Aid & Development

Jenny Hayward-Jones is Director of the Lowy Institute's Melanesia Program and Philippa Brant is a Research Associate at the Lowy Institute. Pacific Island leaders have had the rare opportunity to meet the international leader of the moment, Narendra Modi, and the president of the world's

A few months ago I stood on a beach in Tarawa, the most populous of islands comprising the Micronesian nation of Kiribati. It's long and thin sliver of land where you can walk from one side of the island to the other in minutes. It has a population density up to twice that of Sydney or New York, but

The debate about whether Australia should join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has gone beyond the realm of economic development and investment to hit at the core of Australia's apparent security dilemma. The initial concern revolved around the governance arrangements and whether

Poverty among Australians is on the rise; one in six children struggling, says new Australian Council of Social Services report. China is at the bottom of the pack among major donors in making foreign aid information accessible, according to the latest edition of a global index on aid transparency

In July 2014, Australia's Chief Medical Officer, Dr Chris Baggoley, assured us that the risk of the deadly Ebola virus spreading to Australia from West Africa was very low. At that stage, cases of this most recent outbreak of the disease had been confined to West African countries and in particular

At the upcoming APEC Summit in Beijing, China is hoping to announce a formal MoU for the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). Offers to join the Bank have been sent around the region, including to Australia. So should Australia sign on? Little is publicly known about how the Bank would work

With Fiji elections happening tomorrow, be sure to read Jenny Hayward-Jones Policy Brief on the significance of the elections for Australian policy towards Fiji.  Who gives humanitarian aid? To whom? How much? The 2014 Humanitarian Assistance Report was released last week and provides a great

After eight years of Voreqe Bainimarama's military rule in Fiji, there is much excitement about the prospects for Fiji's return to democracy with elections next week. Seven parties and one independent candidate will contest 50 parliamentary seats. 591,095 Fijians have registered to vote; 120,000

We know a lot about the lives of the very poor in developing countries, but how is it different to be poor in the richest country in the world? The Atlantic highlights new research by Laurence Chandy and Cory Smith on poverty in America. How can China and other development partners cooperate to

All photos by Vlad Sokhin. In a new Lowy Institute Analysis published today, Jo Chandler presents a devastating picture of the endemic violence against women in Papua New Guinea and the role Australia can play in supporting local initiatives to address the problem. Below, Jo reflects on how

An innovative agreement on renewable energy technology transfer has been signed between China, Denmark, Ghana, Zambia and UNDP. UN agencies and NGOs are struggling to respond to the humanitarian crisis in Iraq. Even the $500 million Saudi aid grant, which they wanted spent as fast as possible, has

Ebola fears undermine regional peacekeeping plans in Africa. China will install  more solar power this year than the US. The biggest rises and falls in press freedom around the world in 2014? Read the new Reporters without Borders Freedom Index. 842 million people in the world do not have enough

This week our links are focused on the Pacific Islands Forum taking place in Koror, Palau. On the Devpolicy blog, Seini O'Connor asks: what can the people of our region expect of the regionalism project? Islands Business provides a detailed backgrounder on what Pacific leaders will be addressing

The news today is that the establishment of a BRICS Bank has (finally) been confirmed. It is officially called the New Development Bank. Headquartered in Shanghai, the US$100 billion development bank will feature a 5-year rotating presidency, and provide financing for infrastructure and sustainable

The Chinese Government is frequently criticised for not being transparent about its aid program. As I mentioned in my quick summary yesterday, there's not a lot of specific data in the Chinese aid white paper. But we can make a few comparisons — on geographical spread, type of aid, and income

Today, the Chinese Government released its much-awaited second White Paper on Foreign Aid. It's been in the pipeline for a while, as I've noted a number of times, and follows the first white paper published in April 2011.  So what does it say? First, it is an overview of China's foreign

Data on soil pollution is a 'state secret' in China and receives much less attention than the issues of air and water quality. But ChinaDialogue has an interesting three part series on the victims of China's soil pollution crisis. Excellent read-out of the sexual violence in conflict summit, co-

Poor Numbers: How we are misled by African development statistics and what to do about It. A new book from Morten Jarven whose research shows how the statistical capacities of sub-Saharan African economies have fallen into disarray.  Scarce resources are  being misapplied and development policy

ICYMI: Australia's Foreign Minister addressed the National Press Club with a major new announcement about Australia's aid program — or was it?  Both the Lowy Institute's Annmaree O'Keeffe  and Stephen Howes & Joel Negin agree it's not new, but certainly worth further analysis. There are over

WhyDev presents its World Cup of Human Development. Compare your favourite teams in the 'Global Development World Cup' interactive. And want to learn more about Brazil? This World Without Poverty site has some great info, videos and other links. A new female entrepreneurship index has some

Catch up on news, commentary & analysis from the Pacific island region. Proposed constitutional changes for Papua New Guinea are raising concerns that they are a means of entrenching the position of the government and reducing parliamentary oversight of the executive. A provocative photographic

'The mosquitoes are smart. We have to be smarter'. Snappy video from the Gates Foundation on anti-malarial work in Africa. 64% of voters support Budget cuts to aid? So says a new media poll. Read Ashlee Betterridge's analysis of the figures on DevPolicy. ODI have collected into one place on their

This week, the Melanesia Program team is in Port Moresby for the 'PNG New Voices' event. So this week's links are focused on PNG. The Lowy Institute's Melanesia Program, in partnership with the PNG National Research Institute, has launched its Australia-PNG network, aimed at fostering people-to-

10 things to know about EU aid. Look out for number 8: five areas where development policy goes beyond aid. (h/t ODI.) 'Leaders fiddle while the world burns'. A candid interview with former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. Mapping development finance in Africa: the African Development Bank and