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Key Text AusAid Statement to World Bank Conference on Law and Justice

Author: D Rowland
Date: 2001
Size: 2 pages (56 KB)

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Summary

This statement from AusAid’s Governance group describes AusAid’s current activities and priorities, with particular emphasis on law and justice. The primary mandate of AusAid is to assist developing countries to reduce poverty and achieve sustainable development. Good governance is seen as an essential ingredient in achieving these goals. In 2001-2002, expenditure on governance activities is estimated to reach A$295 million. Of that figure approximately A$35.4 million goes to legal and judicial development, A$100 million to civil society and human rights, another A$100 million to public sector reform, and A$59 million to economic management. Assistance in law and justice is delivered largely on a bilateral basis, although some regional projects involve a number of partners such as the Department for International Development, the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Office for Project Services, the Asian Development Bank, and New Zealand Official Development Assistance. In the Law and Justice area, AusAid works almost exclusively in the Pacific and Asia regions.

There is an increase in partner government requests for assistance as well as a growing donor recognition that an effective law and justice system is crucial for poverty alleviation and sustainable development. Other findings of the paper are that:

Almost all AusAid bilateral assistance to the legal sector is delivered through an Australian managing coordinator, often from the private sector
Much of the assistance has been focussed on top-down institutional strengthening delivered through a central Law or Justice Ministry
Most of the large bilateral projects are at a relatively early stage and any measure of the effect on the core mandate of reducing poverty is minimal at this point
Ad hoc technical assistance through the Pacific Technical Assistance Faculty and Youth Ambassadors also exists, although such assistance may be a less effective instrument of capacity building
A move to more flexible contracting has been evident, and considered effective, at the design stage.

Policies for poverty alleviation and sustainable development include assistance for economic development, assistance for institutional strengthening of the state legal apparatus, and assistance for poverty alleviation strategies such as access issues. In the Law and Justice sector, AusAID’s plan to become a more strategic aid agency involves:

Enhanced quality and relevance of AusAid’s interventions, through improved analytical capacity
A closer working relationship with other Australian government departments to achieve greater governmental engagement
An improved understanding of the particular law and justice system, the links between institutions in the sector, and the opportunities to promote better partner government ownership
A better understanding of the links between 'formal' and 'informal' legal systems, and of how assistance can best achieve improved poverty outcomes
Greater strategic alliances with other partners to achieve effective policy outcomes, both in the Pacific Region and in the Asia Region.

Access full text: available online

Source: Rowland, D. 2001, 'AusAid Statement to World Bank Conference on Law and Justice', AusAid, .
Author: AusAid, http://www.ausaid.gov.au
Organisation: AusAid, http://www.ausaid.gov.au