2015-02-02
Lucy Quarterman
As you may know, the Australian Political Parties for Democracy Program was abruptly cut without notice at the beginning of 2014 due to a change in government priorities. When it magically came back to life seven months later under the watchful eye of the Department of Finance, I was recruited to the role of International Development Officer, continuing in the hard-to-fill shoes of Rathi Ramanatham.
I have been a member of The Greens in Victoria for the past 12 years and have spent a decade working in the Humanitarian Aid and International Development sector. I was with Oxfam Australia for seven years working predominantly in the area of International Human Resources, during which I worked in countries such as East Timor, Guatemala and Afghanistan. Subsequently I was a consultant in the sector for five years working with a range of agencies such as Care Australia, Australian Volunteers International and the Australian Council For International Development (ACFID).
International Development Committee (IDC)
The IDC is made up of the AG National Manager, a representative from Party Room, a representative of the AG Cordinating Group, the AG International Secretary, a member of the Global Issues Group (GIG), the non-voting International Development Officer and up to three individuals with expertise in the area of international relations.
The IDC meets twice a month by teleconference and annually at a face to face meeting. The most recent face-to-face meeting took place in Melbourne in December. We were delighted to be joined at this meeting by Claire Waghorn-Lees, the new Asia-Pacific Greens Secretary and Keli Yen, the convenor of the Asia-Pacific Greens.
(Back row: Felicity Gray, Claire Waghorn-Lees, Brett Constable, Bob Muntz, Lucy Quarterman, Josh Wyndham-Kidd
Front Row: Keli Yen, Penny Allman-Payne, Rathi Ramanatham)
The Australian Greens have recently selected the three expert positions onto the IDC to join the existing members. We welcome Dr Elise Klein and Caroline Scott and welcome back Bob Muntz to the Committee. All three of these committee members have extensive experience in international development issues.
Caroline is a lawyer who has worked on Australian aid funded programs in the Pacific for the past six years. Elise completed her Doctorate from the Department of Development Studies at the University of Oxford and is now a lecturer and researcher at ANU. She founded and ran a community development organisation in Mali for 10 years and has undertaken various consultancies for multilateral and bilateral development agencies. Bob will be known to many through his active membership of the Australian Greens Victoria since 2002. He also has extensive work experience managing Oxfam development programs in the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.
Asia Pacific Greens Federation (APGF) Congress
Through the APPDP, the Australian Greens support the ongoing strengthening of the Asia Pacific Greens Federation (APGF) secretariat. APGF is a strategic partner for the Australian Greens IDC in providing support and capacity-building for a region-wide network of 'green' political parties and organisations. This strengthening support is primarily through the provision of a grant for the ongoing Secretary position and related operating costs within the APGF Secretariat.
APPDP funding is also helping to support the APGF Congress to be held in Wellington, New Zealand in June 2015.
A substantial grant is going to support the travel and attendance of non OECD delegates to Congress. The APGF Congress hopes to develop stronger organisational structures and processes that will enable improved functioning and growth of Green parties within the Asia Pacific region. More specifically, the plans for Congress are to adopt the APGF Constitution, to reform the membership rulebook, adopt strategic plans for the APGF going forward, facilitate networking amongst the region's membership, and host training and workshop sessions designed to meet the needs of APGF members.
For more information about the event, event registration and to apply for travel grant assistance, please go to the APGF Congress website.