Speech to the High Level Meeting on Africa's Development Needs
22 September 2008, New York
This High Level Meeting is a timely reminder for us all that the development challenges facing Africa continue to be great.
Renewed commitment and renewed effort will be needed by the international community to see Africa realising the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.
I am optimistic. I don't underestimate the extent of the challenge, but with international community support it is not overwhelming.
Australia is encouraged by the recent progress so many countries across Africa have made towards their development objectives.
In recent years we have witnessed the beginning of a turnaround in Africa's fortunes. Internal stability and governance has improved in many African nations.
Although the trend has been uneven, average annual economic growth rates have exceeded five per cent in recent years.
There have been encouraging signs of progress towards the Millennium Development Goals in some parts of Africa.
Australia wants to be part of this drive to accelerate progress towards the Millennium Development Goals in Africa, playing a role concentrating on our areas of comparative advantage.
We will focus on:
Food security - contributing to the eradication of extreme hunger and poverty.
Australia's agricultural expertise can help African countries increase their agricultural productivity and achieve greater food security.
Maternal and child health - Australia's first-class health systems and experts can help Africa overcome the devastating impacts of maternal and child mortality.
We will work to train and deploy midwives and target obstetric fistula (a debilitating condition that affects hundreds of thousands of women and babies each year), including the Australian-founded Hamlin fistula hospital in Ethiopia.
Water and sanitation - for example, sanitation in schools has significant impacts on educational outcomes.
We will also help to build the capacity of the public sector in African states by providing Australian scholarships, training and technical assistance.
The Australian Government will also increase its support for Australian NGOs operating in Africa, building on the many years of active engagement by Australian NGOs across the continent.
Humanitarian assistance has always been an important part of our aid to Africa.
Over the last year, Australia has provided humanitarian assistance in response to flooding in Ghana, Uganda and Ethiopia; food insecurity in Sudan and Somalia; and people displaced by conflict in Chad and the Central African Republic.
I announce today that Australia will provide $10 million in assistance to Ethiopia to provide emergency food supplies and also to build longer term, community level resilience to the adverse impact of drought and climate change.
Australia's intention is to focus our aid where we can achieve the most effective development outcomes. We will deliver our aid with partners such as the United Nations where it makes sense to do so.
Aid is very important but it is just one of a number of factors contributing to sustainable growth and development.
At the broader level, the Australian Government is committed to broadening and deepening its engagement with Africa.
We want to partner with Africa to make a contribution to development, to security, to tackle global challenges.
We are enhancing our support for peace and security on the African continent, including the UN-African Union mission in Darfur, and for UN initiatives to build conflict prevention capacity in the African Union.
Trade, investment and political stability are critical to consolidating development achievements.
Australia also wants to work with African states to achieve a more liberalised international trading system and national capacities to benefit from it. These developments would bring much needed growth to the continent.
Australia's commercial relationship in Africa is growing. Our companies are playing a leading role in the development of the continent's natural resources, particularly in mining.
They have earned a reputation as good corporate citizens in supporting the development of local communities and boosting the skills of local personnel.
We are building on a platform of existing people-to-people links, including significant numbers of African students in Australia, and African families who have found a welcoming home in Australia as refugees.
As a prosperous nation, Australia is determined to play its part, both in tackling Africa's problems and in helping to unlock its enormous potential.