AusAID and ADRI

ADRI has performed strongly in the AusAID Development Research Awards Scheme (ADRAS) 2012 Funding Round, results of which were released this month.

As part of their work, AusAID funds research through partnerships with Australian, international and developing country institutes, competitive grant schemes, direct grants, and by commissioning research. ADRAS was designed to support such efforts around the following themes:

•     Africa
•     Disability-inclusive development
•     Education
•     Gender
•     Mining for development
•     Scholarships
•     Water, sanitation and hygiene.

AusAID received well over 500 applications from a wide range of research organisations and from a variety of countries, especially from throughout the Asia Pacific region. From these, the ADRAS Research Selection Committees shortlisted 102 applications, and ADRI members Prof Matthew Clarke, Dr Ruth Jackson, Dr Jonathan Ritchie and ADRI Director David Lowe received funding totalling $1.8 million over the next two years:

David Lowe's and Jonathan Ritchie's collective expertise on Australia in world affairs will undoubtedly shine through in their assessment of post-scholarship leadership, networks and linkages with Australia after 50 years of scholarships to Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. Their project investigates the oft-repeated proposition that students sponsored for Australian-based tertiary study develop linkages with Australia that are mutually beneficial to Australia and partner governments.

Ruth's focus is on improving the use of maternal, neonatal and child health services in rural and pastoralist Ethiopia. Her research will develop and implement the peer ethnographic approach to improve the skills and capacity of Health Extension Workers (HEWs) and Non-government Organisations (NGOs) to encourage women in rural and pastoralist Ethiopia to give birth with skilled birth attendants.

Matthew is set to identify the needs and priorities of children with disability in Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea by establishing a method of data collection to determine the self-reported needs and priorities of children living with disabilities in these areas. It includes a focus on service delivery and policy actions in response to the findings.

Follow the progress of these and other various research projects.

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