News & views
Our team thrives on collaboration, curiosity, and shared learning. Explore ideas, reflections, and insights shaped by our work alongside partners and communities across the Indo-Pacific.
Insight · 20 June 2016
As a UN Member Nation and an active contributor to peace and security operations globally, Australia has a responsibility to uphold the principles of the international women, peace and security agenda. Australia’s National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security 2012-2018 (NAP) consists of five thematic areas that reflect the principles of the UN resolutions: prevention, participation, protection, relief and recovery, and normative.
Insight · 27 May 2016
We look at the challenge of gender inequality in the peace and security sector, beginning with the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325.
Insight · 17 May 2016
Over the next few weeks we are going to have a series of posts on women’s participation in international development, with a particular focus on the peace and security sector. This is leading up to what will be a very exciting announcement.
Insight · 15 February 2016
Sustineo consultant Federico Davila highlights that assessing the policy impact of research activities often equates to demonstrating value for money from research outputs.
Insight · 4 December 2015
Sustineo consultant Tom Sloan attended the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources Public Seminar Series presented by Dr Neville Crossman.
Insight · 27 November 2015
Sustineo has built a capability in the use of tablet-based data collection with Akvo FLOW, reflecting the wider shift from paper-based surveys to mobile phone and tablet based data collection tools. Our recent experience conducting a survey in the Solomon Islands for the United Nations Development Programme and the Solomon Islands Electoral Commission highlighted the benefits of using tablet based data collection tools, and that many of the arguments against using them in the field are not well-founded.
Insight · 22 July 2015
Aid for Trade (AfT) is back on the agenda after the Australian government released the new 'Strategy for Australia’s Aid for Trade Investments' with a focus on the Indo-Pacific region. However, the strategy is not clear on how the challenges and risks will be addressed within AfT programs from Australia to the Indo-Pacific.
Insight · 15 September 2014
The first contribution to Sustineo’s Insight Series, written by Madeleine Plocki, explores the emergence of nexus thinking and its influence on projects within the Asian Development Bank...
Insight · 10 September 2014
There is often uncertainty about how to start capacity building initiatives with partner organisations. To over come this uncertainty, Sustineo has developed a method called the Participatory Organisational Capacity Assessment (POCA). This tool is now available upon request...
Insight · 9 May 2012
Increasingly, organisations – including government departments – are looking to evaluate the impact of their actions and build an evidence-base around what works. It’s something that’s easy to say but a harder to do: this kind of work requires people to really think clearly about what they’re trying to achieve. Often, the next step is to define indicators for these things – reliable signs that show whether we’re achieving the goals we’ve set or not.... But there are a few places this process can get off track.
Insight · 28 March 2012
The paper finds that remittances have a positive impact on growth in Small Island Developing States (SIDS), but not in other countries. The result for the Pacific is striking suggesting that without remittances these countries would have recorded an average growth rate of -0.74 per cent during 2000-2009. The paper concludes with a call for further research on links between remittances and growth that reveals the channels though which remittances drive growth.
Insight · 14 November 2011
The UNDP has just released the Human Development Report. Eight of nine Pacific countries listed in the HDI are in the bottom 40 percent and PNG is in the bottom 20 percent with many African nations. What is more disturbing is that HDI rankings for Pacific Island countries are falling over time - i.e. living standards are slipping behind the rest of the world. The plight of the Pacific Island countries is one that Australia and New Zealand cannot ignore. However, development aid in itself may not be enough to improve standards of living in the Pacific. Dr David Carpenter and Professor Mark McGillivray explore this idea further.