Release of the 2011-12 Annual Review of Aid Effectiveness

The inaugural Annual Review of Aid Effectiveness was released today by Foreign Minister Bob Carr. This new and important document is part of a suite of reforms flowing from the 2011 Independent Review of Aid Effectiveness. Its purpose is to inform Cabinet discussion of the four-year budget strategy outlined in the Comprehensive Aid Policy Framework and report on the aid program’s performance against the Framework.

By Catherine Wilson

BRISBANE, Australia, Oct 1 2012 (IPS) - Climate activist Wanita Limpus, from the low-lying island nation of Kiribati in the Central Pacific Ocean, says the outcome of the Rio+20 Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro in June was a serious letdown for small, developing island states.

Half of the 10 million people of the Pacific islands reside within 1.5 km of the coastline, and Limpus stressed that climate change and rising sea levels were not a prediction but a reality threatening human security now.

Asia-Pacific actions to address climate change will have global impact

Jakarta -- Countries in Asia and the Pacific are at a crossroads and must now strike a balance between rising prosperity and rising emissions. Their success or failure will have repercussions worldwide, predicts a new report released today by the United Nations Development Programme.

The Prime Minister of Tuvalu, the Honorable Willy Telavi, today presented a cheque of $10,000.00 (FJD) to Fijian Prime Minister, Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama at the Sofitel hotel.

"This is a token of goodwill by the people of Tuvalu towards the displaced people who were victims of the recent flooding in Fiji," said Honorable Willy Telavi.

In a private ceremony, Prime Minister Bainimarama thanked his Tuvalu counterpart for the donation, expressing thanks on behalf of Fijians in a time of need.

November 03, 2011 | Alice Thomas

Next month, the United Nations will hold a high-level ministerial meeting to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the 1951 Refugees Convention. For more than half a century, the Convention and its 1967 Protocol have provided protection to millions of vulnerable people fleeing conflict and persecution in their home countries.

In brief

This programme update focuses on the work of the Asia Pacific zone office in the first six months of 2010 to provide leadership and guidance to the International Federation efforts to increase the impact of Asia Pacific national societies' humanitarian activities. Many societies across the zone have maintained a high level of programming in several new disaster response operations and continued comprehensive post-disaster recovery activities, while others have started

An Oxfam report published today highlights that Pacific Islanders are already feeling the effects of climate change and need greater support to address the dramatic effects in the region.

The Future is Here: climate change in the Pacific documents how people are facing increasing food and water shortages, dealing with rising cases of malaria, coping with more frequent flooding and storm surges, losing land and being forced from their homes. The report