Increased NZ Defense focus on Pacific, Unpacking Localisation, Pacific Debt, and more

+ Defence increases focus on Pacific

Minister of Defence, Ron Mark launched the Defence Force's Advancing Pacific Partnerships 2019 paper yesterday, which outlines challenges facing the region, including competition for influence. 

This comes on the back of the announced at the Pacific Islands Forum  by the Prime Minister, that $150 million from New Zealand's $300 million global climate finance commitment would go to the Pacific

+ NZ and Australian Conference week ends

For the first time, New Zealand and Australia worked together around a common theme ('Beyond Aid' and the future of partnerships) for their annual conferences, and worked closely with the Pacific Institute of NGOS (PIANGO) to share ideas, speakers and events. 

Key takeout from the ACFID conference:

• ACFID's prestigious media award was won by Matt Wade, Senior Economics Writer at the Sydney Morning Herald and photo-journalist Louise Kennerley, for their piece ‘Right on our doorstep’: Papua New Guinea’s health crises hit home’ featured in the Sydney Morning Herald’s Good Weekend magazine.
• The Sir Ronald Wilson Human Rights Award was given to Indonesian lawyer and human rights defender Veronica Koman for her courageous work in exposing human rights violations in the Indonesian Provinces of Papua and West Papua (referred to collectively as West Papua).
• At the ACFID AGM, members passed a resolution to sound the alarm on the growing repression of peoples’ rights and freedoms in Australia’s region and have called for Australian foreign policy-makers to more vigorously address the disturbing trend.

+ Women's Empowerment - mission impossible?

Every year billions of dollars are poured into development projects and programs to promote gender equality in economic opportunity, writes Talaja Livani from the Brookings Institute.

"Some argue that these investments do not have any long-term effects on women’s employment and entrepreneurship patterns because human behaviors are very difficult to change. Behaviors are determined by strong social norms and personal beliefs about the roles that men and women should play in society.

+ 'Pacific debt, not primarily driven by China'

A new report from the Lowy Institute finds that China is not the primary driver behind rising debt risks in the Pacific, although a continuation of business as usual would risk future debt problems in several countries.

"China’s Belt and Road Initiative has raised important questions about the risk of debt problems in less-developed countries. The risks are especially acute for the small and fragile economies of the Pacific. Our analysis, however, finds a nuanced picture. The evidence to date suggests China has not been engaged in deliberate ‘debt trap’ diplomacy in the Pacific."

Other findings include the following:

• There is scope for a new Australian infrastructure financing facility to provide loans to the Pacific without causing debt problems, particularly as it has adopted key sustainable lending rules.
• Pacific nations have an opportunity to obtain more favourable financing from official development partners but care must be taken to avoid overly geopolitical aid.

+ Manaaki Round One Interim Review

In March this year, the Partnerships team at MFAT launched Manaaki, a new contestable fund for registered New Zealand NGOs (NZNGOs). The term Manaaki has been used to convey our focus on “uplifting mana through listening to, supporting and empowering” vulnerable, marginalised and hard to reach communities. Manaaki has one funding round per year with funding available for NZNGOs that have concepts approved for activities with MFAT co-investment of NZ$100,000 – NZ$1 million. Up to NZ$5 million of funding is available to be allocated per year. The Partnerships Team are completing an interim review of Manaaki round one and would like to invite you to contribute your views.
The review is focusing on the following key points:

• Appropriateness of eligibility criteria including funding range, in-country partners, co-investment and allowable number of applications per NGO;
• Clarity and appropriateness of the concept note, application guidelines and assessment guidance;
• Consider accessibility of Manaaki to diverse partners;
• Whether eligibility should include NZNGOs working with local partners e.g. government, private sector, universities, etc. (not just local CSOs); and
• Whether NZNGOs should be able to submit two applications, as opposed to just one.

If you have any feedback you would like to contribute to the review, please send it to PartneringForImpact@mfat.govt.nz by 9am Wednesday 6 November 2019.

+ Offer of free photography to members

Giora Dan is an internationally published documentary photographer based in Christchurch. For the last 2 years Giora has provided an annual offer of two weeks of photography free of charge to CID members. The two weeks are dedicated to create a body of work that tell a story with strong and evocative images of the development organisation’s work, portraying either a specific project or general exposure for the organisation.
 
In 2017 the offer was utilised by Save the Children, New Zealand, where Giora photographed and videoed their work in Bangladesh and Nepal. In 2018 the offer was utilised by Fair Trade and the photography covered the production of Fair Trade cacao and coffee in Peru.
 
APPLICATION
CID member organisations wishing to apply for this offer are invited to submit a written proposal for consideration.  The application should state:
1. The nature of the issue/ activity needed to be covered
2. What the organisation wants to achieve with the images
3. Where the activity is located.
 
Please apply by e-mail to info@gioradan.com by 20 February 2020.
 
It is possible to apply for a period of less than two weeks; other organisations will then be able to use the remaining time. If you wish to discuss a possible application please e-mail or call 021 767883.
 
TERMS OF ENGAGEMENT

• Image use: The development organisation will be able to use the images on any publishing platform printed, digital & broadcasted in perpetuity.
• Intellectual property: (copy right) of the images stays with the photographer. Images cannot be shared, sold or donated to any other organisation or individuals without written permission from the photographer (excludes facebook type-of-share platforms) .
• Images: will be delivered in a digital file format.
• Photographer’s donation is his time and skills; all other expenses are to be covered by the organisation (e.g. transport and on-ground expenses).   

 

+ EoIs to join delegation for the 64th sessions of the Commission on the Status of Women

The Ministry of Women is looking for expressions of interest for a non-government representative to join the official Government delegation to the 64th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, to be held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 9th - 20th March 2020. Information and criteria on the application process can be found on their website here. Applications close on Friday, 8th November.

This year’s CSW will be slightly different from previous years; there will be no priority theme, rather, progress against the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action will be discussed throughout CSW64. You can find more information on CSW64 by following this link.
 

+ Insurance industry hit hard by climate change

Insurance company executives are getting anxious. According to the Fortune Magazine, they're "weighing the insurer’s financial exposure to some of its biggest clients. Ph.D. scientists are poring over algorithms to figure out how to cope with ballooning costs. Under intensifying pressure, they’re questioning much of what they know about assessing risk—and making decisions that could redirect billions of dollars."

+ Unpacking Localisation

‘Lack of clarity or a shared understanding of localization and the persistence of some core challenges have meant that humanitarian actors continue to contest how localization unfolds, even while agreeing almost universally on its importance’.

The journey towards localisation continues... ICVA (International Council of Voluntary Agencies) and the Humanitarian Leadership Academy have developed a paper 'Unpacking Localization' (sic) to support local, national and international NGOs to better understand what localisation might mean to them.

In mid-2019, three years after the World Humanitarian Summit (WHS), the Grand Bargain and the Charter for Change, there are still widespread calls by NGOs to define localization and what it means to different stakeholders. This report reviews this lack of clarity and divergence in meaning by considering four sub-processes;