The millennium development goals and beyond : international assistance to the Asia-Pacific

The book examines how international aid donors and NGOs can assist countries in the Asia-Pacific region achieve the Millennium Development Goals. It examines the progress countries have made towards the MDGs and highlights the need to tailor the goals to individual country circumstances. The countries examined include Papua New Guinea, Cambodia, Solomon Islands, and Thailand.

International development : issues and challenges

This comprehensive and broad-ranging introductory text examines the key aspects of contemporary international development from both a practical and theoretical perspective. It addresses the fundamental question of what 'development' actually is and examines social, economic and environmental development across the globe.Written by experts with extensive field experience across a range of development settings, the book addresses key issues in the development debate. These issues include definitions of development, global influences on development, measurements of development, the contribution of international aid, the relationship between global development and gender equality, the idea of development as 'modernization', theories of underdevelopment, and regional variation.The third edition has been revised and updated to include discussion of recent events and challenges in the field, as well as coverage of the rise of new economic powers, the impact of new security challenges, and the increasing importance of sustainable development goals.

Reconstruction in Aceh: building whose capacity?

One of the dominant themes in development programmes over the last fifteen years has been a commitment to capacity building. This paper investigates the forms of capacity building in Aceh, Indonesia, since the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit the province on 26 December 2004. Despite the preference of the Acehnese people for reconstruction processes based on the principles of community development, local people have been largely marginalized by both the Indonesian government and the international aid and development agencies. The paper suggests some of the reasons for this marginalization.

Managing heritage in the wake of war and conflict in Cyprus

In the wake of a Greece-inspired coup against the Greek Cypriot President of Cyprus in 1974, the Turkish military occupied the northern third of the island and continues to do so. Ethnic communities are still separated: Greek Cypriots moved to the south and Turkish Cypriots to the north. This paper covers issues raised by the bi-communal conservation projects resulting from the European Union’s Partnership for the Future Programme being implemented by the United Nations Development Programme. The projects require co-operation between mutually distrustful, fearful and disdainful communities for the sake of common objectives – social and economic wellbeing. Cyprus has apparently opted for conflict management rather than resolution, with both sides focused on achieving prosperity. Heritage conservation has become a tool for peaceful co-existence and mutual pride. Initially the projects involved places of shared heritage rather than places reinforcing the separate cultural identities of the communities. Loss of cultural identity is a concern of both communities. Ongoing operational issues derive from the illegality of the Turkish government in the north and the repercussions of this for international aid. The paper will contribute to the conference theme by exploring the professional challenges related to these issues and their possible resolution.

Post-disaster coping in Aceh : sociocultural factors and emotional response

This chapter describes how disaster survivors in the Indonesian province of Aceh responded to the unprecedented level of international aid following the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004. It is based on research conducted by Ismet fanany, as part of an Outside Studies program supported by Deakin University, and centers on the conceptualization of disasterr of the survivors, the role religion and traditional culture played in their ability to cope, and their emotional state in relation to their perception of the cause of the event.

Health cosmopolitanism: melding universality and difference – the case of childbirth in post-conflict Timor Leste

ABSTRACTThis study will consider the case of TBAs (traditional birth attendants) under the health cosmopolitan banner. Fifteen interviews with health administrators, obstetricians, midwives, traditional birth attendants and women in Timor Leste, provide evidence : (1) that the WHO (1992) directive to dismiss the inclusion of TBAs within the formal maternity care system has been precipitous (2) that TBAs could, with adequate training in emergency obstetric techniques and hygienic practices, assist in meeting MDG No 5, and (3) that TBAs may assist in sustaining hybrid cosmologies and serving other cultural aims. Although Millennium Development Goals embrace the idea of the universal right to health, a human rights framework remains abstract and legalistic. I argue that health cosmopolitanism offers a more inclusive lens. Applied to maternity care it shifts childbirth to a central focus of government policy, obliges all nations to contribute international aid yet recognises the interpretation of complex needs at the local level. It defines a philosophy of care that is person-centred (not professional or institution-centred), ensures equal access to quality care (based not on ability to pay or other obstacles such as geographical distance) and choice of carer and modality (Western, traditional or hybrid). It underlines the argument here that TBAs trained in emergency obstetric care and hygiene and funded by international agencies would ensure every woman has a known carer, plus choice of location, modality and provider. Health cosmopolitanism thus embraces universality, individual autonomy, reciprocal respect and global responsibility.

Mental Health First Aid: an international programme for early intervention.

AIM: To describe the development of the Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) programme in Australia, its roll-out in other countries and evaluation studies which have been carried out. METHODS: A description of the programme's development and evaluation, its cultural adaptations and its dissemination in seven countries. RESULTS: The programme was developed in Australia in 2001. By the end of 2007, there were 600 instructors and 55,000 people trained as mental health first aiders. A number of evaluations have been carried out, including two randomized controlled trials that showed changes in knowledge, attitudes and first aid behaviours. Special adaptations of the course have been rolled out for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and some non-English speaking immigrant groups. The course has spread to seven other countries with varying degrees of penetration. In all countries, the programme has been initially supported by government funding. Independent evaluations have been carried out in Scotland and Ireland. CONCLUSIONS: The concept of first aid by the public for physical health crises is familiar in many countries. This has made it relatively easy to extend this approach to early intervention by members of the public for mental disorders and crises. Through MHFA training, the whole of a community can assist formal mental health services in early intervention for mental disorders.

Achieving the millennium development goals in the Asia-Pacific region : the role of international assistance

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are a set of international development targets agreed to by members of the United Nations in 2000. The goals aim to improve many of the dimensions of extreme poverty and are to be achieved by 2015. This paper provides an overview of the issues relevant to the achievement of the MDGs in the Asia-Pacific region. The paper begins by discussing the critiques of the MDGs before assessing whether countries in the region are on track to achieve them. Issues relating to data availability and accuracy are discussed and the need to tailor the MDG targets to the special circumstances of some Asia-Pacific countries is examined. The paper proceeds by discussing the role of international assistance via international foreign development aid and non-governmental organisations in the achievement of the MDGs. The paper concludes with some policy implications for the international donor community.

International development : issues and challenges

This book introduces the key contemporary issues in the theory, practice and study of development, from economic growth, good governance and globalization to gender, security and the environment. It builds on the authors' extensive practical experience to offer a systematic assessment of the field and identify characteristics of successful development. Arguing that there can be no development without poverty reduction and the involvement of all key stakeholders, the authors show why it is important not only that the policies are right but that the right people are involved. Failure to do so leads on the one hand to aid fatigue, and on the other to distorted development, no development at all, or even negative development.

Aid, debt relief and new sources of finance for meeting the millennium development goals

This article focuses on aid, debt relief and new sources of finance for meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It was said that MDGs provide a clear set of objectives for mobilizing the international development community, especially in the area of development finance. The call for increased aid as well as for more debt relief in the creation of new sources of development finance has increased since the United Nations Financing for Development Summit and the subsequent report of the panel chaired by then President Ernesto Zedillo of Mexico on development finance. The goal of reducing the proportion of people living in extreme poverty by 2015 cannot be achieved in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Such optimistic forecast suggests that MDG income poverty target will not be achieved in SSA until 2147.

Aid and growth in small island developing states

Aid flows to small island developing states (SIDS) are enormous by international standards when compared to the size of their economies. Yet these countries face many severe economic challenges and many have experienced declines in the living standards of their citizens. This paper looks at the impact of aid on what is treated as a necessary precondition for improvements in living standards, typically defined. Specifically, it examines the impact of foreign aid on real per capita income growth in SIDS by econometrically analysing cross-country data for the period 1980 to 2004. A variety of econometric techniques and measures of aid are used. Results suggest that foreign aid is effective at spurring economic growth but with diminishing returns.