Coalition must keep 2015 aid deadline

The Australian Council for International Development (ACFID), the peak body for aid and humanitarian charities, has expressed disappointment that the Coalition voted against a motion yesterday on lifting aid to 50 cents in every $100 of national income by 2015. ACFID calls on the Coalition to keep its commitment to reaching this international 2015 deadline for halving global poverty.

“Hunger is a political question, not just a technical problem. We need markets, of course, but we also need a vision for the future that goes beyond short-term fixes. The global food system will always need firefighters. But what we need more urgently are architects to design a more fire-resistant system.”Olivier De Schutter, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food

Australia has the capacity to make a difference in the lives of thousands of poor people. 18 out of our 20 closest neighbours are developing countries, with some of the highest rates of child malnutrition and maternal deaths in the world. Australian aid can help solve these problems, reversing trends like:

• 22,000 children under five dying every day, many from easily preventable illnesses

• 1.4 billion people living on less than US$1.25 a day

• 100 million children being unable to attend school.

Executive Summary

This study was commissioned by the Australian Council for International Development (AC FID) Afghanistan Working Group (AWG) to provide a clearer overview of the key aid modalities used by the Australian Government in Afghanistan. Particular attention was paid to aid delivered by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), and the Australian Defence Force (ADF) as part of its counterinsurgency efforts in Uruzgan Province. The study was carried out from May – July 2010.

From the President and Executive Director

Over the past decade, the aid and development sector has changed greatly. In 2000, ACFID members raised $278 million from the community and, coupled with AusAID and other grants, expended $456 million to overseas development programs and humanitarian relief. By 2008 – 09, the sector was raising $809 million and expending over $1.13 billion.

Humanitarian aid work is one of the four most dangerous occupations in the world. There are increasing risks associated with humanitarian aid work such as serious injury, mental trauma or death according to the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID), the peak body for Australian aid and development organisations. ACFID said that August 19, World Humanitarian Day, recognised the skill, commitment and bravery of humanitarian aid workers as they seek to assist civilians affected by natural disasters or man-made conflicts around the world.

This analysis has been drafted by the ACFID Policy Team to inform members about the outcomes of Australia's International Development Assistance Program Budget 2010/11 (Aid Budget). The Executive Summary provides an overview of the Aid Budget 2010/11. The following sections provide further analysis of the Aid Budget, focusing on ACFID's pre-budget submission. ACFID hopes the analysis will assist our members in understanding the Australian Government's commitment and priorities to aid and development assistance for the next 12 months. This analysis does not consider any

Background

In May 2008 the government announced a new Water and Sanitation Initiative (WSI) of A$300m for the period 2008/9 to 20010/11. AusAID has been focussing on the design of the initiative and has begun preparing a new WASH policy and a Performance Evaluation Framework.

The focus on the WASH Reference Group (WRG) has been engaging in the WSI design, embedding WASH within country strategies and initiating community of practice work on hygiene promotion. As the end of the WSI is now only 20 months away the WRG has began trying

Rights in Sight is the result of a study commissioned by a group of ACFID members into Australian aid and development views and practice by NGOs with regard to human rights. The Consultation did not aim to review the extent to which an NGO's activities were human rights-based but to understand and explain NGO views on those activities. During the Consultation, some participants provided a number of examples and good programming tools and policies for implementing a human rights-based approach. Some of those examples, tools and policies are referred to in