NEWS & EVENTS
AIDWATCH: New report ‘Off the Rails – AusAID and the Troubled Cambodian Railways Project
Aid and Accountability: Safeguarding Rights in High-Risk Development Projects
On February 13th, Bridges Across Borders Cambodia (BABC) will present the findings of its forthcoming report, DERAILED, A Study on the Resettlement Impacts of the Rehabilitation of the Cambodian Railway. The Project, predominantly financed by the...
International Groups call on Vanuatu Government to respect rights of ni-Vanuatu and allow protests against WTO
The letter is being released in the lead up to International Human Rights Day on December 10th 2011 and comes after the Vanuatu Government for a second time refused a march permit on the grounds that it would cause instability in the governmentTo view letter please...
Civil society statement to the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness
1. We value our inclusion as equals at the HLF-4 negotiating table alongside governments and donors; expect to replicate this practice at national levels, welcome the opportunity to join world leaders, governments, donors, parliamentarians, private sector and...
Derailed: A study on the resettlement process and impacts of the rehabilitation of the Cambodia railway
PrefaceEvery year, millions of people around the world are forcibly displaced from their lands, homes and livelihoods to make way for large-scale development projects. Most often those who are forced to sacrifice their place on earth for both public and private...
Afghan utopia becomes a much grimmer reality
It was envisaged as an Afghan utopia for returned asylum seekers - a purposebuilt housing estate with running water, jobs, schools and small businesses on the outskirts of the capital, Kabul.Funded by Australian taxpayers for about $8 million, the AliceGhan project...
BIGGEST STUDY OF LARGE LAND DEALS TO DATE WARNS OF THREATS TO POOR – Four key failures of governance harm the rural poor in developing nations
More than 40 organisations collaborated on the Global Commercial Pressures on Land Research Project, which synthesised 27 case studies, thematic studies and regional overviews.The report also includes the latest data from the ongoing Land Matrix project to monitor...
Guidelines to prevent land grabbing
“The threat of land grabbing has reminded us how vital access to land is for 500 million food-insecure households around the world,” UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food Olivier De Schutter said ahead of this month’s meeting in Rome of the UN Committee on World...
AID/WATCH IN THE NEWS: $20m Plan For Afghanistan
The paper, titled Australia Afghanistan Community Resilience Scheme, proposes funding be divided among five experienced NGOs and would seek to assist the ''poorest and most marginalised people'' while at the same time hoping to improve broader agricultural...
Rich companies bag $1.8bn in foreign aid
They have raked in $1.81 billion in taxpayer-funded contracts, but the lack of scrutiny of their profits is under challenge, as are the huge sums given to agencies such as the World Bank, which receives $450 million a year.Aid experts and the Opposition are demanding...
Food for thought: exploring food security in the Pacific
The discussion paper raises several issues, including the need to improve and advocate using traditional techniques to reduce the dependency on governments and NGOs in times of natural disaster. Agricultural productivity has declined in previous decades...
AID POLICY: Donors still far from transparent
The aid watchdog checked on whether donors publish information about their budgets, their allocation and procurement policies, or audit reports on their own performance. And what about their country programmes? Did they publish their strategies, projected budgets,...