Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1694859813916.pdf (Australia)
ActionAid Australia Submission Inquiry into the strategic effectiveness and outcomes of Australia's aid program in the Indo-Pacific and its role in supporting Australia’s regional interests June 2018 ActionAid Australia welcomes the opportunity to make a submission to the Joint Standing Committee of Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade inquiry into the strategic effectiveness and outcomes of Australia’s aid program in the Indo-Pacific and its role in supporting Australia’s regional interests.
ActionAid is a global federation that supports women living in poverty and exclusion to understand their rights, reflect on the people and systems that affect them and act with others to change their lives and positions in society.

ActionAid works with local partners in over 45 countries, and this work is supported by the Australian aid program and the Australian public in 14 of these countries, including 12 in the Indo- Pacific region.
ActionAid Australia’s strategic priorities across our programs, advocacy and community engagement are women’s economic justice, climate justice, and their rights in emergencies.
In DFAT’s Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Strategy, the Australian Government has committed to advancing equality and economic empowerment for women across all aspects of Australia’s foreign policy, including its trade and aid programs.1 Supporting the empowerment of women and girls is a cornerstone of Australia’s engagement in our region, and DFAT has committed to a target of 80 percent of all investment in the aid program to “effectively address gender issues in their implementation.”2 Australia is also part of several international agreements that promote women’s rights and gender equality, including the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1979) and the Sustainable Development Goals (2015).
Despite these strong commitments, ActionAid Australia is concerned that when considered in conjunction with Australia’s broader foreign policy agenda, the Australian aid program in the Indo-Pacific region falls short with regard to achieving 1 DFAT (2016), Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Strategy, http://dfat.gov.au/about- us/publications/documents/gender-equality-and-womens-empowerment-strategy.pdf 2 ibid.
1 Inquiry into the strategic effectiveness and outcomes of Australia's aid program in the Indo-Pacific and its role insupporting Australia’s regional interestsSubmission 62 gender equality and women’s empowerment.
This is particularly concerning given that Australia’s aid budget is currently at its lowest in recent history with greater cuts expected in the coming years.3 Furthermore, Australian aid, as a strategic foreign policy and development tool, should not be undermined by Australia’s other overseas-directed activities.
Thus, it is important to consider the role of Australia’s broader foreign affairs, defence and trade approach in the Indo-Pacific region, and whether it supports or undermines the Government’s commitments to gender equality and sustainable development.
ActionAid Australia is concerned that Australia’s support for free trade agreements such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations Plus (PACER Plus) has been decided in the absence of gender-sensitive impact assessments and inclusive, transparent negotiation processes.
Similarly, the aid program’s focus on private sector development has not built in the appropriate safeguards and regulatory environment to ensure that companies operating overseas are not violating human rights or fuelling climate change.

The expansion of Australia’s defence exports further undermines the strategic effectiveness of the Australian aid program and is inconsistent with Australia’s stated commitment to gender equality and the Women, Peace and Security Agenda.
These concerns are outlined in this submission in greater detail.

All of Australia’s overseas-directed activities should be complementary and be governed through DFAT’s Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Strategy to ensure effective and equitable sustainable development.

On this basis, ActionAid Australia recommends that the Australian Government: 1.

Increases Australia’s aid budget to 0.7% of GNI to demonstrate its commitment to the SDGs and equitably contribute to resourcing these ambitious goals.
2.

Increases its commitments to financing climate change adaptation and mitigation, with a trajectory towards $6.1 billion by 2025,4 and separately commits funds to support countries facing irreversible loss and damage.

3.

Withdraws the $3.8 billion funding commitment to Efic’s Defence Export Facility and instead seeks to invest in initiatives that contribute to sustainable peace and development.
In the case that the Facility remains in place, ensure that all activities considered for financing undergo independent gender impact 3 Australian Government Foreign Affairs and Trade Portfolio Budget statements, 2018-19, http://dfat.gov.au/about-us/corporate/portfolio-budget-statements/pages/portfolio-budget-statements.aspx 4 In line with ActionAid’s research on fair share financing 2 Inquiry into the strategic effectiveness and outcomes of Australia's aid program in the Indo-Pacific and its role insupporting Australia’s regional interestsSubmission 62 assessments, and maintain gender impact monitoring activities throughout the period of any financing agreements.
4.

Commits to undertaking independent gender and transparent and environmental impact assessments of all trade deals prior to agreement, and ensure that their impact on gender equality and the environment is monitored.

5.

In line with its focus on private sector development, introduces a stronger policy framework to ensure the accountability of Australian corporations operating overseas by: a.

Supporting the development of a binding treaty on Business and Human Rights; b.
Improving access to remedy for communities affected by the global operations of Australian companies.

6.

Fulfils its commitments to meeting aid transparency standards agreed at the 2011 Fourth High Level Meeting on Aid Effectiveness and ensure independent, transparent evaluations that include both quantitative and qualitative analysis of gender equality impacts.

7.
7.

Fulfils its commitments to the Grand Bargain by maintaining and building on local and national responders for humanitarian funding directed to emergencies, and ensures funding for women’s organisations as the most effective actors for advancing gender equality.

8.

Reviews its implementation policy on Aid for Trade such that it prioritises sustainable development and particularly decent work for women and the protection of the environment by: a.
Undertaking independent and transparent gender and environmental impact assessments prior to approval and throughout the life of projects; b.

Supporting local, national and regional markets alongside efforts to strengthen global supply chains.

Strategic and development effectiveness Paying our fair share Australia has just entered its 27th year of economic growth5 and is the tenth largest economy in the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)6.
Despite growing income inequality within Australia, the 2017 Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report estimated that Australians are the world’s second wealthiest people on 5 SBS, 6 December 2017, Economy romps into 27th year of expansion, https://www.sbs.com.au/news/economy- romps-into-27th-year-of-expansion 6 OECD, 2018, OECD Development Co-operation Peer Reviews: Australia 2018, https://read.oecd- ilibrary.org/development/oecd-development-co-operation-peer-reviews-australia-2018_9789264293366- en#page54 3 Inquiry into the strategic effectiveness and outcomes of Australia's aid program in the Indo-Pacific and its role insupporting Australia’s regional interestsSubmission 62 average.7 Australia also ranks at number 2 on the 2015 United Nations Human Development Index, with some of the world’s best living standards and services.8 Yet, Australia’s aid program has seen substantial cuts of more than 30% since 2013, and at just 0.23% of Gross National Income in 2017, Australia’s aid budget is already well below the OECD Development Assistant Committee (DAC) average of 0.32%.9 Projected cuts expected over the next few years would see this fall to just 0.22% of GNI.10 The Addis Ababa Action Agenda, agreed as part of the Financing for Development conference in 2015, calls on wealthy nations to commit 0.7% of GNI towards meeting these obligations.
Australia should increase its aid budget commitments in line with peer governments such as the UK, which has already legislated the 0.7% goal within its national parliament.

Expanding the overall aid budget is a core part of ensuring our commitments to gender equality and women’s empowerment in the Indo-Pacific region are met.
The underlying causes of poverty and injustice are gendered: globally, a disproportionate number of women live in poverty due to socially ascribed roles that mean that they have less access to land, education, networks, technology, transport, cash, decision- making and control over their bodies and safety.11 Violations of women’s human rights are often normalised, and as such are pervasive.
The Australian aid program’s guiding principles of gender equality and women’s empowerment place Australia in a unique position to ensure that women living in poverty are empowered to fight injustice.

The Australian Government can play a leading role in advancing women’s rights in the Indo-Pacific region by expanding its aid budget to meet our international commitments.
increases Recommendation 1: That Australia’s aid budget to 0.7% of GNI to demonstrate its commitment to the SDGs and equitably contribute to resourcing these ambitious goals.
the Australian Government 7 Credit Suisse, 2017, Global Wealth Report 2017, https://www.credit- suisse.com/corporate/en/research/research-institute/global-wealth-report.html 8 UNDP, 2016, Human Development Report 2016: Human Development for Everyone http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/rankings.pdf 9 OECD, 2018, OECD Development Co-operation Peer Reviews: Australia 2018, https://read.oecd- ilibrary.org/development/oecd-development-co-operation-peer-reviews-australia-2018_9789264293366- en#page54 10 DFAT 2018-19 Australia Aid Budget Summary http://dfat.gov.au/about-us/corporate/portfolio-budget- statements/Documents/2018-19-australian-aid-budget-summary.pdf 11 Oxfam International, 2017, An economy that works for women, https://www.oxfam.org/en/research/economy-works-women 4 Inquiry into the strategic effectiveness and outcomes of Australia's aid program in the Indo-Pacific and its role insupporting Australia’s regional interestsSubmission 62 Financing climate adaptation and resilience, not fossil fuel extraction Climate change is eroding hard won gains to reduce poverty, and heavily impacting women living in poverty in vulnerable areas.
Australia’s Defence White Paper (2016) recognised climate change and its impact on state fragility as one of six key drivers that will shape Australia’s security environment to 2035.12 Climate change disproportionately impacts women: often responsible for their family’s food, water and energy needs, women are hit harder when climate change threatens essential natural resources.13 Domestic violence and sexual assault have also been found to escalate during climate-induced emergencies such as drought, famine and flooding.14 The low-carbon techniques women farmers and their families use to produce food and secure their livelihoods are often unrecognised, underfunded and therefore undermined.
In 2016, Australia ratified the Paris Climate Change Agreement, committing to reduce Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions and pursue efforts to limit temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Australia must uphold these commitments, and support women living in poverty who are most impacted by climate change, by increasing Australia’s financing for climate adaptation, mitigation and loss and damage as a result of climate change.
This should be consistent with what is considered Australia’s fair share based on our historical and current level of emissions, as well as our economic capacity as a wealthy nation.

At present, Australia has committed approximately $200 million per year for five years15 towards climate adaptation and mitigation.
This falls significantly short of its fair share, which was found to be AUD$2.4 billion by 2020 and AUD$6.1 billion by 2025 in ActionAid’s 2015 report, “Mind the Adaptation Gap”.16 It is critical that this increase in funds is not drawn from the Australian aid budget, which, as stated above, should be increased to 0.7% of GNI.
Adaptation to climate 12 Australian Government (2016) Defence White Paper http://www.defence.gov.au/WhitePaper/Docs/2016-Defence-White-Paper.pdf 13 ActionAid Australia, 2016, Hotter Planet, Humanitarian Crisis, http://www.actionaid.org/sites/files/actionaid/hotter_planet_low_res_0.pdf 14 ActionAid Australia, 2017, Fuelling injustice: women’s rights and Australian coal mining in Africa, http://www.actionaid.org/australia/fuelling-injustice 15 DFAT, 2018, Overview of Australia’s assistance for climate change, http://dfat.gov.au/aid/topics/investment- priorities/building-resilience/climate-change/Pages/climate-change.aspx 16 ActionAid, 2015, Mind the Adaptation Gap, http://www.actionaid.org/sites/files/actionaid/mind the adaptation gap final v2.pdf 5 Inquiry into the strategic effectiveness and outcomes of Australia's aid program in the Indo-Pacific and its role insupporting Australia’s regional interestsSubmission 62 change supports development, and works in synergy with development efforts, but must not be considered a substitute.
The estimated funding required to meet Australia’s fair share of climate finance is significant, but could easily be achieved by measures such as redirecting funds that currently subsidise fossil fuel use towards climate change adaptation.

Recommendation 2: That the Australian Government increases its commitments to financing climate change adaptation and mitigation, with a trajectory towards $6.1 billion by 2025, and separately commits funds to support countries facing irreversible loss and damage.
Exporting for sustainable development, not arms The Australian Government’s recent commitment of $3.8 billion to Efic’s Defence Export Facility is inconsistent with its commitments to gender equality and women’s the $3.9 billion aid budget.
Women worldwide empowerment under disproportionately suffer the consequences of armed conflict and the arms trade.17 Expanding Australia’s defence export capabilities will come at the expense of peace, development and women’s empowerment to which the Government is committed.
To ensure the strategic effectiveness of its aid program, the Australian Government should overturn this commitment, and seek to support exports that contribute to Australia's broader foreign policy objectives and make a positive contribution to global peace and stability.

Should this commitment to the Defence Export Facility be retained, then at minimum gender impact assessments should be undertaken of all activities proposed for financing, and appropriate safeguards puts in place to reduce these impacts.
Recommendation 3: That the Australian Government withdraws the $3.8 billion funding commitment to Efic’s Defence Export Facility and instead seeks to invest in initiatives that contribute to sustainable peace and development.

In the case that the Facility remains in place, ensure that all activities considered for financing undergo independent gender impact impact monitoring activities assessments, and maintain gender throughout the period of any financing agreements.
17 Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, 2013, Gender and the Arms Trade Treaty – a legal overview, https://wilpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Gender-and-the-Arms-Trade-Treaty-a-legal- overview.pdf 6 Inquiry into the strategic effectiveness and outcomes of Australia's aid program in the Indo-Pacific and its role insupporting Australia’s regional interestsSubmission 62 Making trade fair The strategic effectiveness of Australia’s aid program can be undermined by other Government policies and programs, including the free trade agreements (FTAs).
There is increasing recognition in the international community that the trade liberalisation agenda being pursued through multilateral trade agreements such as the CPTPP and PACER plus agreement is having negative impacts on women’s rights and gender equality.
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, for example, has stated that the effects of trade on women are not “clear-cut” and are often “double- edged”.18 While some women may see increased access to global markets or more employment opportunities in manufacturing and services sectors under trade liberalisation, any benefits are undermined by the myriad ways in which free trade agreements undermine women’s rights at work, access to justice, public services such as healthcare, and access to sustainable livelihoods.
Given DFAT’s stated commitment to gender equality and women’s empowerment,19 the impacts of these trade agreements on women’s rights cannot go ignored.

For many women in lower income countries, free trade and integration into global supply chains has exacerbated gender inequalities.
While organisations like the World Bank and the World Trade Organization suggest that free trade can “add significant momentum to our efforts to end poverty,”20 their failure to recognise the gender- specific impacts of trade liberalisation is particularly concerning given its potential to significantly impede progress on women’s empowerment and gender equality globally.
FTAs that promote privatisation and deregulation, undermine progressive tax systems in favour of value-added tax systems, and remove or reduce tariffs and other protections for local industries, disproportionately impact on women and undermine gender equality.21 Such agreements typically decrease revenue for governments, and this in turn impedes their ability to deliver public services that are critical for achieving gender equality, such as education, health and public transport.
Furthermore, intellectual property provisions in the areas of seed sharing and medicines, such as those that are currently suspended within the CPTTP, have particular impacts on women who are both traditional custodians of seeds and the main consumers of medicines as carers to children, the elderly and people with disabilities.
18 UNCTAD (2016) Trade, Gender and Development: advocating inclusive and gender-sensitive development on a global level, http://unctad.org/en/PublicationsLibrary/ditcmisc2016d6 en.pdf, pg.

5.
19 DFAT (2016), Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Strategy, http://dfat.gov.au/about- us/publications/documents/gender-equality-and-womens-empowerment-strategy.pdf 20 World Bank and World Trade Organisation (2015) The Role of trade in Ending Poverty, https://www.wto.org/english/res e/booksp e/worldbankandwto15 e.pdf 21 ActionAid Australia Submission to the Senate Inquiry on the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement https://www.aph.gov.au/DocumentStore.ashx?id=65ec9006-ef31-419d-937e- 651bb29d4896&subId=566529 7 Inquiry into the strategic effectiveness and outcomes of Australia's aid program in the Indo-Pacific and its role insupporting Australia’s regional interestsSubmission 62 Following a submission by ActionAid Australia and others, the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties recommended a monitoring of the gender equality impacts of the PACER Plus free trade agreement.22 ActionAid Australia sees this as a positive development, and recommends the Government incorporates gender impact assessments and ongoing monitoring as part of all FTA negotiations in future, including for the CPTPP and other bilateral and multilateral agreements currently under negotiation.
Furthermore, to support the strategic effectiveness of the aid program in the Indo- Pacific region, there is also a need to improve Australian companies’ accountability and respect for the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs).

Apart from helping to reduce the adverse impacts of business operations on human rights, it would also help and incentivise Australian business enterprises to incorporate human rights due diligence as required by the UNGPs.
This is particularly pertinent to the effectiveness of Australian aid given the aid program’s focus on private sector development.
There is significant evidence that in some cases Australian companies operating in the Indo-Pacific region have harmed local economies and violated human rights of workers and affected communities with little redress.23 The Australian Government, through its role on the Human Rights Council, should therefore play an active role in supporting the development of a binding treaty on Business and Human Rights that puts women’s empowerment and gender equality at its heart.
Furthermore, the Australian Government must ensure that Australian companies are held to account when operating overseas, and to this end should improve access to remedy for individuals and communities affected by the operations of Australian companies.
Recommendation 4: That the Australian Government commits to undertaking transparent and independent gender and environmental impact assessments of all trade deals prior to agreement, and ensure that their impact on gender equality and the environment is monitored.
Recommendation 5: That the Australian Government, in line with its focus on private sector development, introduces a stronger policy framework to ensure the accountability of Australian corporations operating overseas by: 22 Commonwealth of Australia Joint Standing Committee on Treaties, 2018, Report 179, https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Joint/Treaties/PACERPlus- Agreement/Report_179 23 Jubilee, 2018, Double or nothing: the broken economic promises of PNG LNG, http://www.jubileeaustralia.org/resources-1/Reports; ActionAid Australia, 2017, Fuelling injustice: women’s rights and Australian coal mining in Africa, http://www.actionaid.org/australia/fuelling-injustice 8 Inquiry into the strategic effectiveness and outcomes of Australia's aid program in the Indo-Pacific and its role insupporting Australia’s regional interestsSubmission 62 a.
Supporting the development of a binding treaty on Business and Human Rights; b.

Improving access to remedy for communities affected by the global operations of Australian companies.

Making aid transparent Australia continues to fall short of its commitment to the aid transparency standards agreed at the 2011 Fourth High Level Meeting on Aid Effectiveness in Busan.

Transparency is essential to ensure that the Government and its aid delivery partners are held to account in achieving their strategic aims.
In 2016, Australia made no progress towards this commitment according to the Aid Transparency Index,24 with a ranking of 25 out of 46 major aid donors and a score below 50% on the Index.
Furthermore, an audit of Australian aid transparency undertaken in 2016 by the Development Policy Centre showed that despite high-level rhetoric about improving transparency, there has been a decline in the Australian aid program’s project-level transparency.25 Australia must make aid transparency an official benchmark of the performance quality of the Australian aid program through implementation of the International Aid Transparency Initiative Standards.
Compliance with these standards should also ensure that the Australian public are able to fully track the Government’s commitment to ensuring 80% of aid projects support the goal of gender equality and women’s empowerment.
In its Aid Performance Review of 2016-2017, the Government produced evidence that it was close to meeting this 80% target, yet did not provide the methodology through which this is assessed.26 It is important that this target requires more than consideration of gender issues, and instead places gender equality and women’s rights issues at its core.
Furthermore, a quantitative approach can only go so far in understanding how Australian aid funding impacts the lives of women, and ActionAid Australia would therefore recommend a qualitative approach is also taken.
Recommendation 6: That the Australian Government fulfils its commitments to meeting aid transparency standards agreed at the 2011 Fourth High Level Meeting on Aid Effectiveness and ensure independent, transparent evaluations that include both quantitative and qualitative analysis of gender equality impacts.
24 Publish What You Fund, 2016 Aid Transparency Index, Australia – Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade profile, http://ati.publishwhatyoufund.org/donor/australia/ 25 DeCourcy, V, and Burkot, C. (2016), “Gone backwards: findings from the 2016 Australian Aid transparency audit”, Development Policy Centre, http://devpolicy.org/publications/reports/2016-Australian-aid- transparency-audit-report.pdf 26 DFAT, 2018, Performance of Australian Aid 2016-17, http://dfat.gov.au/about- us/publications/Documents/performance-of-australian-aid-2016-17.pdf 9 Inquiry into the strategic effectiveness and outcomes of Australia's aid program in the Indo-Pacific and its role insupporting Australia’s regional interestsSubmission 62 Innovation in Australia’s aid program The current international humanitarian system, dominated by large international organisations, is being stretched to its limit.
As set out under the Grand Bargain, an increased emphasis on supporting local actors is an innovative and essential means of dealing with the growing frequency of humanitarian crises that require new and innovative solutions.

Local actors are the first and main responders after a disaster strikes: they know the context and speak the language; they are there, and will stay there long after international actors have left.
A growing body of evidence demonstrates that partnerships with national and local organisations enhance the relevance, appropriateness, accountability and connectedness of humanitarian responses, and ensure better linking up of relief, rehabilitation and development efforts.27 Despite this, the current system favours working with large international actors, who frequently ignore local and national actors.
Women most often make up these first-line responders and are disproportionately affected by the negative impacts of humanitarian emergencies.28 It is imperative that international and regional gender equality commitments are applied in humanitarian emergencies to ensure that women of all diversities, including those with disabilities, are protected and supported to provide leadership at a local level.
This approach has been shown to strengthen risk mitigation and disaster response activities, which in turn ensures a more effective and decentralised delivery of the humanitarian response.

Innovation in Australia’s aid program should consistently, and proactively, invest in women and in grassroots organisations that can more effectively and efficiently respond in humanitarian emergencies and drive positive change in their communities.
ActionAid therefore commends the Government’s current commitments to this agenda, including to fund the Shifting the Power Coalition, which catalyses localised, gender responsive humanitarian action with a specific goal of strengthening women's leadership and amplifying diverse women's voices at regional level and influencing key processes.

The Shifting the Power Coalition serves as a new and innovative program through which Australian aid is delivered.
27 Australian Red Cross, 2017, Going local: achieving a more appropriate and fit-for-purpose humanitarian ecosystem in the Pacific, https://www.redcross.org.au/getmedia/fa37f8eb-51e7-4ecd-ba2f-d1587574d6d5/ARC- Localisation-report-Electronic-301017.pdf.aspx; ActionAid International, 2017, Promoting localised, women-led approaches to humanitarian responses, http://www.actionaid.org/sites/files/actionaid/humanitarian_responses_localisation_-_1june2017.pdf; ActionAid UK, 2015, Women’s rights & leadership in humanitarian action, https://www.actionaid.org.uk/sites/default/files/publications/womens-rights-leadership-humanitarian- action.pdf 28 ActionAid International, 2017, Promoting localised, women-led approaches to humanitarian responses, http://www.actionaid.org/sites/files/actionaid/humanitarian_responses_localisation_-_1june2017.pdf 10 Inquiry into the strategic effectiveness and outcomes of Australia's aid program in the Indo-Pacific and its role insupporting Australia’s regional interestsSubmission 62 its Recommendation 7: That the Australian Government fulfils commitments to the Grand Bargain by maintaining and building on funding directed to local and national responders for humanitarian emergencies, and ensures funding for women’s organisations as the most effective actors for advancing gender equality.
Aid for Trade The Australian Government has been a proponent of the Aid for Trade Initiative since it was first launched by the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2005.

Aid for Trade now forms a considerable pillar of Australia’s ‘new development paradigm’ with an expected 20% of ODA committed to the initiative by 2020.29 Aid for Trade seeks to develop low- and middle-income countries’ capacity to engage with global markets, developing and expanding the private sector and encouraging economic growth.
Importantly, one of the key principles of Aid for Trade is that it is a means to achieving ‘sustainable development’.30 Despite this, research has shown that too often the Australian aid program has funded trade and private sector projects that do not directly support sustainable development outcomes.31 Crucially, Aid for Trade should not be used to bolster Australia’s economic interests and companies, but rather to benefit people living in poverty in our region.
Unfortunately, analysis of Australia’s Aid for Trade practices has indicated that the Initiative has significantly increased Australia’s exports and improved investment environments for foreign entities in recipient countries, but this has not necessarily contributed to poverty alleviation.32 In line with ActionAid International’s 2017 submission to the European Union review of its own Aid for Trade policy, ActionAid Australia wishes to highlight the following areas for reform within Australia’s Aid for Trade Initiative: Investment in social infrastructure and the care economy Australia’s Aid for Trade Initiative should prioritise support for investments in social infrastructure and the care economy, in order to contribute to women’s economic empowerment, as per DFAT’s strategy.33 The UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Women’s Economic Empowerment has highlighted the failure to recognise, 29 Henni Arup of DFAT, DFAT Approach to Aid for Trade, http://dfat.gov.au/about- us/publications/Documents/3-dfat-approach-to-aid-for-trade.pdf 30 WTO (World Trade Organization).
2006.

Recommendations of the Task Force on Aid for Trade.

Document WT/AFT/1.

Geneva: WTO.
31 Garrett & Wanner (2017) Aid for trade and ecologically sustainable development in Australia’s international aid program, Australian Journal of International Affairs, 71:6, 661-677, DOI: 10.1080/10357718.2017.1334757 32 OXFAM, 2017, The Future of Australian Aid¸https://www.oxfam.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/1- Oxfam-AidPolicyBrief-Nov2017.pdf 33 Henni Arup of DFAT, DFAT Approach to Aid for Trade, http://dfat.gov.au/about- us/publications/Documents/3-dfat-approach-to-aid-for-trade.pdf 11 Inquiry into the strategic effectiveness and outcomes of Australia's aid program in the Indo-Pacific and its role insupporting Australia’s regional interestsSubmission 62 reduce and redistribute unpaid household work as a major systemic constraint hampering women’s economic opportunities.34 Creating jobs for women can only provide real opportunities for women to realise their rights if these jobs are decent (as per the International Labor Organization definition of decent work35), and if women’s unpaid care burden is effectively reduced and eliminated.
A commitment by Australia to increase Aid for Trade investment in the care economy and gender responsive social infrastructures and public services would contribute to improving the impact of trade on women’s rights and would contribute to making trade socially sustainable.
Transition to a green economy Given Australian’s international climate change commitments, referenced above, Aid for Trade should prioritise the just transition towards a green and circular economy in partner countries, in line with the objectives of the Paris Climate Agreement.

The promotion of sustainable local consumption and production should be supported, as required under the SDGs, even when doing so does not increase international trade.
Local not global industrialisation policies In order to improve the contribution of trade and investment to the realisation of sustainable development and human rights, Aid for Trade needs to support the implementation of local, national and regional industrialisation policies.

These policies should be developed with the participation of local micro-, small- and medium-size enterprises, academia, local government, women’s associations, trade unions and civil society organisations.
In particular, programs should fund structures that support the development of micro-enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises, which constitute the overwhelming majority of the private sector, and to social economy enterprises, including cooperatives, whose main objective is to serve the members and not to obtain a return on investment as the traditional mainstream capital companies do.36 Much more emphasis should be placed on supporting local, national and regional markets alongside the strengthening of global supply chains.37 Recommendation 8: That the Australian Government reviews its implementation policy on Aid for Trade such that it prioritises sustainable development and particularly decent work for women and the protection of the environment by: 34 UN Secretary-General’s High Level Panel on Women’s Economic Empowerment, First and Second reports, http://hlp-wee.unwomen.org/en/reports-toolkits 35 ILO (International Labour Organisation), 2018, Decent Work webpage, http://www.ilo.org/global/topics/decent-work/lang--en/index.htm 36 As discussed by the European Commission here: https://ec.europa.eu/growth/sectors/social-economy_en 37 UNCTAD, 2016, Structural transformation for inclusive and sustained growth, http://unctad.org/en/pages/PublicationWebflyer.aspx?publicationid=1610 12 Inquiry into the strategic effectiveness and outcomes of Australia's aid program in the Indo-Pacific and its role insupporting Australia’s regional interestsSubmission 62 a.
Undertaking independent and transparent environmental throughout the life of projects; impact assessments prior and gender to approval and b.

Supporting local, national and regional markets alongside efforts to strengthen global supply chains.

Conclusion Australia’s aid budget is currently is at its lowest in recent history and risks being further undermined by the Government’s other overseas-directed activities, such as trade and defense.
It is critical that this Inquiry assesses how the Australian Government’s broader foreign policy approach supports or undermines the strategic effectiveness of its aid program in the Indo-Pacific region.

ActionAid Australia therefore recommends that the Australian Government: 1.

Increases Australia’s aid budget to 0.7% of GNI to demonstrate its commitment to the SDGs and equitably contribute to resourcing these ambitious goals.

2.
2.

Increases its commitments to financing climate change adaptation and mitigation, with a trajectory towards $6.1 billion by 2025,38 and separately commits funds to support countries facing irreversible loss and damage.

3.

Withdraws the $3.8 billion funding commitment to Efic’s Defence Export Facility and instead seeks to invest in initiatives that contribute to sustainable peace and development.
In the case that the Facility remains in place, ensure that all activities considered for financing undergo independent gender impact assessments, and maintain gender impact monitoring activities throughout the period of any financing agreements.

4.

Commits to undertaking independent gender and transparent and environmental impact assessments of all trade deals prior to agreement, and ensure that their impact on gender equality and the environment is monitored.

5.
5.

In line with its focus on private sector development, introduces a stronger policy framework to ensure the accountability of Australian corporations operating overseas by: a.

Supporting the development of a binding treaty on Business and Human Rights; b.

Improving access to remedy for communities affected by the global operations of Australian companies.
38 In line with ActionAid’s research on fair share financing 13 Inquiry into the strategic effectiveness and outcomes of Australia's aid program in the Indo-Pacific and its role insupporting Australia’s regional interestsSubmission 62 6.

Fulfils its commitments to meeting aid transparency standards agreed at the 2011 Fourth High Level Meeting on Aid Effectiveness and ensure independent, transparent evaluations that include both quantitative and qualitative analysis of gender equality impacts.

7.
7.

Fulfils its commitments to the Grand Bargain by maintaining and building on funding directed to local and national responders for humanitarian emergencies, and ensures funding for women’s organisations as the most effective actors for advancing gender equality.

8.

Reviews its implementation policy on Aid for Trade such that it prioritises sustainable development and particularly decent work for women and the protection of the environment by: a.
Undertaking independent and transparent gender and environmental impact assessments prior to approval and throughout the life of projects; b.

Supporting local, national and regional markets alongside efforts to strengthen global supply chains.
Submitted by: Michelle Higelin, Executive Director, ActionAid Australia Website: www.actionaid.org/australia 14 Inquiry into the strategic effectiveness and outcomes of Australia's aid program in the Indo-Pacific and its role insupporting Australia’s regional interestsSubmission 62