Devpolicy Talks

Gavi is a unique global health partnership that has revolutionised access to vaccines in lower-income countries since 2000. Working with governments, UN agencies, private sector partners and civil society, Gavi has helped immunise more than one billion children, averted 18 million deaths and generating over US$200 billion in economic benefits. The organisation is known for its efficiency, keeping...

It’s the eve of COP29, the global climate change conference in Baku, Azerbaijan. In this episode, with thanks to the Australian Museum, we rebroadcast the 2024 Talbot Oration, delivered by Cynthia Houniuhi. You'll hear how a small group of committed Pacific law students transformed their classroom project into a global movement for climate justice, demonstrating the power of determined advocacy to...

In this episode, Robin Davies speaks with Dr Aly Abousabaa, the Director General of the International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA). This is the final in a three-part series on the CGIAR network of agricultural research centres. You can hear Robin’s interview with the Executive Managing Director of CGIAR, Dr Esmahane Elouafi, in episode 320, and his interview with Dr B...

In this episode, Robin Davies speaks with Dr Bram Govaerts, the Director General of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). This is the second in a three-part series on the CGIAR network of agricultural research centres. You can hear Robin’s interview with the Executive Managing Director of CGIAR, Dr Esmahane Elouafi, in episode 320, and his interview with Dr Aly Abousabaa,...

In this episode, Robin Davies speaks with Dr Ismahane Elouafi, the Executive Managing Director of CGIAR. CGIAR (formerly the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research) is a global partnership that unites international organisations engaged in research about food security. CGIAR's mission is to deliver science and innovation that advance the transformation of food, land, and water...

In this episode, Robin Davies speaks with Dr Fiona Hukula, the Gender Specialist at the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat. Dr Hukula is a social anthropologist with a Doctorate from the University of St Andrews. Over more than 20 years, she has dedicated her career to policy and social research, focusing on gender-based violence, urban issues, and socio-legal studies in the Pacific region. Prior t...

In this episode, Robin Davies speaks with the distinguished Australian journalist and researcher Nic Maclellan. Over the years, Nic has extensively covered the political and social dynamics of New Caledonia, providing unique insights into its complex relationship with France and the ongoing independence movement. New Caledonia is going through a period of substantial unrest and tension, largely dr...

Robin Davies speaks with Daisy Plana, CEO of Femili PNG, together with in-house lawyer Delwyn Dau and caseworker Elly Toimbo, on the occasion of the organisation’s tenth anniversary. Femili PNG is a pioneering organisation dedicated to supporting survivors of family and sexual violence in Papua New Guinea through its case management centres in Lae, Port Moresby, and Goroka, as well as a safe house...

Robin Davies speaks with Dr Ruth Goodwin-Groen, an Australian financial inclusion specialist who recently stepped down from her position as founding Managing Director of the Better than Cash Alliance, a position in which she served for over a decade. Ruth has devoted much of her working life to furthering the idea that digital payment systems, well managed, can be swifter, safer, more transparent...

Development Policy Centre Deputy Director Ryan Edwards and Dung Doan, an Economist in the World Bank's Social Protection and Jobs team, discuss the Pacific Labour Mobility Survey, which was conducted between 2020 and 2023. Edwards and Doan explain how the joint research project between the Australian National University and the World Bank was a comprehensive study of Pacific migrants working in Au...

Helder Lopes, Governor of Timor-Leste’s Central Bank, spoke with Robin Davies when he visited Australia in May 2024 under the Special Visits Program of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The Central Bank of Timor-Leste is a young institution, established in 2011. It combines some of the responsibilities of our own reserve bank with those of the Australian Securities and Investments Commi...

Dr Christos Christou, International President of Médecins sans Frontières (MSF), spoke with Robin Davies when he visited Canberra to meet senior government figures and speak at both the National Press Club and the Development Policy Centre.  Christos was appointed to his current role in mid-2019. He has been with MSF in many capacities since 2002, including as director of the organisation’s Greek...

On 14 May 2024, the Australian government delivered its first budget since the release of the 2023 international development policy and DFAT’s review of development finance.  Professor Stephen Howes and Dr Cameron Hill expand on Devpol's 2024 budget breakfast to give an update on recent developments in aid volume and performance, plus upcoming multilateral replenishments. You can find Devpol's ful...

Alvaro Lario, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development , together with his colleague Ron Hartman, spoke with Robin Davies when they visited Australia in March 2024 to encourage the Australian Government to rejoin the Fund.  Lario explains IFAD’s distinctive role in supporting small-scale farming to reduce rural poverty and boost economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region. ...

Helen Clark sat down with Robin Davies on her March 2024 visit to the Australian National University to talk about whether governments and global institutions are ready to change the way they respond to pandemics. Clark has had a long career in public service as New Zealand’s Prime Minister, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme and Co-Chair of the Independent Panel on Pandemic...

On the eve of the 2021–22 Federal Budget, Stephen Howes set out three tests for Australia’s aid budget: Will there be any further increases in aid next year? Will the government sustain any aid increases beyond this year and next? Will the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade provide an estimate of this year’s and next year’s Official Development Assistance (ODA)? In this ninth edition of Devpo...

The Australia Pacific Training Coalition (APTC) is a major Australian government foreign aid initiative that commenced in 2008, that has spent over $350 million, and that has turned out over 15,000 graduates with Australian qualifications. In a recent  Devpolicy Discussion Paper , Richard Curtain and Stephen Howes analyse graduate tracer surveys and show that employment outcomes for APTC graduate...

Australian foreign aid has changed considerably in the last 20 years. Dr Terence Wood discusses the findings of a recently published report that examines the changing nature of Australian government aid through the lens of publicly available data on aid flows, which provide evidence of change and allow direct comparisons between Australia and other OECD Development Assistance Committee donors. The...

Charles Scheiner presents the 2021 economic survey of Timor-Leste, outlining  the current economic situation, particularly in relation to the state budget, and the dominance of the Petroleum Fund in state finances. He also looks at future oil and gas possibilities, including Greater Sunrise and the Tasi Mane petroleum infrastructure project, and argues regardless of the paths Timor-Leste chooses t...

The economic costs of COVID-19 continue to mount, globally and in the Pacific. But what is the damage in the Pacific, and how are Pacific governments responding? In this webinar, panellists explore the economic damage caused by COVID-19 and the responses Pacific governments are taking. Professor Stephen Howes presents an overview based on the Pacific Covid Economic Database compiled by the Develop...

Historically, Australia has lacked a coherent policy to attract immigrants with less extensive formal training and education, despite the needs of its ageing population and labour market.  The Center for Global Development has recently concluded a project with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, which has produced two papers. Michael Clemens outlines the findings of the first p...

It is time to fundamentally reframe the research agenda on migration, remittances, payments and development. Many policymakers in the developing world, and researchers, tend to view migrant remittances as windfall income, rather than as returns on investment, which is how families with migrants tend to see remittances. Migration is thus, among other things, a strategy for financial management in p...

In this panel event at the 2020 Australasian AID conference, John Langmore makes the case for stronger government and civil society commitment to conflict prevention and peacebuilding. Joanna Pradela argues that Australia should adopt a feminist approach to foreign policy, one that is grounded in gender equality. Pierre van der Eng analyses the rapid expansion of Australia’s foreign aid to Indones...

In the Pacific over the past three decades, women’s domestic violence services have led advocacy for policy for increased gender equality, women’s human rights and in engaging men and boys as allies and advocates in prevention of violence against women. In partnership with regional governments, development partners and Australia’s aid and development resources, this model has provided agency, lead...

In November 2018, the Australian Government announced the Pacific step-up, taking its engagement with the Pacific to a new level. Despite this shift, new research finds that many people in the Pacific are concerned Australia does not know how to engage successfully as part of the Pacific community.  This panel event at the 2020 Australasian Aid Conference outlines the key findings of research comm...