Multilateral replenishments and global development partnerships

We leveraged their expertise, scale and geographic reach to deliver outcomes that Australia could not achieve alone. We used our strong links with these organisations to ensure advancement of Australia’s priorities, including gender equality, effective governance and economic growth in the Indo–Pacific region.

We helped negotiate the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including those reporting mechanisms agreed to date. Our aid investments in women’s empowerment, food security, health, education, water and sanitation, aid for trade, governance and climate change all advance the Agenda.

We provided $222 million to the World Bank Group (WBG)’s International Development Association. This helped the WBG provide financial services to 3.66 million individuals and enterprises, as well as access to an improved water source for 15.6 million people and sanitation facilities for 10 million people. We provided $185.8 million in co-financing to the WBG’s private and public sector projects.

Our $124.9 million core contribution to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Asian Development Fund helped provide better access to finance for over 2.8 million people and education facilities for over six million students in 2015. We also provided approximately $59.7 million to co-finance ADB infrastructure, health, education and other projects.

Together with Treasury, the department secured Australia’s formal membership of the new Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), which will finance infrastructure investments in the region and boost economic growth, employment and trade. We ensured establishment of sound AIIB governance arrangements and operational policies and, alongside the Treasury, supported the legislative and other processes to finalise domestic arrangements for Australia’s membership.

Through the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria ($200 million; 2014–16) and Gavi, the vaccine alliance ($250 million; 2016–20), we helped bolster regional health security. For every dollar Australia committed to the Global Fund, the fund invested around $20 in the Indo–Pacific region. Through our investment in these global partnerships, we have enabled them to use their sizeable market share to negotiate better health commodity prices for developing countries (including for vaccines and bed nets)—an outcome no bilateral actor could achieve on their own.

We supported regional economic growth and productivity by increasing access to better education through our $140 million commitment (2015–18) to the Global Partnership for Education.

Australia’s Green Climate Fund (GCF) ($200 million; 2014–18) and Global Environment Facility ($93 million; 2014–18) contributions assisted developing countries address climate change. A departmental deputy secretary was elected co-chair of the GCF Board for 2016 and is a leading advocate for the Indo–Pacific region, in particular for Pacific Island countries.

The department partnered with other donors to promote stability and prosperity in our region. For example, the European Union invested in an Australian-managed education program in Laos and we partnered with Germany to improve climate finance in the Pacific. Through the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC), we contributed to the agreed principles on supporting private sector development through official development assistance, helping to attract additional finance for developing countries and promote aid program innovation. Australia joined a consensus in the DAC to agree to updated rules on what kind of peace and security activities can be counted as official development assistance to improve the transparency and consistency of global reporting.

Global development needs have increased and will likely be further amplified in the years ahead by slow global economic growth, falling commodity prices and weak demand, as well as forced displacement and humanitarian issues arising from protracted conflict in Syria. At the same time, many donors are facing budgetary pressures. Our multilateral partners are adopting innovative approaches, including actions to optimise their balance sheets to enhance the amount of finance available for lending, more efficient and targeted assistance, and intensified efforts to catalyse private sector sources of development finance.

The department will continue to support these efforts. We will also pursue close alignment between their priorities and our aid policy objectives with a particular focus on effective engagement and project delivery in the Indo–Pacific region.

The department will press for value for money and impact from the global health, education and climate funds. We will use our board positions to advocate the unique needs of our region, including reducing drug-resistant tuberculosis and malaria in Southeast Asia and Papua New Guinea, and climate change adaptation in vulnerable Pacific countries.

Pressure on aid budgets will require better coordination with both traditional and emerging economy donors. The department will also need to ensure the OECD Development Assistance Committee and the Global Partnership on Effective Development Cooperation play their part in ensuring global aid expenditure is measured consistently and spent effectively.

Giving effect to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development remains a priority. We will support our developing country partners as they establish plans to deliver on their 2030 Agenda priorities. We will also implement sound processes to monitor and measure Australia’s progress against the Sustainable Development Goals.