis, warns the killing of an aid worker last week in Syria brings into focus the daily risks faced by humanitarians working in conflict zones. Figures from 2018 on aid worker security show that Syria is the most dangerous

By Alexandre Dayant

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Jim Kim quits the World Bank, an unexpected gift to Donald Trump

Jim Yong Kim, president of the World Bank, has announced that he will retire. This is far earlier than expected. Jim Kim was first appointed in 2011 and was re-elected in 2016 for a five-year term, due to end in 2022. The president of the World Bank is, in effect, the Pope of the official

By Peter McCawley

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Aid links: donor fatigue, poverty measures, Syrian camps, more

In Australia, Labor’s foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong announced that a future Labor government will lift foreign aid every year. Caelin Briggs comments on the donor fatigue impacting the Democratic Republic of the Congo and explains what the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

By Alexandre Dayant

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Charting a more sustainable development path in the Pacific

It is undoubtedly in Australia’s geopolitical interests to invest in the development of our immediate region, but the question we should all be asking is: what is the most effective way to spend our taxpayer-funded aid budget in the Pacific, rather than simply, how can we compete with China? The

By Majella Hurney

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Lowy Institute Pacific Aid Map - Country Profiles

These summary profiles of the 14 Pacific Islands countries analysed in the Lowy Institute Pacific Aid Map pull together the key findings for each country. They include the total aid spent and committed, the top donors and the total number of projects. Each profile highlights the key projects in each

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Aid links: bad weather for the Rohingya, Oxfam scandal, more

Seven UN peacekeepers and 12 Congolese soldiers have been killed in clashes with militias in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. After the Oxfam scandal, the peak body for the aid sector – the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID) – commissioned an independent review

By Alexandre Dayant

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