Aiding the Pacific in the time of Covid-19: Launch of the 2022 Pacific Aid Map update
The unprecedented disruption of the Covid-19 pandemic in the Pacific Islands region also caused upheaval in how international donors provide aid to the region's governments.
As borders closed, and people-to-people exchanges became restricted, aid programs had to adjust and reconfigure. This caused significant changes in the scale and structure of programs from major donors including Australia and prompted a more prominent role for multilateral donors to help stabilise and support the economies of the region.
The 2022 update of the Pacific Aid Map reveals the scale of this disruption. Built upon comprehensive data from the 2020 calendar year, the update shows how major donors like Australia scrambled to reconfigure projects and took tentative steps towards new forms of aid including direct budget support and infrastructure financing. It also shows how non-traditional donors like China had a limited role in the region's pandemic response, while showing the critical contribution made by multilateral donors to bolster the region’s economies.
Join us on 31 October for a special video event to launch the 2022 update of the Pacific Aid Map. Lead researcher Alexandre Dayant will be joined by the head of the Lowy Institute's Pacific Islands Program Meg Keen and Pacific Islands Forum advisor Henry Cocker for this discussion, facilitated by the Institute's Lead Economist and International Economics Program Director Roland Rajah.
This event was broadcast on YouTube at 10.00am AEDT on Monday 31 October 2022.
PACIFIC AID MAP
The Pacific Aid Map is the most comprehensive dataset of aid and development funding to countries in the Pacific Islands region. Comprising data on more than 57,000 projects from 67 donors, the dataset provides insight into how international donors support countries in the region, and how Pacific Island nations use development assistance.
PARTICIPANTS
Alexandre Dayant is a Research Fellow and Project Director responsible for the Lowy Institute Pacific Aid Map and a forthcoming multi-year assessment of foreign aid flows in Southeast Asia. His work focuses on development economics and geoeconomics in both regions.
Dr Meg Keen is the Director of the Lowy Institute Pacific Islands Program, where she oversees the Institute’s analysis, events and external engagement concerning the Pacific Islands. Before joining the Lowy Institute, she was the inaugural Director of the Australia Pacific Security College at the Australian National University (ANU).
Henry Cocker is an engagement adviser on sustainable development at Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat. The role coordinates the Pacific’s regional SDG implementation progress and reporting. Prior to PIFS, he worked as Deputy Secretary for Finance at the Nauru Ministry of Finance, Adviser at the New Zealand Treasury and Deputy Secretary for Finance at the Tongan Ministry of Finance.
