Aid & Development

The UK's International Development Secretary Priti Patel has been sacked from her position. The Prospect details the war she waged with her own department. Australia's Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has announced a public appeal to raise money for the humanitarian crisis in Myanmar, matching

The OECD Development Assistance Council has refined its definition of ‘official development assistance’ – in other words, what international transfers can and cannot be deemed foreign aid. Refugee-related spending such as on detention centres, border security and returning failed asylum

The role of the multilateral development banks (MDBs) and other international financial institutions (IFIs) is back in the policy spotlight. The latest attention comes via the G20 Eminent Persons Group (EPG) on Global Financial Governance, formed by G20 Finance Ministers at their meeting

In his recent Interpreter post, Richard Moore provides a handy summary of the work of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) over the past 50 years. He also poses questions about the future of the Bank. Moore is a former ADB Board member, so he is thoroughly familiar with debates about the Bank's role in

Aid officials fear a ‘humanitarian catastrophe’ is unfolding in Rakhine State in Myanmar as the government has effectively implemented a blockade of their efforts in the region. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has released a new report, which will become an annual project, to track

SBS reports that Australia and Timor-Leste have reached agreement over a maritime boundary dispute that has significantly eroded the bilateral relationship. Final details will be announced in October. Kennya’s Supreme Court has nullified the country's recent elections, ordering a new poll within

FT Data takes a look at how global income inequality has shifted since the Global Financial Crisis. The Washington Post discusses why it is so much worse in the US than other rich countries. CARE has a sobering and powerful advocacy tool showing how your income compares with the rest of the

Vox has an explainer from Paul Slovic discussing how 'psychic numbing' helps to explain the limits of human compassion. World Bank President Jim Yong Kim shares five TED Talks that have inspired him. Keane Shum discusses the ongoing plight of Rohingya asylum seekers. Wade Shepard

The ABC’s latest episode of Foreign Correspondent covers the work of GiveDirectly’s basic income trial in Kenya – written story here. United Nations Seretary-General António Guterres has outlined his plan to reposition the UN development system to better help achieve the Sustainable

The Economist reports on the growing role of private contractors in the aid sector, citing many cases from Australia. Senate Estimates recently revealed that close to 20% of Australia’s aid program is now being delivered by ten contractors. Michael Kleinman’s article in the Guardian

The New York Times discusses the success of M-Pesa leapfrogging conventional banking in Kenya and how it is continuing to innovate. 'Blockchain' is getting thrown around a lot in development circles this year. Duncan Green provides a handy primer of what it actually means. As the Trump

The Australian Federal Budget 2017-18 will be handed down on Tuesday, 9 May. This is the most important date on the national aid and development calendar and has major implications for the volumes of foreign aid that will be delivered by Australia. It’s been a tough few years for the

New Zealand became ‘the first Western developed country’ to join China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) when it signed a Memorandum of Arrangement (MoA) during Premier Li’s March visit. For New Zealand, signing up to the BRI was the logical next step in a long-held policy of engagement with

Two-thirds of the population of Yemen are facing severe food shortages, with the ongoing civil war raising concerns of a potential for widespread famine in the country. Priti Patel, UK Secretary for International Development, is giving a speech today that is expected to provide a robust defence for

Nobel Laureate Angus Deaton discusses topics ranging from extreme poverty, opioid addiction, Trump voters, robots, and rent-seeking in this fascinating interview in The Atlantic. The fund to fill the gap left by President Trump’s global gag rule on family planning services has reached $190

This post is part of a debate on Australia’s foreign policy White paper 2017. Click here for other debate posts. The dazzling speed at which Asia has grown in the past 50 years has obscured a fact we often overlook in Australia: most of the countries and people in our part of the world remain

Famine has been declared in parts of South Sudan, with the UN calling for an additional $4.4 billion in humanitarian support in the next month to avert catastrophe. Donations can be made to UNICEF or your international NGO of choice.The Guardian has a photo-essay on how food aid has worked to date

A new report from the WHO has found that smoking costs the global economy more than US$1 trillion in health care costs and lost productivity annually. The UN is calling for an 'immediate and massive' reaction to the very real risk of a widespread famine in Somalia that could impact more than

For many 2016 felt like a punch in the guts. Max Roser helps provide some perspective with his Our World In Data website. Writing for the Washington Post, he discusses why we are programmed to think things are getting worse and tend to ignore or overlook the slow transformations that change our

The Australian has run a story, 'Power row engulfs Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank', about tensions between the Australian government and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) over the focus on renewable energy in the latter's proposed energy strategy. Most of the article

The chaos caused by India’s sudden ban on high-end bank notes that represent 86% of all cash in circulation continues. The Economist warns that 'it could, in fact, turn out to be the worst mistake of Mr Modi’s career', while The Guardian assesses the political ramifications this will have on

A damning report from the UN on its South Sudanese peacekeeping force has resulted in the sacking of their Kenyan commander, Johnson Mogoa Kimani Ondieki. Kenya has responded by withdrawing its 1000 troops from the peacekeeping force of 13,000. Zimbabwe is becoming a cashless society, but not

Mapping China’s opaque aid program in the Pacific Islands was more complicated and time-consuming than I had anticipated. I made peace with this fact when I found myself building a makeshift 270-degree visual cocoon out of every electronic device in my apartment so that I could cross-check the

Today the Lowy Institute’s Melanesia program launches a major update to the Institute’s flagship research mapping project on Chinese Aid in the Pacific.*  The map now contains a decade of Chinese government aid activities in the Pacific Islands region, making it a valuable resource for