ENVIRONMENT DISCUSSION FORUM - Share knowledge, contribute ideas and discuss solutions below ....or find resources in the ADG Environment content pages
Q&A with Donna Green, Environment Specialist In March 2008, Dr Donna Green answered ADG user's questions on climate change and development. Dr Green is a research scientist at the Climate Change Research Centre, University of New South Wales where she leads a program that uses indigenous and non-indigenous knowledge to understand climate impacts on remote communities in northern Australia
Q&A with Kate Duggan, Environment and Natural Resource Management Specialist Dr. Kate Duggan has worked in natural resource management in the Asia-Pacific region for the past 20 years. She has worked on numerous projects in Indonesia, Philippines, Vanuatu, Laos, China and Vietnam. She has a PhD in earth sciences from Macquarie University in Sydney. Kate recently answered ADG users' questions during Sept 2007. Please visit the forum and participate in this interesting discussion >>>
DISASTER MANAGEMENT COMMUNITY FORUM - share knowledge, contribute ideas and discuss solutions below ....or find resources in the ADG disaster management section
Chris Piper from TorqAid will answer questions on emergencies and disaster relief. Learn from Chris Piper's unique insights into the Victorian Bushfires and how they relate to our emergency relief efforts in the Asia-Pacific. Ask questions about how we are responding to the tsunami in Samoa, the earthquakes in Indonesia, or the flooding in S-E Asia. Hear about emerging new best-practice and standards for the industry.
Chris Piper, TorqAid, has over 30 years' experience in humanitarian aid and community development in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region. He has also worked in Southern Africa, the Horn of Africa, and fragile states including Afghanistan and the Balkans. TorqAid provides training (most recently in Disaster Preparedness in PNG, October 2009); consults to AusAID (holding an AusAID Humanitarian Period Offer since 2000) and other donors; and produces the monthly Australian Aid Resource and Training
Guide (AARTG)
He is currently designing a Community Development Officer model for the Victorian Government's response to handling future emergency recovery efforts.
* Note: ADG guest specialists provide this free service on a pro bono basis. Carefully assess any information on this site before applying it to your situation
(see ADG disclaimer).
Solomon Islands Tsunami This forum, hosted by Chris Piper, Disaster Risk Management Specialist, discusses the response to the Tsunami which hit the Solomon Islands on the 2nd April, 2007.
Gender, vulnerable groups, children Support for vulnerable groups, particularly women, children and elderly; need for greater women’s role in decision making.
Coordination, financial management, transparency Coordination, during both response & post-disaster stages; information on donation pledges/expenditure; project financial management; role of the media.
Human Resource Management (HRM) Adherence to People in Aid's code of best practice for recruitment, management, training and support of national & international staff.
Restoration of educational services Provision of both temporary primary & secondary educational services, and rebuilding of primary/ secondary/tertiary structures.
Shelter, settlements and non-food items Emergency and temporary shelter. Challenge of return to coastal areas and rebuilding of homes and other structures, ideally more disaster resistant.
Water / Desalination / Environmental Emergency water sources, both rural & urban. Cleaning of wells. Repair of urban water systems. Sanitation and environmental concerns.
DISABILITY INCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT DISCUSSION FORUM - share knowledge, contribute ideas and discuss solutions below ....or find resources in the Disability Inclusive Development content pages.
Including people with disabilities in all aspects of international development programs and projects will assist in achieving the Millennium Development Goals and in reducing poverty.
Disability Inclusive Development guest specialist Pauline Kleinitz answered your questions from 13 - 24 July, 2009.
Pauline Kleinitz trained and practised as a physiotherapist for many years, working in Australia, the UK and Africa. Pauline has managed community based rehabilitation programs and developed training courses for rehabilitation technicians in developing economies. She has particular experience in program design, delivery and evaluation within disability services and has co-authored a manual for implementing change within disability services.
Pauline has completed a Master of Social Science (International Development) at RMIT University and as part of this developed a thesis exploring the economic benefits of inclusion of people with disability in developing economies. Pauline has worked with CBM Australia and now currently works with the CBM-Nossal Partnership for Disability Inclusive Development.
* Note: The ADG guest specialists are professionals in their field and provide this free service on a pro bono basis. Readers should carefully assess any information obtained through the ADG website before applying it to their situation (see ADG disclaimer).
Social Infrastructure Specialist David Week answered your questions on Infrastructure in the Asia Pacific region from the 19th of January to the 8th of February 2009.
Almost all rural health, education and governance programs require some kind of investment in clinics, schools, offices and community facilities. Sometimes, the budget for the building component exceeds the budget for all other components combined. The remote nature of the work, the modest budgets, the importance of community ownership, and the difficulty of getting urban contractors to do the work requires special approaches.
David Week has been working in rural infrastructure since 1978. He spent the first seven years in the East Sepik province of Papua New Guinea, and has since then worked through the Asia-Pacific region, for clients such as AusAID, the World Bank, development contractors, NGOs and local governments. He holds degrees in architecture from UC Berkeley, and a PhD in cross-cultural consulting from the University of Sydney. He is the Chairman of Assai Pty Ltd, a firm which specialises in community and social infrastructure for international development, Indigenous Australia, and the resource sector.
* Note: The ADG sector specialists are professionals in their field and provide this free service on a pro bono basis. Readers should carefully assess any information obtained through the ADG website before applying it to their situation (see ADG disclaimer).
Peter has more than 30 years experience as an engineer and project manager of infrastructure, water and environment projects in the UK, Middle East, Indonesia and China. He has been directly involved in international development for more than 15 years gaining experience throughout the Asia - Pacific region. As a career long consultant, Peter has worked for a wide range of private and public sector clients including aid agencies such as AusAID, the major development banks, public utilities, government departments and agencies, private developers and, mining companies. Infrastructure experience includes housing, government buildings, rural roads, water supply and sanitation, sewerage and industrial facilities.
* Note: The ADG sector specialists are professionals in their field and provide this free service on a pro bono basis. Readers should carefully assess any information obtained through the ADG website before applying it to their situation (see ADG disclaimer).
Donors are increasingly demanding evidence of program and project impact. Monitoring and Evaluation
(M & E) plays a key role in demonstrating effectiveness and achieving sustainability.
Monitoring and Evaluation guest specialist Dr Paul Crawford recently answered your Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) related questions from 2-15 October 2008.
Participate in this interesting discussion now -->
Dr Paul Crawford has over twelve years management and consulting experience within international development and humanitarian aid organisations in more than 35 countries throughout Africa, Asia, the Pacific, the Balkans, the Middle East and the former Soviet Union.
He has held a range of positions within international NGO operations and has provided consultancy services including evaluations, M&E system design and review, needs assessments, project design and appraisal.
* Note: The ADG sector specialists are professionals in their field and provide this free service on a pro bono basis. Readers should carefully assess any information obtained through the ADG website before applying it to their situation (see ADG disclaimer).
Q&A with Jorgen Jensen, sector programming specialist Jorgen is an accomplished international development specialist with over 15 years experience in institutional development, organisational change management, human resource development and management, training and capacity building.
Q&A with Dr Jess Dart, monitoring and evaluation specialist Dr Jess Dart is a recognized leader in evaluation with over 15 years of involvement in evaluating social change programs in Australia and overseas. She is the director of 'Clear Horizon', which specialises in M&E with clients mainly from the Australian public sector and the NGO sector internationally.
Q&A with Dr Suzette Mitchell, gender and development specialist Suzette Mitchell is a gender and development specialist with experience across the NGO, commercial contracting and government sectors and in the United Nations system. Suzette is currentlty the Executive Director of International Women’s Development Agency Inc (IWDA). She has also worked as a gender and development specialist trainer and program coordinator and was employed as the External Relations Specialist for UNIFEM, in New York in 2001.
* Note: The ADG sector specialists are professionals in their field and provide this free service on a pro bono basis. Readers should carefully assess any information obtained through the ADG website before applying it to their situation (see ADG disclaimer).
a) Psychosocial health (Amanda Allan - Antares Foundation) - support in situations of ongoing stress including issues related to:
- Handling stress,
- Caring for your national and international staff
- Preventing burnout and Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome
b) Disability issues in aid and development (Paul Deany and Kirsty Thompson - CBMI)
Our guest specialists will answer ADG users' questions between the 12th and 23th of November 2007.
Please ask your questions now and participate in this interesting discussion -->
* Note: The ADG sector specialists are professionals in their field and provide this free service on a pro bono basis. Readers should carefully assess any information obtained through the ADG website before applying it to their situation (see ADG disclaimer).
Q&A with Dr. Ben Coghlan, Avian Influenza & health specialist Doctor Coghlan is available to receive ADG user's questions on Avian Flu and health development in the Asia Pacific region. Dr. Coghlan is a specialist in applied epidemiology. He has recently worked on issues relating to Avian Influenza, including consulting to the WHO in Cambodia, preparing travel advice for development consultants and delivering briefings to AusAID and the Australian NGO community on difficulties faced by developing countries in early identification and response to human cases of Avian Influenza.
* Note: The ADG sector specialists are professionals in their field and provide this free service on a pro bono basis. Readers should carefully assess any information obtained through the ADG website before applying it to their situation (see ADG disclaimer).
Q&A with Heather MacDonald, health specialist HEATHER MACDONALD has answered recent ADG user's questions on health in the Asia Pacific region. See the summary of Q&A.in this forum. With over 20 years experience in international health development and project management, Heather specialises in health promotion, non-communicable disease, maternal and child health, and primary health care. Read Heather's responses to questions asked or submit your own.
AIDS in the Asia Pacific region The first wave of AIDS has been in Africa, where over 40 million people have been infected over the course of the last two decades. But the pandemic is sweeping on, like a slow motion tidal wave, and Asia is now squarely in its sights. Post your views, questions and experiences to this forum.
Don will answer ADG users' questions between the 18th and 26th of October 2007.
Please ask your questions now and participate in this interesting discussion -->
* Note: The ADG sector specialists are professionals in their field and provide this free service on a pro bono basis. Readers should carefully assess any information obtained through the ADG website before applying it to their situation (see ADG disclaimer).
Michael is Director of International Services at the Australian Electoral Commission, and has been a full-time electoral administrator for more than 20 years. He served in Namibia in 1989 as a consultant to the electoral division of UNTAG; in Cambodia in 1992-93 as Senior Deputy Chief Electoral Officer of UNTAC (in which capacity he was the senior Australian civilian in the mission); and in South Africa in 1994 as Deputy Director of the electoral division of UNOMSA. He has also taken part in UN survey missions in Western Sahara and Eastern Slavonia (Croatia), has served as an adviser at UN Headquarters, and has been a consultant to the Commonwealth Secretariat, the International Foundation for Election Systems, and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance.
In 2001 he spent four months with UNTAET in East Timor, where he was one of three international commissioners of the Independent Electoral Commission which organised the election held on 30 August 2001.
Read Michael's responses to questions asked or contribute to the discussion...
Chris is an experienced social and community development practitioner with over 30 years experience living and working in the Asia-Pacific, including at all levels, including the village level. His areas of expertise focus on participatory and strengths-based approaches to the design, implementation and evaluation of development projects. He is also an accredited trainer in participatory development and capacity building. Chris has served as Project Director, Manager and Advisor for a number of projects and programs in community water and sanitation, civil society and community development, basic education, access to justice and HIV/AIDS across the Asia-Pacific.
Read Chris' responses to questions asked or contribute to the discussion...
Governance This is an open Q&A forum for all ADG users. We encourage all ADG users to contribute their own governance-related questions and help provide answers for their colleagues in the field.
HIV guest specialist Wendy Holmes recently answered your HIV-related questions.
Participate in this interesting discussion now -->
Dr. Wendy Holmes is a Senior Research Fellow at the Burnet Institute's Centre for International Health, where she is the Deputy Director for Technical Programs. She is a public health physician with special interests in prevention of parent to child transmission of HIV, integration of HIV prevention and care with reproductive, maternal and child health services, involvement of men in reproductive, maternal and child health services, and the challenges faced by HIV positive women.
* Note: The ADG sector specialists are professionals in their field and provide this free service on a pro bono basis. Readers should carefully assess any information obtained through the ADG website before applying it to their situation (see ADG disclaimer).
Q&A with Alison Morgan, HIV programming specialist Alison is a health practitioner with 15 years of experience in international development and is currently Capacity Development Manager for the Australian International Health Institute (AIHI). She will be fielding questions along with other colleagues from AIHI.
During December 2007 Kate Collier answered ADG users' questions on adult education and training.
- Education, training and capacity building are integral to almost every development assistance activity.
- Ensuring these are designed and delivered based on sound adult learning principles and approaches can make a critical difference to how effective and sustainable these activities are.
Participate in this interesting discussion now -->
* Note: The ADG sector specialists are professionals in their field and provide this free service on a pro bono basis. Readers should carefully assess any information obtained through the ADG website before applying it to their situation (see ADG disclaimer).
Q&A with Dr John Scheding, education specialist Dr John Scheding has been an educator since 1965 in schools, teacher's colleges, and universities in Australia. He has worked in development education since the mid-70s, including five years at the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) as Education Adviser from 1998 to 2003. He now works as an independent consultant in education and international development.
Read the Q&A here and add your own comments or share learnings.
Q&A with Ian Hind, education specialist Ian Hind is the Sector Director for Education & Training in the School of International Development at Melbourne University Private. He has over 15 years experience as a project and sector director in international development assistance projects, having worked on projects funded by the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank, AusAID and counterpart government agencies in the Asia Pacific region.
Ian recently answered your questions on public sector strategic planning, project design, management and review, institutional strengthening and capacity building, and economics of education. Read the Q&A and add your own comments or share learnings.
General Education questions & answers from ADG users: This is an open Q&A forum for all ADG users. We encourage all ADG users to contribute their own education-related questions and help provide answers for their colleagues in the field.
WATER SECTOR DISCUSSION FORUM - share knowledge, contribute ideas and discuss solutions below ....or find resources in the ADG Water content pages
Q&A with John Dore, water and natural resource management specialist John Dore is a leading regional practitioner and researcher in the area of water and natural resource management. He has worked for over 20 years on water-related issues as a consultant, project manager, researcher and writer in both Australia and Asia.
Q&A with Arthur McIntosh, water & sanitation specialist Arthur McIntosh has worked for consultants in Australia, New Zealand and Canada, Governments, World Health Organization and Asian Development Bank (ADB) including some 25 years on developing country water supplies.
In 2003 he authored the book "Asian Water Supplies - Reaching the Urban Poor" (see http://www.adb.org/Documents/Books/Asian_Water_Supplies/default.asp) which was co-published by the International Water Supply Association and the ADB. Currently he operates as a freelance consultant.
Arthur recently answered your questions - read the summary.
Breaking into the H2O sector: Sharing References & Resources This is a Q&A forum, the content of which will build the "breaking into H2O" category on the ADG site. We encourage all ADG users who are trying to break into the water sector to use this forum to raise your questions. We also ask all development professionals in the water sector to take on the mentor role and to be so kind as to answer questions that cover your area of expertise.
This is an informal gathering of knowledge and an informal exchange of ideas - questions and answers will be collated on the ADG site as and when they occur.
The questions will be structured as FAQs on the site.
Water and Sanitation In wealthier parts of the world, the connection between water, hygiene and health is taken for granted. But for the less fortunate majority, access to clean and adequate water is a daily struggle. This is a platform for you to discuss water and sanitation issues in the Asia Pacific, to raise questions and provide answers for others.
INFO & COMMUNICATIONS TECH DISCUSSION FORUM - share knowledge, contribute ideas and discuss solutions below ....or find resources in the ADG ICT content pages
Q&A with Lyndon Voigt, ICT for development specialist Lyndon has worked in the IT industry in both commercial and non-profit sectors in Australia and
internationally. Lyndon is Managing Director of technical services and co-founder of Aid-IT Solutions Pty Ltd. Aid-IT provides software and consultancy services to monitor and evaluate international aid projects and programs.
Read the Q&A here and add your own comments or share learnings.
ICT for development This is an open Q&A forum for all ADG users. We encourage all ADG users to contribute their own ICT-related questions and help provide answers for their colleagues in the field.
Q&A with Joe Remenyi, Microfinance and Poverty Reduction Specialist Joe has over thirty years of professional experience as an educator, applied economist, consultant and researcher. He has been an active professional, working with microfinance programs in Asia, the Pacific, the Middle East and transition economies for various international development agencies.
* Note: The ADG sector specialists are professionals in their field and provide this free service on a pro bono basis. Readers should carefully assess any information obtained through the ADG website before applying it to their situation (see ADG disclaimer).
Q&A with Clay O'Brien, Enterprise Development and Microfinance Specialist Clay O'Brien recently answered ADG user's questions on Enterprise Development and Microfinance in the Asia Pacific region. Clay is the General Manager, Special Projects for Opportunity International, a global microfinance provider. His responsibilities include the funding and development of the network's microfinance institutions in Africa and Eastern Europe. Clay is also the chairman of the Australian committee set up by the UN for The Year of Microcredit.
* Note: The ADG sector specialists are professionals in their field and provide this free service on a pro bono basis. Readers should carefully assess any information obtained through the ADG website before applying it to their situation (see ADG disclaimer).
AGRICULTURE SECTOR DISCUSSION FORUM - share knowledge, contribute ideas and discuss solutions below ....or find resources in the ADG agriculture content pages
Ask Giles West - agricultural specialist Giles West recently answered ADG user's questions on Agriculture issues in the Asia Pacific region.
Giles has over 20 years of experience as a development practitioner, specialising in rural development, agricultural and environmental areas. He has worked for donors including AusAID, DFID and the European Union on projects in PNG, Philippines and the Solomon Islands, as well as short term missions in Cambodia, Nepal and China. Giles is currently a Senior Consultant with Hassall & Associates International. His previous experience includes the provision of development assistance both as a consultant and working for AusAID in the areas of natural and farm resource management, private sector agriculture, horticulture production and processes for the provision of safe drinking water.
Read Giles' responses to questions asked or contribute to the discussion .
Q&A with Harry Nesbitt, agricultural specialist Harry Nesbitt holds a PhD from Murdoch University in Western Australia. He developed his research experience through work in the Philippines and Thailand in the 1980s. In 1988, Dr Nesbitt took on the task of rebuilding Cambodia's rice production as leader of a research program known as the Cambodia-IRRI-Australia Project (CIAP). This program was responsible for identifying and developing appropriate rice varieties, developing a Cambodian agricultural research capacity, a new farming infrastructure, and creating opportunities for diversified production once the adequate supplies of rice were available. Dr Nesbitt worked until recently in Cambodia.
Read Dr Nesbitt's responses to questions asked or submit your own.
Q&A with John Wightman, pest management specialist An international pest management and agriculture expert, John Wightman, recently responded to your questions about protecting farming systems, non-cereal agriculture crops, fruits, vegetables and flower crops.
Read the Q&A - feel free to add your own comments and share learnings.
ENVIRONMENT DISCUSSION FORUM - Share knowledge, contribute ideas and discuss solutions below
