[Aidwatch] AID/WATCH end of year e-bulletin

[AID/WATCH E-Bulletin]

*
*

*Seasons Greetings!
*



Dear supporter,



As the year draws to a close we’d like to thank you for your ongoing
support . It’s been a busy year for AID/WATCH, with campaign work, research
and advocacy continuing across a range of areas.



*Looking back at 2011 AID/WATCH witnessed a number of successes *with
reforms to aid policy in areas that we have been campaigning around for
many years. Due to a concerted campaigning effort around
transparency<http://www.aidwatch.org.au/news/take-action-make-aid-transparent>the
Australian Government at the end of 2011 started to make AusAID
project
documents publicly available for the first time, the aid budget is
gradually increasing to 0.5 percent of Gross National Income (GNI) and
efforts to highlight the problems with boomerang
aid<http://www.aidwatch.org.au/news/aidwatch-in-the-news-australias-boomerang-aid-slammed>has
seen a steady decrease in aid money going towards private contractors.



Working with partner NGOs both here and in the Pacific, AID/WATCH has
continued to campaign the Australian Government around
PACER-Plus<http://www.aidwatch.org.au/publications/pacer-plus-resources>,
a regional free trade agreement that will have a massive negative impact on
Pacific Island economies and communities if allowed to go ahead.
Negotiations are slated to continue at the start of next year and AID/WATCH
will continue to keep you informed of the campaign and negotiations as they
develop.



During the year AID/WATCH continued to campaign to make Australian aid
fair, writing submissions to the review on aid
effectiveness<http://www.aidwatch.org.au/publications/aidwatch-submission-to-aid-review>,
advocating for pro-poor policies and pressuring government to put more
money into climate change funds. We have also continued to work with
partners in Melanesia
<http://www.aidwatch.org.au/campaigns/pacificwatch>to raise awareness
of aid monies directed towards the commercialisation of
land tenure systems and support communities in their campaign to protect
customary land, the environment and culture of Indigenous peoples.



All of this work is largely the result of hard work and dedication by
volunteers, members and supporters. AID/WATCH is the only independent
monitor of Australian aid programs, and anything you can contribute makes
our organisation stronger. With the Australian government aid program
rapidly expanding it is more vital than ever that we keep AusAID to
account.



We’ll be kicking off 2012 with our own review of  AusAID’s review of
multilateral aid
agencies<http://www.aidwatch.org.au/publications/tracking-the-independent-review-measuring-up-the-multilaterals>.
During the year we will continue to highlight case studies where Australian
aid has done damage, such as in Cambodia, and work in solidarity with our
partners in Melanesia to assist them in the maintainance of their cultural
diversity.



Become a member, donate <http://www.aidwatch.org.au/> or download our
current appeal letter<http://www.aidwatch.org.au/sites/aidwatch.org.au/files/AIDWATCH_Appeal.pdf>and
help AID/WATCH continue this work in 2012.



Have a happy festive season and see you in the new year!



AID/WATCH
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.aidwatch.org.au/pipermail/aidwatch-aidwatch.org.au/attachments/20111223/0404bf15/attachment.html>