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Minister for Foreign Affairs Stephen Smith, this week announced plans to provide a further $28 million over two years to non-government organisations (NGOs) as part of Australia’s Overseas Development Assistance program. Over the past two years, total funding to Australian NGOs for humanitarian and development assistance work has increased from six to eight percent of [...]
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Australia will contribute $4 million to APEC’s aid-for-trade initiatives, designed to encourage emerging economies increase their participation in international trade. Minister for Foreign Affairs Stephen Smith announced the funding after the APEC Ministerial Meeting in Singapore last week, acknowledging that trade and economic growth were the most effective means to address poverty. In a statement, [...]
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Minster for Foreign Affairs Stephen Smith, and Minister for Defence John Faulkner have announced further Australian support to Samoa and Tonga following the tsunami that devastated both countries in September. The Royal Australian Navy’s HMAS Tobruk departed Sydney yesterday carrying a range of goods, equipment and relief aid destined for the two countries, including a [...]
...read moreThe World Bank is under-resourced and needs more funds to furnish its commitments, according to World Bank president Robert Zoellick, who has appealed for finance. Zoellick said rising demand for aid had seen the bank cut its lending, with the possibility that only the very poorest countries would receive financial assistance. “As we start to [...]
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Yesterday marked the inaugural World Humanitarian Day, designed to honour the services of aid workers around the world, including those who have lost their lives in helping others. The date was chosen to mark the sixth anniversary of the death of United Nations diplomat Sergio Vieira de Mello, the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights, [...]
...read moreGenerosity in the current global recession is alive and well, with the United Nations announcing record levels of aid funding compared with previous appeals. UN Humanitarian Affairs head John Holmes says donor countries have contributed US$4.6 billion of the US$9.5 billion target for this year. In previous years, funding has been as low as 23 [...]
...read moreInternational agencies, fearful that money to assist less-developed countries will be eroded by the global economic crisis, have urged the developed world to increase assistance through the ‘aid for trade’ process. ‘Aid for trade’ includes foreign investment into infrastructure so that developing countries can participate in global trade liberalisation. However, many projects have stalled due [...]
...read moreFamine could be a reality for 1 billion people worldwide due to the global financial crisis, says the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation. The estimate comes despite a drop in recent food prices, as trade and aid funding has also fallen. The organisation’s general director Jacques Diouf says the record number of people receiving [...]
...read moreDeveloped countries should increase their aid budgets during this global economic downturn to prevent economic asylum seekers from attempting to enter more stable economies, says Deakin University research expert Jonathan Ritchie. “The collapsing world economy, with its dire consequences especially for developing countries, will see more and more people taking a chance on a better [...]
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