THE Australian aid and development sector is heartened by the appointment of a Minister for International Development and the Pacific in Prime Minister Turnbull’s new Ministry.
“The Australian Council for International Development welcomes Minister Steven Ciobo to his new role, and is looking forward to working productively with him to seize opportunities in this important portfolio,” said the ACFID Executive Director Marc Purcell.
“This weekend, Governments including Australia will be meeting at the United Nations in New York to sign on to the Sustainable Development Goals which provide a comprehensive plan for addressing global poverty, inequality and environmental sustainability.
“As one of his first opportunities as Minister, Mr Ciobo will need to ensure Australia’s aid and development policy and programs meet our commitments under this new global agenda , and ACFID looks forward to working with the Minister on this.
“Secondly, one of Mr Ciobo’s key challenges in the Pacific will be to respond to the calls from our Pacific Island neighbours to help them deal with the impacts of climate change.
“ACFID is looking forward to talking to Mr Ciobo about developing a climate change strategy for our aid program as an important step for addressing the concerns of Pacific Islanders.
“Finally, the recent budget fell too heavily on Australia’s aid program, curtailing effective programs and leaving partners feeling Australia was becoming less reliable.
“We look forward to supporting Mr Ciobo as he engages with the Australian public on the impact of Australia’s aid in our region and beyond,” Mr Purcell said.
Story Source: Australian Council for International Development
Image Source: Mr Steve Ciobo (Credit: The Brisbane Times)
Ryan Fritz
Ryan Fritz started The Advocate in 2014 to provide not-for-profits and charities another media platform to tell their worthwhile hard news stories and opinion pieces effortlessly. In 2020, Ryan formed a team of volunteer journalists to help spread even more high-quality stories from the third sector. He also has over 10 years experience as a media and communications professional for not-for-profits and charities and currently works at Redkite, a childhood cancer charity.
