Development

The rates for aid advisers engaged under the Adviser Remuneration Framework (ARF) have been revised to reflect the increase in superannuation contributions following changes to the Superannuation Guarantee (administration) Act 1992.

The Pacific Women Lead design framework outlines Australia’s regional investment to advance gender equality in the Pacific ($170 million over 5 years, 2021-2026). The program enables Australia and the Pacific to work in partnership to strengthen regional gender equality efforts, building on a long history of engagement in this area.

Australia stands with our partners in the Indo-Pacific as they face significant health and humanitarian challenges from COVID-19, today delivering medical supplies to India, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

Australia provides grant financing of $5 million (2018-2023) to the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA). DFAT commissioned Clear Horizon to conduct a Mid-Term Review (MTR) of Australia’s Support to ERIA over the period July to December 2020.

The Transformative Agenda for Women, Adolescents and Youth in the Pacific: Towards Zero Unmet Need for Family Planning is a four-year program (2018-2022) that aims to contribute to strengthening national government capacity in six Pacific countries.

DFAT has a requirement for a contractor to design and implement the Tonga Australia Resource Platform (TRP).

Australia is supporting access to safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines for our neighbours.

Australia’s support for the COVID-19 vaccine roll out in the Pacific and Timor-Leste has today provided an initial delivery of 20,000 Australian-manufactured vaccines from our national stocks to Timor-Leste. We have also sent further much-needed medical supplies to support Timor-Leste’s COVID-19 response. 

This paper provides an overview of literature and evidence from various countries, discussing how social protection can promote social cohesion. Social cohesion has two aspects: relations amongst citizens and the ‘social contract’ between citizens and the state (Babajanian, 2012). During economic downturns and crisis periods such as the current COVID-19 pandemic, social cohesion can be undermined by citizens’ reduced trust in governments and institutions, political unrest, challenges in essential service delivery, poverty and economic hardship.