A monthly newsletter by ACCESS, the AIIA's Network for Students and Young Professionals. All the views expressed in this newsletter are solely those of the individual writers and that the AIIA, while providing a forum for discussion and debate on international issues, does not formulate its own institutional views, and eschews political bias.

To submit an article to MA and for all general enquiries email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Monthly Access July 2011 (Issue 19)

Message from the Editor

By Rachel Hankey

More than ever, the efficacy of aid is a target of scrutiny. This is not only because of the current economic climate but also because of the challenges of implementing aid effectively and because of the tremendously nuanced contemporary development industry. Agents of development must now contend with government agencies, NGOs, multinational corporations and global institutions, while remaining true to the aspirations of the citizenry.

Contemporary Debate: The Micro-credit Crisis?

By Priya Wakhlu

Few ideas have captured the imagination of the development community as strongly as micro-credit. With claims that it could halve the rate of poverty by 2030, and the awarding of the Nobel Prize to its architects Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank, it has become firmly entrenched as a core component of most NGO programs. However, questions have begun to ruminate about not only the practices of certain micro-credit organisations, but also whether micro-credit can “actually undermine the process of sustainable poverty reduction and ‘bottom-up’ economic and social development”.

Indonesia: Australia's Gateway into the Asia-century

By Olivia Cable

Australia should place more value on an education in the Indonesian language. In 1994, former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating confidently declared “no country is more important to Australia than Indonesia. If we fail to get this relationship right, and nurture and develop it, the whole web of our foreign relations is incomplete”.

Q&A with International Women’s Development Agency: Part One

By Eliza Nolan

International Women’s Development Agency (IWDA) is an Australian non-profit organisation that undertakes projects in partnership with grassroots organisations in Asia and the Pacific. These projects are driven by needs which are articulated from the communities in which IWDA works and are developed and managed by women who live and work in the communities themselves.

Q&A with International Women’s Development Agency: Part Two

By Eliza Nolan

Part Two of our interview provides insight into the IWDA’s regional partnerships, and the state of women in our direct region.

Career Spotlight with Giles West

By Rachel Hankey

For this month’s Career Spotlight, we speak with Giles West, a tropical agricultural specialist, with many years’ experience working in agricultural development.

Global Snapshot for July 2011

By Richard Griffin and Marcus Burke

A round-up of key events across the world over the last month.

Development Aid – Theory and Reality in Timor Leste

By Sean Mackin

In a scene from the television show 'The West Wing', character Toby Ziegler looks exasperated during a meeting between African leaders and pharmaceutical executives. Discussing reducing the price of AIDS related medication, the executives argue that price reduction would be irrelevant. Ziegler explains that those affected do not have wristwatches to measure the timings at which to take the complicated cocktail of medication designed to fight the disease. Even in fiction, it seems international development solutions are far more complex than they would appear.

AIIAV-Access Press Room: ‘Inside the Horn of Africa’

By Marla Pascual

Australia has a bigger role to play in helping Africa to overcome its challenges, an international affairs forum has concluded.

Aid vs. Trade – A Summary

By Steven Burak

The recent examination of the Australian government’s aid programs in the 2011 Independent Aid Review has prompted discussion about the most appropriate means of giving assistance to the developing world. Questions have arisen about the efficacy of Australia’s programs, as well as the development programs of Non-Government Organisations (NGO), foreign states and corporations.