Julie Bishop address to Council 2010
ACFID Council 2011
Highlights
In 2011, ACFID was thinking big. The annual two-day ACFID Council is the highlight of the sector's calendar and this year it is focused on the theme of Gamechangers: 21st Century Development Effectiveness. The meeting includes the annual general meeting and provided a forum to debate current aid and development issues, established policy principles for ACFID and elected the executive committee and office bearers.
Council included a Chairs and CEOs' dinner, presentations and workshops, Members' Open Forum, the AGM, and a Council dinner.
This year, the ACFID Sir Ron Wilson Human Rights Award was awarded to the Humanitarian Crisis Hub, the ACFID Outstanding Contribution to the Sector Award was awarded to David Lewis and Wendy Rose was granted life membership of ACFID.
For photos of ACFID Council 2011 please see ACFID's Facebook page.
Wednesday 12th October
Vision 2020 and ACFID Parliamentary Drinks
ACFID Council began with drinks at Parliament House to launch Myths Busted: Facts about Australian Aid. Highlights included a speech by the Hon Kevin Rudd MP, Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Hon Julie Bishop MP, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs.
Chairs and CEOs Dinner
This year guests at the Chairs and CEOs dinner heard excellent presentations from the Hon Julie Bishop MP, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Hon Kevin Rudd MP, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Sandy Hollway AO.
Thursday 13th October
This year, ACFID asked volunteers to attend all Council plenaries and workshops and to prepare summaries. Volunteers also tweeted, along with other participants, throughout Council using #ACFID Council.
Plenary 1: What is changing the game?
Moderator: Misha Coleman, CEO AngliCORD
Speakers: Ros Eyben, Dr Adrian Leftwich and Borithy Lun
Plenary 2: Aid Effectiveness Review - is it a game changer?
Moderator: Wendy Rose
Panel: Dr Linda Kelly, Andrew Hewett, Matt Morris and Dr Julia Newton-Howes
The panel considered and discussed the implications of the Independent Review of Aid Effectiveness on the Australian NGO sector and aid effectiveness more broadly.
Workshop Session 1: SHAPING THE GAME
Workshop 1: Research Showcase: are we reaching the poorest?
Chair: Professor Dennis Altman
Speakers: Dr Sharon Bessell, Nic Maclellan and Gerhard Hoffstaedter
This workshop was shaped around the issue of game-changing research. The panel of four distinguished academics presented their latest innovative research that will shape the future of development effectiveness. Each speaker will discuss different ground-breaking ideas in order to stimulate discussion amongst attendees.
Dr Sharon Bessell’s PowerPoint
Dr Gerhard Hoffstaedter’s PowerPoint
Dr Michele Lipner’s PowerPoint
Workshop 2: Admitting failures, taking risks, learning lessons
Chair: Ros Eyben
Speakers: Chris Roche, Linda Kelly, Glenn Bond and Therese Mills
This was a workshop with some of the sector's most experienced development practitioners about recognising failure, admitting it, doing something about it, and then telling the public what you did. The session was limited to 20 people, who shared a story of personal or organisational failure and what they learned from it. This challenging session started with this clip from the Random Economist.
Workshop 3: Managing media messages
Panellists: Dylan Welch, Chee Chee Leung and Sasha Myers
Talking to the media and crafting useable, clear media releases is an important skill for development organisations. Good media coverage can mean the difference between the success or otherwise of your event or campaign. This session provided participants with the skills to refine complex messages and get them across effectively to the media and the public. Advice was given from an experienced journalist as well as two media advisers from ACFID Member agencies. Using an example poverty-alleviation campaign, participants were given a chance to turn these skills into a practical media campaign, and received advice and tips on their work.
Workshop 4: The Next Generation
Chair: Danielle Cave (Lowy Institute)
Speakers: Huy Nguyen, Nic Nelson, Jason Turnbull and Stephanie Shannon
This seminar aims gave participants a sneak peek at the new responses to engaging young people. Young people, at times the most maligned and equally most celebrated in society for their engagement with social change, increasingly look to non-traditional political actors to channel both their passions and their incomes. As the aid budget grows, so must public support for Australian NGOs and nowhere is this opportunity more obvious than with young people. This is a unique space that aid organisations can fill in society. This session dealt with how to turn such a challenge into an opportunity.
Workshop Session 2: CHANGING THE GAME
Workshop 1: The Big Debate: Security vs. Development
Chair: Jim Rolfe
Speakers: Alan March, Jeremy England, Louise Searle, Peter Leahy
This session examined the questions that arise and the mitigation strategies from the perspective of the Australian Government, the ICRC, World Vision Australia and the Australian Army and National Security Institute. Discussions continued the important work of examining the different mandates of various actors in these environments and the ways in which the challenges presented by these interactions can be addressed and navigated.
Workshop 2:
Exercising Influence: Speaking Effectively to Politicians
Chair: Dr Kerry Enright
Speaker: Dr John Hewson and Dr Jon Stanhope
Two experienced politicians, Dr John Hewson, former leader of the Coalition, and Jon Stanhope, former ACT Chief Minister, gave participants their take on the best ways to exercise influence in the halls of power from the inside. This workshop explored the best way to craft your messages for politicians and how you can best influence them to consider supporting your cause or point of view. It also explored the current political climate and advocacy skills for the NGO sector. Participants learned about effectively getting their messages across and making good briefs for politicians. Dr Kerry Enright, Co-Chair of the ACFID Advocacy and Public Policy Committee, led the session.
Workshop 3: Building a Healthy Organisation
Chair: Richard Moore
Speakers: Dr Helen Irvine, Dr Sue-Anne Wallace, Dr Patrick Kilby and Jo Crawford
This workshop explored evidence associated with three different components of a healthy organisation – a sustainable financial situation, programing for development effectiveness and committed donors.
Workshop 4: Civil Society Combatting Inequality
Chair: Dr Julia Newton-Howes
Speakers: Rhonda Chapman, Derek Rooken-Smith and Therese Mills
The Aid Review acknowledges the importance of civil society to development outcomes and to reaching the poorest, recommending increased engagement with civil society including Australian NGOs. This session highlighted the findings of AusAID research into civil society approaches to poverty reduction and the implications for AusAID policy toward civil society engagement. The workshop presented initial findings from the forthcoming ANCP thematic review of how NGOs are engaging with the poorest and the ODE evaluation of AusAID’s engagement with civil society in partner countries.
Cocktails for Women in Development Network/ Women CEOs
Professor Lorraine Elliot from Australian National University discussed the challenges for women working in development. For photos of the event see ACFID's Facebook page.
The ACT Women in Development Network supports women involved in international development activities.
