development

When nations gather in Busan, South Korea, for the fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, transparency will be up for discussion. A study by campaign group Publish What You Fund finds that most international aid donors are still not open enough about their aid programmes, and some offer no information at all.

Australia is currently trying to export to the Pacific its love of free trade. Understandably the Pacific is not totally sold.

The Pacific Island Forum Leaders meeting final communique contained commitments on many of the issues currently under negotiation in PACER-Plus. The Australian Fair Trade Campaign (AFTINET) and Australia’s aid watchdog, AID/WATCH, today call upon both the New Zealand and Australian governments to take this opportunity to reflect and move PACER-Plus away from being a Regional Free Trade Agreement to being a genuine development-based agreement.

The overseas aid monitoring group, AID/WATCH today has welcomed the government’s response to the Independent Review of Aid Effectiveness, but says that it falls short in a number of areas.

AID/WATCH along with a coalition of 98 civil society organisations from around the world are calling on governments and other aid donors to publish more and better information about the money they give.

The increase in aid dollars in the recent federal budget is welcome writes, Andrea Maksimovic. But when will we stop using aid dollars to create markets for Australian exports and to stem the flow of refugees?

Australian Non Government Organisations expressed concern at reports of Australia's attempt to compromise the ability of Pacific island countries to determine the role and mandate of the Office of Chief Trade Adviser (OCTA). Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network (AFTINET) and the aid watchdog, AID/WATCH, called on the Australian Government to support the OCTA and ensure funding for the Pacific-led trade advisory body does not come with strings attached.

BetterAid is calling for applications from civil society organisations to participate in the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, which will be held in Busan, Korea from 29 November – 1 December 2011. The deadline is 8 May 2011.

In our weekly Back Story we take an in depth look at a major issue in the news. This week we look at Australia's sweeping review to the national aid program.