Australia's decision to cease bilateral aid to Pakistan by 2020-21 has been met with dismay by those working in the aid sector.
In its document by the Department of Foreign Trade and Affairs, “Aid Program Performance Report – Pakistan 2018 -19” the government says that the aid funding is being redirected to meet “new commitments in the Pacific.”
“This has reduced bilateral aid to Pakistan from $39.2 million in 2018-19 to $19 million in 2019-20 and funding for bilateral programs will fully cease in 2020-21.
But why Pakistan? Was it just a shift in policy towards Pacific or were there other factors involved?
Australia's aid cut to Pakistan Source: SBS
Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi has termed the cut, a “backwards step” and called for the reversal of the decision.
"The brutal impact of aid budget cuts to vital programs in Pakistan and South Asia will be borne by the people most in need - women and children. This is unacceptable."
CEO of the Australian Council for International Development, Marc Purcell calls it a “nonstrategic decision.”
"Once we end that bilateral relation with the Pakistani government we vacate the space. Others will take our place and we can’t go back in five or ten years in time and say, ah, we made a mistake.
The brutal impact of aid budget cuts to vital programs in Pakistan and South Asia will be borne by the people most in need - women and children. This is unacceptable -Mehreen Faruqi
"The aid program brings very tangible benefits to the government in working together. You get to cooperate and you get to know each other and you can leverage that to the benefit of both countries.
"The aid relationship which is important in a way that we can have a dialogue with officials in Pakistani government; we are sacrificing that. Our influence will diminish and the relationship is lessened and I don’t think that is good for Australia and the people of Pakistan."
We have spent over a decade as a combatant in neighbouring Afghanistan. Pakistan is critical to that conflict and its resolution there. Many Australians have contributed and some have lost their lives.
Bilateral aid to Pakistan
Australia has been providing aid to Pakistan for the past 70 years focusing on generating sustainable growth and employment and investing in Pakistan's people through health and education.
The objectives of the strategy have been to empower women and girls, improve water, food and economic security, and support regional security.
Key achievements of aid-program in 2018-19
• Provision of food and cash transfers to over two million people affected by poverty, drought and internal displacement
• Agreement on a Memorandum of Understanding and action plan on Water Resource Management with the Government of Pakistan
• Supporting 1.2 million people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces to access justice, public services and business grants to recover from protracted conflict
Former Australian Prime Minister John Howard talks with schoolchildren at a makeshift school in an Australian relief camp in Pakistan, after Earthquake in 2005. Source: ASIF HASSAN/AFP via Getty Images
"Australia will continue to deliver aid in Pakistan through regional and global programs, such as the Australia Awards. We will focus on areas where Australia’s technical expertise and policy experience can add the most value to addressing Pakistan’s long-term development needs.
"This includes aid investments and policy engagement in gender equality, water resources management and humanitarian issues."
International NGOs face a tough time in Pakistan
In 2018, Pakistan asked 18 international aid groups to cease operations and leave the country. Several international NGOs were told to leave the country in December 2017 as well, but had since lodged appeals and continued work.
According to DFAT’s report, several NGOs (Non-governmental organisations) applications were rejected last year to work in Pakistan.
"Civil society space in Pakistan continued to shrink this year, despite persistent and high-level advocacy from the international community and Australia.
"Registration applications of numerous International NGOs (INGOs) were rejected. Many local NGOs faced obstacles, especially those funded by foreign donors and working on sensitive issues such as human rights or reproductive health."
Girls studying at a village near Lahore, in Punjab province, Pakistan. Source: Getty Images
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NGOs ordered to leave Pakistan
Oxfam Australia says the cutting of aid to Pakistan by the Australian government is a matter of concern.
“While Oxfam Australia’s programs in Pakistan – which focus on women and girls - won’t be directly impacted by this announcement, we are concerned by the current trend of cutting aid to countries like Pakistan in order to increase investment in the Pacific, as important as that is,” Anthea Spinks, Oxfam’s Director of Programs said.
There are still critical needs in Pakistan which need to be met by Australia’s aid program.
According to Dr Nadeem Malik from the University of Melbourne who has worked on international development programs, the Australian government may have looked at various factors including the treatment of humanitarian groups and charities along with the minorities in Pakistan in making its decision about the aid cut to Pakistan.
“Several factors played a role in this decision. For the Australian policymakers if they can’t channel aid through civil society in Pakistan which has significantly shrunk in recent times so why waste Australian taxpayers money.
Professor Stephen Howes, an expert on International aid from Australian National University, told that while it's difficult to comment on why the program has been eliminated it’s worth looking at programs in other countries that are being protected.
“Bangladesh is host to the Rohingya refugees that is a very important issue for Australia, while Afghanistan’s program is protected as we have troops there.
"If we look at Pakistan, there is no feature protecting it [the aid program], so in this case, it is vulnerable."
SBS Urdu contacted the Pakistan High Commission in Canberra, and DFAT but they declined to comment.
