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.

Significant programmes of work are underway here at NZAID to strengthen internal systems and processes and improve the way we implement, plan, monitor and evaluate New Zealand’s aid and development programmes.

NZAID has undergone rapid growth since its establishment in 2002, with the number of contracts managed by the agency doubling in that time.  In the 2001/2002 financial year NZAID managed 600 international development contracts, and this grew to 1200 in the 2006/2007 financial year.  The aid and development budget has also increased from $227 million to $430 million.  What’s more, NZAID now has more than 200 staff working both in our New Zealand office and at posts overseas. 

This rapid growth has, not unexpectedly, led to pressure on systems and staff.  Although NZAID has been running to keep up in both programme delivery and management systems, two recent independent audits have made a number of recommendations aimed at improving and strengthening NZAID’s internal processes to ensure more consistent, robust practices across the agency.

At the same time, NZAID’s development work and the quality of its relationships with partners in the Pacific and beyond is highly rated, as other recent reviews have found, including one by the OECD. Moreover, agency staff are highly professional and take their responsibilities as guardians of public funds very seriously.

There are nevertheless, areas for improvement in systems and processes and as the Executive Director of NZAID, I accept the findings of the financial audit and the performance audit and I’m committed to ensuring that NZAID meets the audit recommendations.  This work is already well advanced. 

Good progress has been made with NZAID’s Contract Management Strengthening Project which aims to strengthen internal contracting and financial management processes.  A single policy and procedures manual for contract and financial management has been developed; new practices and controls, including good practice guidelines and new tools to improve overall understanding and adherence to good practice around planning, monitoring and evaluation, are being implemented and staff trained in them; and more robust internal scrutiny of contracts and grant funding arrangements as they are established and varied is being undertaken.

As mentioned, NZAID has been growing along with the government’s aid budget since it was established and it will continue to grow for the next three years.  We are undertaking an organisational development process to structure and staff the agency for the future.  This process will enable us to address the systems and process issues for the longer term.

NZAID will be reporting its progress regularly to the Office of the Auditor General, and will be re-audited again later in the year.  While the work to improve the administration of our aid and development programmes continues, NZAID will also continue to be highly focused on delivering effective New Zealand development programmes and outcomes

	New Zealand Police Assistant Commissioner Jon White at the police parade in Bougainville, which marked the beginning of phase four of the Community Policing project.

A parade of 50 members of the Bougainville Police Service, and a platoon of New Zealand-trained Bougainville Community Police officially launched phase four of the Bougainville Community Policing Project in Papua New Guinea last month.  Held in front of Buka Police Station in Bougainville, the parade was attended by a number of senior officials, many of whom delivered speeches to celebrate the launch and outlined hopes for the future of the BPS, and the Bougainville community's expectations of them. 

Funded by NZAID and implemented by New Zealand Police, the community auxiliary policing programme deals with law and order and social problems through consultation with chiefs and traditional leaders.

Phase four of the project continues New Zealand's commitment to provide training and mentoring to the community auxiliary police and initiates direct advisory support to the Bougainville Police Service.

For more information contact caroline.newson@nzaid.govt.nz

	Chief Human Rights Commissioners Rosslyn Noonan of New Zealand and Purisima Quisumbing of the Philippines sign the Memorandum of Understanding between the two governments for undertaking the NZAID-assisted human rights project. New Zealand Ambassador to the Philippines David Pine and Philippine Ambassador to New Zealand Bienvenido Tejano are witnesses and NZAID Manila Development Programme Administrator Imelda Benitez is also present.

A new Human Rights Community Development project in the Philippines has been established to monitor and report on human rights violations and also advocate for better human rights.  

The project sets out a three-year programme to strengthen human rights in the Philippines by focusing on three predominantly indigenous communities.  It aims to help them better monitor and report human rights violations, while advocating for the realisation of their rights. The project also works with local police and military to ensure that human rights standards and practices are integrated into their operations.

Jointly run by the New Zealand Human Rights Commission (NZHRC) and the Commission on Human Rights Philippines (CHRP), the project was officially launched at a signing ceremony on Waitangi Day in Manila. 

Initiated by Prime Minister Helen Clarke and Philippines President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in May 2007, the signing formalised the commitment of both countries to work together to deepen understanding and respect for human rights in the Philippines.

Funded through NZAID’s Government Agencies Fund, the NZ$980,000 programme will also strengthen the capability of the CHRP and National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP) to promote and protect the human rights of indigenous peoples.

For more information contact patrice.tan@mfat.govt.nz

	A peer educator provides information about reproductive health to members of a Cham community in Binh Dinh province, Viet Nam

A maternal child health project supported by NZAID has successfully increased the use of reproductive health services in Viet Nam’s Binh Dinh province. The province's Department of Health estimates that across the whole province 95 percent of births are assisted by trained medical workers and almost 99 percent of pregnant women receive at least three health checks prior to delivery. 

NZAID's focus in Binh Dinh is on improving the health of ethnic minorities and remote communities, and their access to reproductive health services. In the three years since the project started, health checks in these ethnic communities have jumped from 64 to 84 percent, so there’s still room for improvement.

Wellington-based NZAID Development Programme Officer, Sokha Mey recently visited Vinh Son, one of the most remote communes in the province and discussed with commune health workers the challenge of reaching out to ethnic minority villagers. Perhaps because of its remoteness (the district hospital is one and a half hour’s drive from the commune health centre) the number of clients using Vinh Son's health centre is higher than most.  An increased number of women are giving birth at the commune health centre, or at home assisted by a midwife, and there were no cases of maternal mortality in 2007. Infant immunisation rates are high and child malnutrition is reducing. 

A nurse at the health centre, Dinh Thi Nguyen, said that there had been significant changes in the past thirty years that she's been working there. "The most important change is that I can improve my skills in examination, treatment and delivery to improve my work", she said.

The Maternal Child Health project in Binh Dinh province is in its final year of implementation and a final evaluation will be held in October and November.

For more information contact john.egan@nzaid.govt.nz

The New Zealand Government Agencies fund supports New Zealand government agencies to carry out development activities that align with government Official Development Assistance (ODA) priorities and are outside the focus of NZAID. 

The fund offers government departments, agencies and statutory authorities undertaking non-commercial activities the opportunity to access ODA resources in order to undertake activities in their areas of expertise that:

• Contribute to capacity development through transferring skills and expertise to developing country partners, in particular public sector counterparts
• Support the development of long-term strategic partnerships between New Zealand government agencies and their counterparts in partner countries
• Provide technical assistance to developing country partners, in particular public sector counterparts to improve delivery of their core services

NZAID is now accepting bids for the sixth round of the New Zealand Government Agencies Fund.

Full guidelines, criteria and application forms can be found on the NZAID website at www.nzaid.govt.nz. Proposals must be submitted by Friday 11 April 2008.