Australian Agency for International Development

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The Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) is the Australian organisation responsible for delivering most non-military foreign aid. It is an autonomous federal agency under the portfolio of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. It is based in the national capital, Canberra, and has representation in 25 Australian diplomatic missions overseas. It aims to support the Australian national interest by reducing poverty and support sustainable development in developing countries, and provides ministerial advice, support and planning to that effect.

1 History
2 Goals
3 Operation
4 Projects
- 4.1 Past Projects
5 External links

[edit] History

The agency has seen a variety of names and formats. It was founded in 1974 under the Whitlam Labor government as the Australian Development Assistance Agency (ADAA) to fulfill a role that had previously been the responsibility of several departments. It was renamed the Australian Development Assistance Bureau (ADAB) and brought under the Foreign Affairs and Trade portfolio in 1976 under the Fraser Liberal government. It became the Australian International Development Assistance Bureau (AIDAB) under the Hawke government in 1987, before being given its current name by the Keating government in 1995. It has also seen repeated cuts to aid contributions during its lifetime, as the level of 0.47% of gross domestic product during the Whitlam years was slashed to 0.33% under the Hawke and Keating governments, and has at times been even lower under the Howard government. Cuts have not been limited to aid levels either; in mid-1996, the Howard government slashed the agency's budget by 24% amidst a round of cost-cutting measures.

[edit] Goals

Among the agency's stated goals are improving health and education services, fighting corruption, improving security, engaging in the fight against HIV/AIDS and improving the effectiveness of government organisations through training and other assistance. It actively works with the United Nations and the World Bank, as well as a variety of non-government organisations, such as the Australian Red Cross and World Vision in order to co-ordinate the delivery of aid services.

[edit] Operation

Tenders providing services associated with aid programs have been generally limited to firms from Australia or New Zealand, or firms doing substantial business in those countries; only in 2005 did the agency liberalise its guidelines to allow firms from the recipient country to apply for some tenders. The agency is considerably more liberal with construction contracts, allowing bidding from any company worldwide, though this has the effect of shutting out many potential bidders from recipient countries. The agency also supports the liberalisation of trade as a means of supporting economic development, and encourages this through its work; a policy which has been the cause of some controversy.

[edit] Projects

It is currently operating programs in five separate regions: Papua New Guinea, South Asia (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka), East Asia (Burma, Cambodia, China, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Mongolia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam), the Pacific (the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu) and the Middle East (Afghanistan and Iraq).

AusAID also runs the Australian Youth Ambassadors for Development program, a volunteer program allowing Australians aged 18-30 to volunteer for up to a year in countries throughout Asia and the Pacific.

[edit] Past Projects

Past projects have included rebuilding the shattered Cambodian legal system, bridging the Mekong River between Thailand and Laos, reintroducing the Przewalski's Horse (a Mongolian national symbol which had become extinct in the wild) to the nation, and a child health program in the mountains of Laos which slashed infant mortality in the region by 75%.