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Australia's Overseas Aid Program 2000-01

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Chapter Five: Global Programs

Most of Australia's aid is delivered through bilateral programs in consultation with partner countries. However, a significant component is distributed through multilateral and non government organisations. In 2000-01 it is expected Australia will expense $510.9 million to global programs (estimated cash payments will be $496.5 million). This funding will go to the activities of multilateral organisations, non government organisations, volunteer programs, humanitarian and emergency programs and communication, education and information programs.

Multilateral Organisations

Australia's aid support for multilateral agencies extends the reach of the aid program. Multilateral agencies perform a range of valuable humanitarian, technical, policy dialogue and coordination functions. For example, they improve donor coordination by providing leadership on major global issues such as climate change and HIV/AIDS. The multilateral response to the crisis in East Timor illustrates how international organisations are able to marshal resources and coordinate large scale responses, complementing the inputs of individual countries.

Australia has a strong interest in ensuring that any organisation it supports through the aid program performs effectively. Australia systematically considers how well these organisations contribute to the objective of the aid program. The Multilateral Assessment Framework is used to assess the focus and performance of multilateral agencies. During the pilot year (1999-2000) twenty seven assessments were completed.

Multilateral Development Banks10

The allocations to multilateral development banks for 2000-01 are:

In 2000-01 Australia's contributions to multilateral development banks will total $246.6 million. These organisations complement Australia's bilateral programs and share the goal of reducing poverty and achieving sustainable development. They play a vital role in the Asia Pacific region of encouraging good governance and promoting sound economic policies.

Australia engages multilateral agencies on key development issues like debt relief. The Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative introduced by the World Bank and the IMF is supported by Australia as a mechanism for reducing debt and poverty (see Box 13). Australian aid is supporting the development of a framework to strengthen the link between debt relief and poverty reduction through Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers. These country-driven plans identify priorities for public action that have the greatest impact on poverty.

Box 13: Debt relief for heavily indebted poor countries

International debt can have serious effects on very poor countries, in some cases making it difficult to provide basic services in the face of unsustainable debt burdens. Debt relief has the capacity to free resources for social spending and reduce poverty. However it is vital that debt relief supports the pursuit of sound policies and good governance practices and is linked to effective poverty reduction programs.

Australia believes the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative, co-ordinated by the World Bank and IMF, is the most credible way to provide sustainable debt relief to the world's poorest countries. It involves all creditors, including multilateral development institutions. It also ensures that the proceeds of debt relief are directed towards basic health, education and poverty reduction programs, and not lost in corruption or military spending. At the 1999 IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings, the Government pledged an additional $35 million to bring Australia's total contribution to $55 million.

Australia will provide 100 per cent debt forgiveness to countries which qualify for debt relief under HIPC. There are two countries - Nicaragua and Ethiopia - which have debts to Australia and are expected to qualify for relief. When Nicaragua and Ethiopia receive debt relief under HIPC, all of the debt they owe to the Australian Government will be forgiven. The cost of this initiative will be additional to the aid budget.

Australia will also be seeking to conclude the replenishment negotiations for the Asian Development Fund (the concessional loan arm of the ADB) and IFAD. In particular, Australia is promoting refinements in the ADB's country programming and evaluation systems, and pursuing enhanced governance and performance based lending.

United Nations Organisations

UN organisations play an important role in reducing poverty and meeting humanitarian needs. In 2000-01, Australia will provide $61 million in contributions to the following United Nations (UN) development and humanitarian organisations:

The WFP provides crucial food aid that saves lives in refugee and emergency situations. It aims to improve the nutrition, quality of life and self-reliance of poor people and communities.

Australia's contributions to UNDP support its efforts to reduce poverty. Australian aid helps UNICEF, UNFPA and UNIFEM advance the rights and welfare of women and children through health, education and advocacy programs. Australia's contributions to specialist UN agencies enhance their development programs, for example to coordinate international drug control and meet global environment concerns.

Support for UN reform

Australia is a strong advocate of UN reform. Australia will continue to pursue improvements in the systems, policies and governance of UN organisations in order to lift performance, based on assessments of individual agencies using AusAID's Multilateral Assessment Framework. Australia actively supports the UN Secretary General's reforms of UN development assistance by:

International Health Programs

In 2000-01 Australia will contribute $11.1 million to international health programs. Australia's priorities are to address persistent problems, to strengthen proven, effective interventions and to tackle emerging challenges. Persistent problems include TB, malaria, child and adolescent health, maternal health, reproductive health (including family planning), and HIV/AIDS. Proven, effective interventions are immunisation, micronutrient supplementation and essential drug supply. Emerging challenges include non-communicable disease surveillance, risky behaviours, trauma (particularly violence against women) and tobacco use.

In line with these priorities, Australia's international health program supports the World Health Organisation's work on the prevention and control of epidemic, endemic and other diseases like TB and malaria. It assists UNAIDS' role in coordinating the international response to HIV and the International Planned Parenthood Federation's work in providing for and advocating improved reproductive health services. It is helping the Centre for Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders to eliminate iodine deficiency throughout the world.

International Environment Programs11

Prevention of environmental degradation is essential in alleviating poverty and fostering sustainable development. Environmental challenges such as climate change, loss of biological diversity and ozone protection require a global response. Australia works through international environment organisations to help developing countries tackle these problems. This approach allows Australia to participate in projects of a scale that would not be possible to address on a bilateral basis. The involvement of the aid program supports Australia's active role in the negotiation of environmental conventions and dialogue on the global environment.

Australia will continue to assist the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to address the challenges of climate change, conservation of biological diversity, ozone layer depletion and protection of international waters in developing countries. Funding for the GEF in 2000-01 will be $7.7 million. Australia will provide $2.9 million for the Montreal Protocol Multilateral Fund (MPMF) to assist developing countries in phasing out the use of ozone depleting substances by 2010 and to meet their obligations under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.

Australia seeks to ensure its aid and environmental priorities are reflected in the programs of international environmental organisations. In 2000-01, Australia will:

Commonwealth Organisations

Australia will contribute $10.6 million during 2000-01 to Commonwealth organisations to assist with their programs in improved governance, institution building, human rights, economic policy making and small states development.

At the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in 1999, the Prime Minister announced that Australia's contributions to the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation will increase by 10 per cent per annum over the next three years. Australia will also continue support for the Commonwealth's Trade and Investment Access Facility, with $1.5 million over 3 years. Australia will be involved in a High Level Group chaired by President Mbeki of South Africa to review the role of the Commonwealth. The High Level Group will report to the 2001 CHOGM in Brisbane.

Non Government Organisations and Volunteer Programs

Non Government Organisations (NGOs)

Non government organisations are an effective way of providing Australian aid to developing countries. NGOs have particular strengths in engaging local communities and promoting grass roots participation in aid activities. Through their strong links with communities in developing countries and partnerships with local organisations, NGOs are well placed to strengthen civil society, create a better environment for development activities and increase the potential for longer-term sustainable impacts.

The AusAID-NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP) supports NGO development activities that contribute to poverty alleviation. Under this scheme, Australia supplements funds provided by the community, increasing the effectiveness of NGO activities and enabling NGOs to respond to their own regional and sectoral priorities. In 2000-01 funding for the ANCP will be $25.2 million. This is an increase of $885,000 from 1999-2000 and will enable Australian NGOs to implement further community based activities in the Pacific, East and South Asia, and Africa.

Joint efforts to improve the quality of aid delivery will be a key priority for AusAID and NGO collaboration in 2000-01. AusAID will work closely with NGOs on accreditation criteria designed to assess performance measurement by the NGOs. These will focus on:

Box 14: Supporting NGOs: the AusAID-NGO Cooperation Program

Under this scheme in 2000-01 the Government will support around 50 accredited Australian NGOs for poverty-alleviating activities in developing countries. Examples of these activities include:

  • Save the Children Fund Australia has started a three year program in Bangladesh to improve the access of children to rights of participation, association and freedom of expression in their family and community life, and to improve the quality of life of working children through education and advocacy. 42,000 children and 30,000 mothers will benefit from the program.

  • The Macfarlane Burnet Centre for Medical Research is implementing a three year project to assist women and children in Mumbai, India affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The project is establishing a residential community for women and children, providing vocational training and continuing education, providing care for those with HIV/AIDS, and assisting the reintegration of women and children into their communities.

Volunteer Programs

The Australian Youth Ambassadors for Development Program (AYAD) aims to strengthen mutual understanding between Australians and the people of the Asia Pacific region and make a positive contribution to development. The program places Australians between 18 and 30 years of age on development projects to exchange skills with local counterparts. Youth Ambassadors bring back to Australia a practical appreciation of the cultures, economies and development needs of the countries in the Asia Pacific region.

The AYAD Program partners with a broad range of organisations in Australia who nominate and support young Australians as Youth Ambassadors. In 2000-01 the AYAD Program will continue to develop partnerships with Australian organisations from the business, education, community and government sectors and plans to place 240 Youth Ambassadors on assignments in developing countries. Funding of $5 million in 2000-01 will establish AYAD as an ongoing aid program.

Box 15: Youth ambassadors use their healing skills

More than 140 young Australians are now serving as Australian Youth Ambassadors in 18 Countries throughout the Asia Pacific region. Their activities range from operating on patients in the Solomon Islands, providing nutrition advice in Nepal, educating Indonesians on HIV/AIDS and assisting the Cambodian government to write tobacco control policy. Other countries where the Youth Ambassadors are active include Mongolia, Cambodia, Viet Nam, Bangladesh, Kiribati and Tonga.

Sixteen of the youth ambassadors are working in the health sector, many of them with the support of their Australian employers. Australian organisations are embracing the AYAD program, recognising its potential as a professional development initiative for staff that also enables them to establish or enhance existing links with counterpart organisations in the region.

The Australian aid program contributes to a range of existing volunteer programs. Australian Volunteers International, the AESOP Business Volunteers, the Paulian Lay Missionary Society and Interserve are examples of organisations that enable Australian volunteers to work in developing countries. Total expenditure on these volunteer programs in 2000-01 is expected to be $12.8 million. This represents an increase of $700,000 in recognition of the important contribution of Australian volunteers.

Emergency and Humanitarian Programs

Australia's contributions to emergency and humanitarian programs in 2000-01 will total $107.2 million.

In partnership with multilateral agencies, recipient governments and NGOs, Australia aims to deliver prompt, effective and coordinated humanitarian and emergency assistance to those exposed to human suffering and material destruction as a result of disasters and emergencies. Emergency and humanitarian aid provides flexibility for the Government to respond to these unexpected and pressing crises, and also to contribute to protracted relief operations.

Emergency Assistance

Australia stands ready to respond to natural disasters, such as earthquakes, cyclones, and floods. In addition to rapid response to emergencies, this involves reducing vulnerability, promoting solutions to root causes and facilitating the smooth transition from relief to rehabilitation and development. Australia will continue to focus on those most in need, with a particular emphasis on countries in the Asia Pacific region.

The scale and nature of these crises around the world make it impossible for Australia to respond in every case. The ethnic unrest in Solomon Islands and the crisis in East Timor clearly highlight the importance of Australia's assistance in the Asia Pacific region. Indonesia has started to recover from the economic crisis, but a number of humanitarian situations continue to trouble the country.

Other Humanitarian Aid

Support for refugees, internally displaced people and other vulnerable groups will continue through contributions to the UN system (particularly UNHCR and WFP), the ICRC and NGOs. This will include support for landmine action programs, health services, water supplies, sanitation and resettlement assistance and human rights monitoring. Opportunities for peace-building will also be supported.

The emergency and humanitarian program will fund around 130,000 tonnes of food aid in response to emergency and protracted relief operations. This food aid will assist the most vulnerable communities and will be channeled primarily through the World Food Programme to meet ongoing humanitarian relief activities in countries such as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Cambodia, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. This humanitarian food aid will assist in meeting approximately half of Australia's obligations under the Food Aid Convention (FAC) for 2000-01.

Landmine Action

Nearly one third of the world's nations are contaminated to some extent by landmines and unexploded ordnance. The Australian Government takes its role as a party to the Ottawa Treaty very seriously. The humanitarian program supports a wide range of mine action activities as part of the Government's $100 million pledge for 1996-2005. To date $77 million has been committed or spent on mine clearance, mine awareness and victim assistance.

Australia's Destroy a Minefield initiative aims to bring the Australian community together to help destroy minefields in Cambodia while raising public understanding of the extent of the global landmine crisis. Deminers are now working in two of the most heavily mined provinces of Cambodia For every $2 raised by the community, the Government is contributing $1 from the Princess Diana trust fund, with the potential for the scheme to raise up to $1.2 million.

Cross Regional Program

Direct Assistance Program

The Direct Assistance Program (DAP) is a small grants scheme delivered through Australia's overseas network of diplomatic posts. It provides a flexible support mechanism in the form of small grants for development activities. Development activities supported under the program directly assist women, poor and other disadvantaged people and fund small projects ancillary to Australia's development cooperation program. The emphasis is on alleviating basic humanitarian hardships. In 2000-01 $3.3 million will be provided through the program.

Australian Development Scholarship Scheme

Every year, the Australian Government sponsors people from developing countries to study in Australia through the Australian Development Scholarship (ADS) scheme. After completing their studies, students return home and use their skills and knowledge to assist with the development of their country. The objective of the scheme is to strengthen human resource capacity in priority sectors of partner countries. The scheme has a particularly important role in strengthening governance in both the public and private sector, consistent with the objectives of country program strategies, through which countries can improve development, economic growth and sustainability.

In 1999-2000 approximately 3,200 students were funded through scholarship activities. It is expected that approximately 1,000 new scholarships will be offered in 2000-01. The type and number of scholarships offered are based on individual country development needs and priorities. Scholarships are made available to both the public and private sectors. Students undertake studies at TAFE, undergraduate and postgraduate levels. The major fields of study are in economics, business and administration, natural sciences, engineering and health and community services.

Communication, Education and Information

Outreach Activities and Development Education

The Government places a high priority on informing Australians about the overseas aid program and explaining that `aid works' and makes a difference to the poor. Expenditure on outreach activities and development education for 2000-01 will be $2.3 million.

The Government will continue to implement its communications strategy, including an active program of community outreach activities. The aid program will deliver an outreach program through its network of State representation, reaching out to regional and rural areas. Activities include organising events and aid seminars, school and university lectures, displays in public areas and stalls at agricultural shows and providing assistance to members of parliament with volunteer certificate ceremonies.

Information about the aid program will also continue to be provided through television programs, radio interviews, newspapers, magazines, Focus magazine and other publications. The internet is also an important communication tool for the aid program. AusAID's internet site ( http://www.ausaid.gov.au) is accessed, on average, 1,500 times per day or around 40,000 times per month. Over 40 per cent of these come from overseas. The site provides useful information on aid and development issues, contracting opportunities and latest developments. AusAID also has a highly acclaimed site ( http://globaled.ausaid.gov.au) which provides up to date case studies on aid and development for use by schools.

Speeches, press releases and details of AusAID publications may be found on the AusAID Internet site or by contacting the outreach activities unit on (02) 6206 4600.

Academic and Research Program

The Academic and Research Program aims to ensure that Australia's aid program accesses relevant, well-focused and high quality research. A total of $1.3 million will be provided in 2000-01. The program identifies and facilitates research into emerging development issues, through open competition between research providers. The three sub components of the program are:

International Seminar Support Scheme (ISSS)

The ISSS assists developing country participants to attend international development-orientated seminars in Australia and overseas. Through their participation, ISSS helps to develop knowledge, technical expertise, networks and policies relevant to the reduction of poverty and achievement of sustainable development. Applications for seminar support are assessed on the degree to which they provide tangible and practical development related outcomes. In 2000-01, $750,000 will be provided to the scheme.

10 All figures in this section are calculated on a cash basis to provide estimates of the total funding Australia contributes to multilateral banks in the financial year.

11 All figures in this section are calculated on a cash basis to provide estimates of the total funding Australia contributes in the financial year.

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