Speech (Check Against Delivery)
Australian Council for International Development - Annual Council Dinner
28 October 2009
ACFID President, the Hon Margaret Reid
ACFID Executive Director, Mr Marc Purcell
The Hon Dame Carol Kidu DBE, Minister for Community Development in the Papua New Guinea Government
Ladies and gentlemen
Thank you for inviting me to speak at this year's ACFID Council Chairs' and CEOs' Dinner.
I am pleased to be here again, after a busy year for the Government and for Australian NGOs.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you, Margaret Reid, for your hard work and commitment as President over the past four years.
Under your leadership, the relationship between the Council, NGOs and the Government has become stronger.
The Partnership Agreement between ACFID and the Government, signed earlier this year, is evidence of our commitment to a high quality and constructive relationship.
I congratulate you on your personal contribution to improve the lives of the poorest people through the NGOs.
I wish you well for the future.
Introduction
Since early 2008, soaring food prices, the rising cost of oil and the state of the global economy has claimed much of our attention. Regrettably, poverty is on the rise, a billion people are hungry, and the livelihood of millions more are threatened.
The work of Australian NGOs has been critical to helping the poorest people in these challenging times.
NGOs, however, have also faced challenges, including maintaining community donations, fluctuating foreign exchange rates, and responding to an unprecedented number of humanitarian disasters.
Recognising the valuable role you play, the Government has increased support to NGOs over the past three years, up from 5.8 per cent in 2006-07, to over eight per cent of Australia's Development Assistance in 2008-09.
We have introduced multi-year funding, increased flexibility, created new Partnerships, and introduced an Innovations Fund to draw out and share lessons on your innovative approaches.
Government funding through the AusAID NGO Cooperation Program helped Australian NGOs to directly assist over two million poor people over the past two years.
This year, the Government has also introduced a pilot program, the Community Call to Action, to work with community groups, small business and others to raise awareness of global poverty and the Millennium Development Goals.
I am pleased to announce tonight that 13 organisations will receive funding through this program, including the Girl Guides, Rotary, Oaktree Foundation, and ACFID.
These initiatives reflect the Government's commitment to being a good international citizen and a partner in development.
They also reflect the interest of Australians who donate to your organisations for humanitarian emergencies, poverty alleviation and development activities.
Yesterday, Josette Sheeran, the Executive Director of the World Food Programme, described Australia as "hotbed of generosity".
I think she got that right.
Aid funding and priorities
In economically difficult times, the Government remains committed to increasing Official Development Assistance to 0.5 per cent of Gross National Income by 2015.
The objective of the Australian aid program remains ‘to assist developing countries reduce poverty and achieve sustainable development, in line with Australia's national interest.'
Our International Development Assistance Policy Statement, released with the Budget in May, set out five core principles for international development assistance:
- accelerating progress towards the Millennium Development Goals;
- promoting economic growth as the most powerful long-term solution to poverty, whilst recognising that economic growth will not, by itself, deliver fair and stable societies;
- focusing on Asia and the Pacific, while also increasing our efforts in Africa and South Asia;
- emphasising the power of education to promote development; and
- continuing to improve effectiveness.
Australia is increasing our commitment to education, especially girls and children with disability, because of the direct links between education and poverty reduction.
We are doing more to raise awareness of the high levels of gender based violence in our region and are working to change community attitudes to this particularly ugly form of violence.
Engaging multilaterally, regionally and bilaterally
The aid program is playing an important role in Australia's efforts to broaden and deepen our engagement with other countries and regional and international institutions.
As a responsible donor, we also need to ensure our aid program is effective, well targeted and coordinated.
We want to maximise the benefits of Australia's partnerships with multilateral organisations, NGOs, other governments and our partners in developing countries.
On Monday, I signed a four-year $180 million Strategic Partnership Agreement with the Executive Director of the World Food Programme, Josette Sheeran. The Agreement provides the WFP with a guaranteed four-year funding commitment from the Australian Government. This is the first such Agreement the WFP has signed with any donor and confirms our ongoing confidence in the WFP.
Australia's contribution includes $40 million for dedicated school feeding programs in Asia, Africa and Latin America to reduce the number of school children who suffer hunger, and at the same time improve school attendance and educational results.
Ms Sheeran described Australia as a "model donor" for our prompt and generous funding, and our commitment to predictable funding as "totally unique".
She expressed the hope others would follow Australia's example.
Security and Conflict
Development assistance plays an important role in addressing the root causes of poverty and injustice and in promoting stability.
This in turn contributes to Australia's ambition for a stable, peaceful and prosperous region.
We are working to enhance cooperation between Australian Government agencies working in fragile and conflict affected states and those affected by natural disasters.
Examples include the excellent cooperation between the ADF and AusAID in Sumatra.
Our partnership with ACFID is another element which is important in supporting a coordinated Australian response. The NGO liaison officer at the Asia-Pacific Centre of Excellence is an example of this.
This coordination is particularly important in high-risk environments such as Afghanistan.
We are also working to enhance our humanitarian response mechanisms.
This includes establishing a Deployable Civilian Capability comprising up to 500 Australian specialists that can be rapidly deployed to countries experiencing or emerging from conflict or natural disasters. They will be selected for their technical expertise and be drawn from the public and private sectors.
Only a few weeks ago there were four natural disasters in our region - in Sumatra in Indonesia; in Samoa and Tonga; and in the Philippines and the Mekong countries Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.
Parliamentary Secretary Bob McMullan has visited Tonga and Samoa and I have visited Padang and surrounds.
We are proud of the rapid and effective assistance through Government agencies including AusAID and Defence, and through NGOs to respond to emergency needs and begin the process of rebuilding.
In recent years the average annual economic loss in the region has been almost US$6 billion from cyclones, US$5 billion from floods and more than US$3 billion from earthquakes.
These are large sums. Therefore it's important that we enhance our coordination to respond more effectively to natural disasters either when they affect the region or when they are too great for any one nation to manage alone.
I am very pleased that further progress on regional disaster management was made last weekend when the Prime Minister attended the East Asia Summit in Thailand.
I also wanted to speak this evening about a number of countries which are of particular interest to Australia.
Burma
Australia has long been appalled by the Burmese regime's suppression of the democratic aspirations of the Burmese people.
Australia maintains targeted sanctions against the regime.
To address the pressing needs of the Burmese people, Australia has also long provided humanitarian assistance to Burma.
In the 2009-10 Budget the Government allocated $29 million for development and humanitarian assistance including health care and education.
This is in addition to Australia's significant contribution of $55 million for relief and long-term recovery efforts following Cyclone Nargis.
Alleviating the humanitarian needs of the Burmese people will remain our priority.
But I am also considering what more Australia can do to address the long-term challenges facing the Burmese people, particularly in areas of great need such as health, education and agriculture.
Our assistance will continue to be delivered through international organisations such as UN agencies, NGOs and other donors.
I welcome the ongoing role of Australian NGOs in the planning and delivery of this assistance.
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka faces the tremendous task of resettling hundreds of thousands of displaced citizens. This process has started, but since the fighting stopped five and a half months ago about 220,000 people remain in camps for internally displaced people.
Australia's view remains that it is vital to move quickly, more quickly than has been the case to this point, to create the conditions for them to rebuild their lives.
Australia and the international community continue to watch closely to see how the Sri Lankan authorities treat people in camps for internally displaced people, how they manage their resettlement, and how they institute political reform and reconciliation.
Success in these areas is vital to the Sri Lankan Government creating a peaceful, stable and prosperous future for Sri Lanka and all of its people.
Australia will continue to respond to the humanitarian challenges facing Sri Lanka through our aid program, especially the needs of internally displaced people and their resettlement.
Last financial year, 2008-09, Australia devoted $24.5 million to meet humanitarian needs in Sri Lanka.
Australian aid was delivered through international humanitarian organisations, such as the World Food Programme, UNICEF, the International Committee of the Red Cross, as well as Australian NGOs working on the ground in Sri Lanka.
Through this assistance Australia has provided:
- shelter, water, sanitation, health and nutrition for internally displaced people;
- security and coordination for relief efforts;
- equipment for de-mining activities;
- social and educational services for children adversely affected by conflict; and
- trauma support, particularly for mothers and children.
This financial year, 2009-10, Australia will provide more than $35 million in development assistance to Sri Lanka.
Supporting resettlement is a major focus for the coming months. In September, I announced $5 million for this vital work.
This $5 million in resettlement assistance will be delivered through international organisations such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Organization for Migration.
This funding will include assistance for continuing the process of documenting internally displaced people to facilitate their return: providing them with essential items, including food and water for travel and reintegration; and helping families hosting displaced people.
Australian resettlement assistance is not only focussed in northeast Sri Lanka. In northwest Sri Lanka, where the conflict ended in 2008, Australia has helped to resettle internally displaced people by funding the construction of housing and providing support for basic services and the revival of income generating activities.
Our aid in the coming year to Sri Lanka will also support development across the country, including through the Australian Community Rehabilitation Program, where we work with Australian NGOs.
Zimbabwe
The Australian Government is committed to helping Prime Minister Tsvangirai and his Ministers bring positive change to Zimbabwe and sustainable and long-term social and economic improvements to the lives of Zimbabweans.
Australia has been at the forefront of both political and humanitarian international efforts to assist Zimbabwe.
Australia was one of the first countries to deliver assistance in a manner that has become known as ‘humanitarian plus'. This goes beyond purely emergency humanitarian relief to include longer term measures to help restore essential services such as water, education and health care.
Since the establishment of the Inclusive Government in February this year Australia has provided more than $28 million in assistance.
This includes $8 million I announced on 15 September - $6 million for food and agriculture and $2 million to help reinvigorate Zimbabwe's education sector.
Australian NGOs have a long history of productive engagement in Zimbabwe.
In May I announced $2 million for water and sanitation support through World Vision, Caritas and Oxfam. This is a first step in planned support for Australian NGOs as they contribute to Zimbabwe's rebuilding.
The Australian Government is keen to discuss how we can collaborate further with NGOs in the priority sectors of water and sanitation and agriculture.
Conclusion
The challenges are great.
The impact of higher food and fuel prices and the global recession on poor people in developing countries is still unfolding.
We will continue to face challenges in assisting the poor in fragile countries like Burma, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe.
I value your perspectives and ideas on these challenging policy decisions.
I hope the new consultative forums on aid will promote further discussion and exchange of ideas.
Our responses need to be creative and collective.
Australian NGOs are important partners for the aid program in helping to meet the MDGs.
I wish you well in your Council meeting and in the year ahead.