23 hours ago
China’s Pacific aid is rebounding and recalibrated
Minor increases in spending and a surge in new deals signal renewed Chinese aid ambition in the region.
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18 Nov 2024
Pacific education: Backsliding outcomes and a financing freefall
Education indicators were already flat or falling before the pandemic and are getting worse. But development priorities are focused elsewhere. -
30 Oct 2024
Pooled funds give Australia’s new humanitarian strategy a boost
Flexibility is essential when responding to a crisis – especially those far from home. -
29 Oct 2024
Caring for carers: The gender challenge in peacebuilding
A new report shows women with children, in particular, often find it difficult to remain within or return to this type of work. -
24 Oct 2024
A new multilateral bank, not an American “Marshall Plan” alone, is the key to a clean energy future
The numbers don’t add up for the United States to make itself the global hub for green technology. -
23 Oct 2024
Biases within the capital flows to the Pacific
A pervasive power imbalance stops the small steps needed for better aid outcomes in the region. -
18 Oct 2024
Can Australia’s new Humanitarian Policy deliver?
The effort is laudable, and a step in the right direction, with more ambition and local engagement needed. -
14 Oct 2024
How Australia can get better results in Papua New Guinea
A former prime minister offers a frank appraisal of the neighbourly relationship. -
4 Sep 2024
Australia should make a strategic investment in the World Bank
Geostrategic competition makes the multilateral advantage more vital than ever, especially in the Pacific. -
5 Aug 2024
What is China’s role in achieving the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals?
It is time to think more seriously about the increasing relationship between Chinese and dominant international development models. -
30 Jul 2024
Gender equality, the Pacific way
“Using culture to change culture” is how to make real progress in addressing a longstanding regional challenge. -
29 Jul 2024
The tricky delivery of aid and access in conflicts and crises
Gaza is only the latest example of the logistical challenges in providing humanitarian relief. -
27 Jun 2024
Aid discrepancies: Australia’s modest help to the Horn of Africa
The optics of such a small aid package against significant need could undermine Australia’s image as a significant player in international humanitarian assistance. -
24 Jun 2024
Fragmented and burdensome: Small European donors are clogging Pacific aid channels
Competition, political self-interest, and poor coordination are overburdening the region’s administrations. -
19 Jun 2024
Is a new Australian police program what the Pacific needs?
Engagement on policing is crucial, but it must be regionally led. -
17 Jun 2024
2024 Southeast Asia Aid Map: Warning signs for the region
Declining levels of international financial support, especially for the clean energy transition, are cause for alarm. -
27 May 2024
What do Biden’s big new China tariffs mean for global development?
Downsides abound but there’s also a path where developing nations benefit. -
24 May 2024
Should foreign aid be the government’s responsibility?
A fair-go means everyone pitching in to help those in need. Plenty of options exist, if we choose to use them. -
21 May 2024
Putting dollars behind “all tools of statecraft”
The budget papers offer a chance to assess the government’s claims against fiscal reality. -
17 May 2024
Australia is increasingly spending around, not on, development
Transparency could be the cost of the semi-commercialisation of Australia’s international development efforts. -
15 May 2024
The Translator: The nomenclature of foreign aid
A series in which experts explain the sometimes baffling jargon of international affairs. -
3 May 2024
Australia’s superannuation rules leave Pacific workers out of pocket
The government must reconsider its tax on the Pacific’s poorest. -
1 May 2024
Fixing the plastics problem when delivering urgent aid
Coping with climate change is hard enough. Sustainability cannot be overlooked in humanitarian action across the Pacific. -
28 Mar 2024
Replenishing the Asian Development Bank in the Pacific
A strong replenishment of the bank’s grant financing arm would serve the Pacific well. -
14 Mar 2024
A multilateral bank for the Indo-Pacific?
The region needs a dedicated bank that enhances economic security in the pursuit of climate and development goals. -
7 Feb 2024
Whose security is really at stake? Gender must be prioritised in Australia‑PNG security agreement
More police can’t be the answer when police have long been part of the problem. -
6 Feb 2024
A new China loan threatens Vanuatu’s debt outlook
A new major infrastructure project could leave the country on the road to debt distress. -
17 Jan 2024
Australia and Africa: Economic diplomacy is out of sync with investment ties
While other partners are taking care of business, Australia lacks the trade support it needs to thrive. -
15 Dec 2023
Gains, pains, and dubious claims from the Pacific Labour Mobility Survey
The large-scale survey produced limited data on complex issues and is no substitute for culturally appropriate social research. -
14 Dec 2023
Shifting Quad relief operations from theory to practice
A relief operation exercise would allow the Quad partners to draw in other countries and showcase a regional good. -
13 Dec 2023
Crunch time on Rohingya refugees
By bolstering assistance to Bangladesh, Australia can avoid a new source of maritime arrivals. -
29 Nov 2023
Southeast Asia's minerals: Opportunity knocks
Australia should make better use of its regional leadership in minerals technology, skills and governance. -
24 Nov 2023
China and Taiwan are big Pacific donors – but not for gender equality
More clarity on the flows of funds would help to assign what little credit is due. -
22 Nov 2023
Does Australia’s walk match its talk about helping Pacific women advance?
Big dollars are one thing, meaningful outcomes another. -
20 Nov 2023
Pacific Aid Map: Big data gaps are skewing the story about women
Better reporting is needed to properly understand which projects are targeting gender issues in the region. -
17 Nov 2023
Australian development cooperation: Urgent and important, but “not a priority”
Development policy contradictions reveal the failure of the DFAT-AusAID integration. -
9 Nov 2023
Private finance cannot lead the global response to climate change
Misplaced faith in private sector solutions delays the redistribution of trillions from developed countries and multilateral institutions. -
2 Nov 2023
Measuring the climate cost to Pacific development
International assistance is not keeping up with intensifying rate and scale of disasters in the region. -
1 Nov 2023
Loans, not grants, already proving costly for PNG
The latest Pacific Aid Map shows the PNG debt burden is growing and risks loom on the horizon. -
31 Oct 2023
Pacific aid enters a new era
The latest Lowy Institute Pacific Aid Map demonstrates that there is no going back to the way things were. -
27 Oct 2023
Geopolitics and the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway
Has the bullet train project strained the once tight relationship between Indonesia and China? -
18 Oct 2023
Crafting a new loss and damage fund
Harnessing philanthropic finance and emulating features from existing solutions could be a match made in heaven. -
27 Sep 2023
Why humanitarian aid is vital to Afghanistan
Despite significant hurdles, aid has continued to bolster the country’s employment, education and banking sectors. -
22 Sep 2023
Post-disaster aid in developing and fragile states
Political mismanagement and failures of governance all too often exacerbate the effects of natural disasters. -
12 Sep 2023
Finding a place for youth leadership in Australia’s new International Development Policy
Young people will be central to addressing regional challenges so their meaningful inclusion must be ensured. -
7 Sep 2023
Does Australia lack strategic imagination on aid and development?
A debate on fundamentals is sorely needed but conspicuously lacking. -
31 Aug 2023
Economic diplomacy: Spirit of Australia charts a fresh course
The government is fashioning a more interventionist economic leg to the new amity between its aid policy, regional diplomacy and military spending. -
17 Aug 2023
Economic diplomacy: Slicing up a new aid menu
Australia is persisting with a homemade mix of old and new financing tools to be the development dining partner of choice in the region. -
14 Aug 2023
What does the new International Development Policy mean for the Pacific?
Australia has outlined its case for being the preferred regional partner, but the Pacific needs less talk and more action. -
11 Aug 2023
The constrained ambition of Australia’s new development policy
Aid “rebuild” focuses on quality and smarter geopolitics, but not dollars.