Multilateral aid and the United Nations

Introduction

Australia's international aid programme is one of the first overseas aid initiatives taken by western industrialised countries in the world. It focuses on the Asia-Pacific region and the poorest parts of East Asia but also contributes to development needs in South Asian, African and Middle Eastern countries. In the early 1980s Australia contributed a total of $840 million worth of aid, which by 1997-1998 had increased to 1.429 billion. Australia's aid currently totals $2.946 billion for 2006-2007, directed at 58 million people globally. Its aid programmes have been adapted to meet the different levels of development and needs of countries receiving this aid. Australia has done this cooperatively with international partners at the World Summit on Sustainable Development, to reduce poverty and improve the standard of living of people in developing countries with sustainable development. This chapter discusses Australia's global multilateral aid, which complements its regional bilateral programmes in support of several other countries and distributed through international organisations such as the United Nations, the World Bank and Asian Development Bank as well as Commonwealth organisations.

Multilateral aid

Multilateral aid differs from bilateral aid in channelling all forms of official development assistance provided by the governments of developed countries through international organisations. These include UN development and humanitarian organisations, Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) such as the World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB), and Commonwealth organisations. Roughly 30 per cent of Australia's aid budget is spent on multilateral global programmes that target the development needs of countries in education, training, health, population, agriculture, forestry and fishing. Such programmes specifically fund emergency relief projects, refugee assistance, large-scale construction of railways, roads, and other development projects, as well as scientific research of disease and global warming issues.

• extensions to the reach of Australia's aid programme and enabling it to undertake projects that would otherwise be overly large
• greater scope for dialogue with recipient countries coming from the international standing and neutrality of such groups
• the ability to target problems that require international efforts such as environment and health and to coordinate donor resources to address major humanitarian and reconstruction needs
• extending Australia's influence on areas of international development that are beneficial to its interests, such as cross-border issues and effective governance and economic policies

Australia's aid programme funds such organisations through the International Development Association (IDA), the Asian Development Fund (ADF) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

United Nations organisations

The UN has given Australia a wide scope in which to pursue and increase the reach of its overseas development aid. UN organisations play a significant role in arranging a consensus among donor countries and specialists on development issues and the allocation of resources. UN development and humanitarian organisations include:

• World Food Programme
• United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
• United Nations Development Programme
• United Nations Children's Fund
• United Nations Relief and Works Agency
• United Nations Fund for Population Activities
• International Atomic Energy Agency
• United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
• United Nations Development Fund for Women
• United Nations Environment Programme

A recent example of UN multilateral involvement has been in proposals made for a Tsunami Early Warning System monitoring the Eastern Indian Ocean, Timor Sea and Arafura Sea, to be implemented through the UN World Conference on Disaster Reduction hosted by Japan and at other meetings held in the region. The system will coordinate national and sub-regional tsunami early warning systems under the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation's (UNESCO) Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission.

Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs)

Australia has drawn on significant financial resources and expertise for sustainable development from its multilateral links to the World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB). The World Bank implements a large number of development programmes and is a forum for global development policy. The ADB focuses more on the Asia-Pacific and the promotion of growth and stability in that region. Australia's membership and contributions to these banks has allowed it to influence their policies in alignment with its own development priorities. An example of Australia's involvement with the ADB is its implementation of the 2005-2009 Pacific Strategy aiming at environmental assistance to the Pacific's developing countries. Australia's involvement with the World Bank has been in gaining its commitment to engage more closely with smaller or fragile states, particularly in the Asia-Pacific. Australia also seeks to provide $389.2 million over ten years to the World Bank's lending arm, the International Development Association and, in 2005-2006, provide $14.7 million to its Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative, which provides multilateral debt relief to the world's poorest and most heavily indebted countries.

Commonwealth organisations

Australia is multilaterally involved with Commonwealth organisations in promoting shared values of democracy and the rule of law, human rights, equity, access to education and sustainable development. The Commonwealth is a voluntary association that consists of 53 developed and developing countries which have had colonial links in the former British Commonwealth or Empire. Most of its members are republics and together they contain 30 percent of the world's population with 1.8 billion people. The Commonwealth has a role in observing elections in Commonwealth countries and assisting member countries by developing best practice guidelines on administrative, judicial, and regulatory matters. In recent years it has also attempted to prevent and resolve conflicts in countries such as Bangladesh, Lesotho, Sierra Leone, Fiji and Solomon Islands. In addition to this, Australia has supported an increased role for the Commonwealth in protecting human rights in member states and emphasising shared common law traditions by combating corruption and implementing international human rights conventions. In 2005-2006, it provided $11.4 million to Commonwealth organisations through its largest development programme, the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation (CFTC), of which Australia is the third largest contributor.