NewZAID updates you in brief on key issues and events on the NZAID agenda. Please click on the useful links included in this newsletter to explore issues in greater depth.

	Foreign Minister Winston Peters announces the aid increase at the NZAID emergency storage warehouse in Auckland

New Zealand's aid budget will increase by $70 million in the 2007/08 financial year taking the Official Development Assistance (ODA) total to $429 million or .3% of the Gross National Income (GNI).

Further funding increases over the three following years commit New Zealand to reaching a GNI figure of .35% by 2010/11, which on current figures will see the aid budget reach $601 million.

Over half of the new funding will be spent in the Pacific region, particularly in Melanesia where the need is greatest, while programmes in the Pacific targeting governance, economic growth, livelihoods, education, and health will also grow.

Bilateral programmes with Indonesia and Viet Nam will be strengthened significantly reflecting the high levels of poverty there and extra funding will also strengthen New Zealand’s ability to respond to humanitarian disasters, and to continue its long history of working closely with key multilateral partners, such as United Nations agencies.

A review of NZAID's work in human resource development in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) will take place over the next six months.

NZAID currently funds programmes such as the Mekong Institute Foundation, English Language Training for Officials Programme, New Zealand Development Scholarships Scheme, and Phnom Penh Plan for Development Management, each of which build the knowledge and capacity of officials in the Subregion.

This review will assess the effectiveness of these programmes, identify new priorities and make recommendations to guide where NZAID should be positioned over the next five years and beyond to be responsive to and deliver on the identified priorities.  It will inform the agency on how to best manage resources devoted to human resource development in the GMS to ensure an integrated approach, maximum efficiency and consistency with the geographic and sectoral focus of the Asia and Country Strategies.  
 
For further information please contact andrea.stewart@nzaid.govt.nz

	Solomon Island school children prepare to enjoy their new school building.

On 27 April 2007, a three-year arrangement was signed between Solomon Islands Government; NZAID and the European Union (EU) to ensure that all children in Solomon Islands have access to good quality education from early childhood through to tertiary and vocational studies.

Over the next three years New Zealand will commit NZ$30 million, making it NZAID’s largest commitment to education in the Pacific. Its success so far has meant that other countries are now looking to Solomon Islands to learn about the experiences of this approach to development.

Progress in the first phase of the programme (2003-2006) has seen a significant increase in enrolment rates for basic education, both for primary (94.8% in 2005) and secondary (23.3% in 2005).

166 new primary classroom and library buildings have been built, new curriculum materials have been provided to both primary and secondary schools, grants have been paid to schools for the first time, distance learning centres have been established in many provinces and progress has been made on ensuring that all teachers are trained and better qualified.

The Ministry of Education has also improved its planning, budgeting and monitoring systems, including the development of an education management system. With the ongoing support of key stakeholders and development partners, the second phase will continue to build on this progress over the next three years.

For more information contact tara.thurlow-rae@nzaid.govt.nz

The Kiribati Association of Non-Government Organisations (KANGO) continues to receive core funding support from NZAID to cover expenses and costs of its operations.

As the official umbrella organisation for the 39 local Kiribati NGOs, KANGO aims to support and empower the local NGO community and to achieve their development goals through their own initiatives, working in partnership with government, donors and other regional bodies.
 
Core funding meets the basic running costs of the organisation such as  core staff salaries, administration costs and the cost of KANGO’s core activities - newsletter production, holding meetings, workshops and training sessions for KANGO staff and staff from local NGOs, strategic planning sessions and the fees for external consultants who will assist KANGO.

KANGO is not at present able to raise sufficient revenue itself to meet its core costs due to limited scope for raising funds from the Kiribati NGO and wider community.  At present KANGO is working with NZAID to develop a longer-term (three year) core funding arrangement which will include ongoing technical assistance to assist KANGO's efforts to develop and strengthen itself as an institution, including work planning and organisational management.
 
It also receives support from PIANGO, the Pacific Island Association of NGOs, which itself receives support from NZAID.

For more information please contact matt.halsey@nzaid.govt.nz

	A hill tribeswoman from Sa Pa works to harvest medicinal herbs

At the recent UN Commission for Sustainable Development session in New York it was announced that the NZAID-funded (ADAF) Medicinal Plant Innovation project in Viet Nam is one of the five SEED (Supporting Entrepreneurs in Environment and Development) Initiative Award winners.  

This prestigious UN backed award can include training, helping to build partnerships and networks, developing capacity in specialised areas, opportunities for exposure and help with financing.   

As mentioned in the February 2007 edition of NewZAID, the project works with hill tribes in the remote Sa Pa region of North Viet Nam, and aims to replicate New Zealand company, Forest Herbs’  work with sustainable harvesting of the New Zealand native horopito plant. Unique essential oils from native Vietnamese medicinal plants are now being sustainably produced, harvested and processed by the hill tribe people.
 
Project Coordinator, Chris Wheatley, says "We're now at the stage of turning the initial concept into a commercial reality and this award will be extremely helpful in supporting the development of the Sa Pa project into a commercial operation with potential for significant impact in the area".

For more information please contact  julie.haack@nzaid.govt.nz

A youth diversion pilot, funded by NZAID, has been successfully implemented in Tonga in the wake of the riots in November 2006.

Assisted by New Zealand experts, Justice Taihakure Eddie Durie and Dr Gabrielle Maxwell, the scheme was designed to fast track the court procedures for young people involved in minor offences during the unrest, while ensuring that they were made accountable for their offending.

Of the 900 people arrested in November 2006, 88 were young people under the age of 18.  Charges were dropped for half of these and in January 2007, 42 young people were referred for youth diversion, of which 34 agreed to take part in the process.

By April 2007, 15 of these had successfully completed their diversion plan which included between 20 and 60 hours community work, supervised by someone from their village.

The diversion plans also include attending a life skills training course, being placed on curfew, being banned from various places, and attending school.

Another 19 youths were completing their plans at the time of the April review.

The success of the pilot scheme has opened the possibility of similar diversionary options for all young people who commit offences and potentially for an adult diversion scheme as well.

For more information contact Kirsty.burnett@nzaid.govt.nz