Development

HMAS Adelaide arrived in Tonga today with additional humanitarian and medical supplies, engineering equipment and helicopters to support logistics and distribution as Australia continues its support in partnership with the Tongan Government following the volcano and tsunami.

Lao PDR Competitiveness and Trade (LCT) Project is a multi-donor program administered by the World Bank and implemented by the National Implementation Unit (NIU) of Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MoIC) in Lao PDR. LCT was designed for the period January 2019- December 2022 with funding from Australia (AUD 4.5 million), USAID (USD 3 million from September 2019), Irish Aid (EUR 360,000) and a World Bank IDA loan (USD 10 million).

The three core donors to the Wan Smolbag Theatre Community Partnership (WSB) – Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Australia), Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (New Zealand), and Oxfam - commissioned an evaluation of WSB in late 2020 in order to inform the next phase of funding.  

Through the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), Australia funded the Australia Balochistan Agribusiness Program phase 2 (AusABBA II). By promoting sustainable agricultural practices and providing technical support to policy development in agriculture and livestock, AusABBA II sought to reduce poverty and economic inequality in six of Balochistan’s districts bordering Afghanistan and Iran.

The rule of law and effective administration of justice are crucial to Papua New Guinea's long-term stability, security and economic growth. Australia has supported PNG's law and justice sector since the late 1980s and currently delivers this support through three pillars; the PNG-Australia Policing Partnership (PNG-APP), the Justice Services and Stability for Development Program (JSS4D) and smaller select investments in PNG's law and justice sector.

Tonga has agreed to Australia’s offer of a surveillance flight, to assess the damage caused by the eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano and the subsequent tsunami.

This interim report 1 presents the findings from the first year of a multi-year study of the Vanuatu Education Support Program (VESP). The study investigates the extent to which the Australia- supported VESP results in school leaders and teachers developing intended teaching practices, which in turn leads to improvements in student learning outcomes. This study is framed within the context of Vanuatu’s introduction of a new primary curriculum alongside the National Language Policy 2012.