49.
50.
Greater transparency World Vision Australia has long called for greater transparency in the aid program, including in our submission to the Independent Review of Australia’s Aid Program. This recommendation was included in the report from the Independent Review and 2012 saw many positive developments. “New look” country pages on AusAID’s website provide a much greater level of detail about AusAID expenditure in specific countries. Information has now been provided to the International Aid Transparency Initiative and subsequently published on its website.
Focus for 2012-13 Election campaign The 2013 Federal Election due in the second half of the year will be a central focus of our work. Preparation for the election will involve: • developing World Vision Australia’s policy calls for the election; • strengthening relationships with representatives from all sides of politics; • identifying priority areas to target for campaigning; and • p roviding government and political advice to our campaigns and church teams, in order to assist them in building the capacity of our supporters to influence candidates.
Engaging with the not-for-profit sector and government on the MDG post2015 agenda The 15-year timeframe of the Millennium Development Goals expires in 2015. Consultations are progressing on the form and content of their successor. With only two years remaining, World Vision will increase its efforts in 2013 towards influencing the outcome, in partnership with our colleagues in the not-for-profit sector. We aim to ensure an ambitious successor that embraces the needs of the world’s children, particularly the most vulnerable. This will require coordinated advocacy, which targets the representatives of the Australian Government in this debate, as well as the UN leaders of this process.
Strengthening our partnership with AusAID World Vision Australia will be bringing a renewed focus to our engagement with AusAID. This will strengthen our policy dialogue and knowledge exchange along with partnering in the delivery of projects. We will increase the number of visits to AusAID by key World Vision personnel, such as technical specialists and staff visiting from our national offices. By actively seeking out opportunities to engage with government staff members, we are aiming to share what we have learned and how we have approached matters. By developing an information pack for new staff joining AusAID, we will immediately inform them of our project delivery and strategic opportunities. World Vision will also play an active role in implementing the Civil Society Engagement Framework by engaging with our counterparts in the NGO Section in AusAID. Attention will also be given to assisting our national offices in strengthening ties with AusAID posts overseas.
Children like Ashenafi are benefiting from World Vision Australia-supported development projects in Ethiopia. Photo credit: Ilana Rose/World Vision