Australia’s aid program will increase by $518 million in the 2013-14 budget to a record $5.7 billion – the equivalent of 0.37 per cent of gross national income (GNI) – the highest ODA/GNI level since 1985.

Foreign Minister Bob Carr said the Australian Government remained committed to increasing its aid budget to 0.5 per cent of GNI but this would be delayed to 2017-18 due to a write-dow in Government revenues.

The Asia-Pacific region remains the aid program’s highest priority, and will receive about 86 per cent of country specific aid in 2013-14.

An Islamic Relief project, which trained vulnerable Indonesians in West Sumatera to grow mushrooms sustainably, ended last month, allowing participating farmers to continue harvesting independently.

In total, 175 people from the districts of Padang Pariaman and Pesisir Selatan participated in this project, including women who hadn’t completed their education, orphaned children, widowed women and poor families.

Children learning first aid techniques at school

Islamic Relief has made sure that three vulnerable schools in disaster-prone Indonesia are ready for when the worst happens.

In a project funded by Islamic Relief Netherlands, we worked with local partner the PKPU to deliver the project. It saw us working collaboratively with two vulnerable elementary schools and one junior high in Aceh, an area that was devastated by the boxing-day tsunami of 2004.

Third Water Supply and Sanitation for Low Income Communities project expected to provide improved water and sanitation to 11.6 million Indonesians

Washington DC, May 2, 2013 – Over 11 million Indonesians across the country are set to benefit from improved water and sanitation facilities following approval of additional financing today by the World Bank Board of Directors.

Bambang Muryanto, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta | Archipelago | Wed, May 01 2013, 10:28 AM

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has given more than 240 cows, goats and sheep to those in Sleman, Yogyakarta, and Magelang, Central Java, affected by the eruption of Mount Merapi in 2010.

“The livestock [donation] is aimed at supporting and securing the livelihood of the people who live in the area,” Indonesia FAO representative Mustafa Imir said after visiting community livestock pens in Cangkringan district in Sleman on Monday.

COMPOSTELA VALLEY, 30 April 2013 (IRIN) - Health authorities in the Philippines were vigilant in keeping out infant formula donations when Typhoon Bopha hit last December, but activists are concerned the infant formula industry will succeed in pushing through legislative changes that will allow formula donations in future emergencies, making it harder to convince women in those crises to continue exclusive breastfeeding.

Natural disasters can quickly wipe out a community’s homes, crops, livestock, and businesses. In the aftermath, affected populations often need money—accessed through savings or loans—to rebuild their lives and livelihoods. In many disaster-prone countries, however, getting cash is not as easy as walking into a neighborhood bank. Around the world, low-income households and small business owners frequently cannot access regular banks. Rather, they rely on various types of microfinance providers, from local savings-and-credit groups to credit unions and cooperatives.

Development challenges are increasingly complex, Helen Clark says

Washington — Increasingly complex and interrelated challenges posed by conflict, violence, and disasters demand scaled-up collaboration among governments and development partners, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator Helen Clark said here Thursday.

Indonesia is one of the world's most vulnerable countries to natural disasters, but even though fewer people are dying from disasters, the economic toll is growing.