This page contains information about NZADDs events (as well as occasional information about other events which look like they’re worth attending).
Looking Forward: New Zealand Aid Beyond 2015, from 1:00 – 5:30pm, Wednesday 4 September 2013 in Wellington.
The Council for International Development, the Institute for Governance and Policy Studies at Victoria University of Wellington, and New Zealand Aid and Development Dialogues hosted this event to provide a public forum for discussing the future of New Zealand aid. We were lucky to have Professor Stephen Howes, Director of the Development Policy Centre at the Australian National University, as our keynote speaker. Stephen has a wealth of experience in international aid and development, and was part of the Australian Independent Aid Effectiveness review. Check out Stephen’s bio below for more.
An audio of Stephen’s talk can be accessed here. You can access his slides as a pdf here.
We’ll also have a panel discussion about the role for New Zealand aid in the post-MDG global development framework, and bring together political party spokespeople on aid to share their thoughts on the future of New Zealand aid.
Keynote Speaker: Professor Stephen Howes
Professor Stephen Howes is the Director of the Australian National University’s Development Policy Centre. He is also Director of the International and Development Economics teaching program at the ANU’s Crawford School of Public Policy. Prior to joining the Crawford School in 2009, Stephen was Chief Economist at the Australian Agency for International Development. He worked from 1994 to 2005 at the World Bank, first in Washington and then in Delhi, where he was Lead Economist for India. In 2008, he worked on the Garnaut Review on Climate Change, where he managed the Review’s international work stream. Stephen serves as a Board Member for CARE Australia. He has previously served on the Board of the Pacific Institute of Public Policy, and on the Advisory Council of the Asian Development Bank Institute.
.
A Bolt from the Blue: Joanna Spratt NZADDs Speaking Tour
Between 20 and 22 March Jo Spratt gave talks in Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland on her NZADDs Working Paper ‘A Bolt from the Blue’.
This Working Paper examines the 2009 ‘review’ of NZAID and the reasons offered for the 2009 changes to the NZ government aid programme. The Working Paper concludes that there was no review and that the real reason for change was to shape government aid policy that assists New Zealand to do well at the same time as doing good. Jo will talk about this and raise questions about what this means for New Zealand aid today.
A flyer for the talk can be downloaded here. The working paper can be downloaded here.
.
NZADDs Talk September 2011: ‘NGOs and NZ Aid: The Value of Investing in Civil Society’
‘NGOs and NZ Aid: The Value of Investing in Civil Society’ is the topic of the next collaborative NZADDs and Institute of Policy Studies event.
On 21 September, from 12:30 to 1:30 come and listen to Garth Nowland-Foreman and Andrew McGregor talk about this important issue at Room 501, Level 5, West Wing, Railway Building, Pipitea Campus, Victoria University of Wellington. You can download a flyer for the event here [pdf]. Attendance open to all. Let your friends know by sending them the flyer.
Garth will talk about the value of NGOs in international aid and development work. Garth is Director of Community Solutions, teaches part-time in NZ and the Pacific on not-for-profit management, and has been involved in the New Zealand component of the major Johns Hopkins International Comparative Nonprofit Sector Project. Garth has reviewed the NZ aid programme’s NGO funding facility twice. He is co-chair of Tangata Whenua, Community & Voluntary Sector Research Centre.
Andrew will explore the dilemma that NZ NGOs face in receiving government funding but also wanting to maintain their autonomy, using the case study of the KOHA-SDF. Andrew is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington. He is Editor-in-Chief of the ISI-listed journal Asia Pacific Viewpoint, Steering Committee Member of the Aotearoa/New Zealand International Development Studies Network (DEVNET), and a former project officer at UNICEF Australia. Andrew is also the author of Southeast Asian Development (Routledge, 2008).
.
NZADDs Speaking Events in March 2011
In late March NZADDs hosted speaking events in Auckland, Wellington and Dunedin.
Audio from two of these talks is now available.
You can listen to the Auckland Talk ‘Is Economic Development an Appropriate focus for an aid agency?’ here. You can download the talk as an MP3 file here. The talk consists of an opening speech by Terence Wood followed by comments from discussants Ken Jackson and Anita Lacey.
You can listen to the Wellington Talk on the same topic here. (To download an MP3 of the talk right click on the link and select ‘Save As’). The talk is similar to the Auckland talk but with input from discussant Geoff Bertram.
You can download the PowerPoint slides that Terence spoke to at both talks here [pdf].
Details of the talks (where they were etc) is below.
Auckland
Aid and Growth – Should New Zealand’s Aid Programme Focus on Economic Development?
21 March 2011, 5-7pm
Room 403-403, Engineering Building, 20 Symonds Street
Speaker, Terence Wood with discussants, Associate Professor Ken Jackson and Dr. Anita Lacey
No RSVP required – all welcome
In 2009 the National government changed the mandate of the New Zealand government aid programme. No longer would New Zealand aid have a core focus on poverty reduction, instead it was to be given to foster sustainable development, with the key means of doing this being promoting economic development. In this talk former NZAID staffer Terence Wood will examine whether a focus on economic development really is the best possible way an aid agency can attempt to bring about development more generally.
Dunedin
The Changing World of NZ Aid
1:00pm – 1:50pm, Wednesday 23 March
Speaker, Terence Wood
Room: Burns 7, Albany St, Dunedin Campus, Otago University
No RSVP required – all welcome
Since a National lead government has took office in 2008 there have been dramatic changes to the world of New Zealand aid giving. NZAID, the semi-autonomous government agency tasked with managing the government aid programme, has been folded back into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and the aid programme’s mandate has changed to a dominant focus on economic development. Long running funds for NGOs have been transformed and funding for some NGOs has been completely cut. At the same time, other areas of the aid programme appear more or less unchanged. This talk will discuss what has changed, and why.
Wellington
Aid and Growth: Should New Zealand Aid Focus on Economic Development?
Seminar presented by Terence Wood,
Discussant Geoff Bertram
Friday 25 March 2011, 12.30pm – 1.30pm
Government Buildings Lecture Theatre Two, Pipitea Campus, Victoria University
No RSVP required – all welcome
In 2009 the National government changed the mandate of the New Zealand government aid programme. No longer would New Zealand’s aid have a core focus on poverty reduction; instead it would focus on fostering sustainable development, via promoting economic development. In this talk former NZAID staffer Terence Wood will examine whether a focus on economic development really is the best way an aid agency can bring about development.
‘A Bolt from the Blue: Upcoming NZADDs Talks
Upcoming NZADDs Talks: 20-22 March, Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland. Jo Spratt will give a talk on the NZADDs Working Paper ‘A Bolt from the Blue’. This Working Paper examines the 2009 ‘review’ of NZAID and the reasons offered for the 2009 changes to the NZ government aid programme. The Working Paper concludes that there was no review and that the real reason for change was to shape government aid policy that assists New Zealand to do well at the same time as doing good. Jo will talk about this and raise questions about what this means for New Zealand aid today.
New Zealand Aid and Development Dialogues 