2006 Media Releases
Monday, 8 May 2006
New role for La Trobe University to boost regional development aid
La Trobe University has a key role in Australia’s new push to boost development aid in South Asia.
It has been awarded a contract to administer SARF – the South Asia Research Facility – a $1.5 million project to help provide long-term regional development aid through targeted research and doctoral scholarships.
SARF will also organise an annual conference to update AusAID on the latest development issues, including specifically commissioned research on key topics of their nomination.
The contract follows the establishment at the University late last year of the La Trobe Institute for India and South Asia (LIISA) and coincides with the Federal Government White Paper on overseas aid announced in late April by Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr Alexander Downer.
With other donor nations increasingly focusing on Africa, the world is looking to Australia to play a leadership role on certain development issues in the Asia Pacific region where some 700 million people still live in poverty and almost two billion on less than $2 a day.
The Director of SARF is La Trobe University’s newly appointed Adjunct Professor and Senior Development Adviser, Kenneth McPherson. Professor McPherson was formerly head of the Department of Foreign Affairs funded Indian Ocean Centre at Curtin University, WA, and a member of the government’s advisory body, the Australia India Council.
Announcing the appointment, La Trobe University Vice-Chancellor, Professor Brian Stoddart, said SARF has been set up under the Department of Foreign Affairs’ AusAID scheme and the Asia Pacific Futures Research Network of the Australian Research Council.
It supports research projects at Australian universities on Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, and provides a number of PhD scholarships for citizens of these countries to study at Australian universities.
Nominated research fields relate to basic services such as education, health care, water and sanitation; good government, which includes institution-building, local government and anti-corruption; the achievement of sustainable growth; HIV/AIDS; security and conflict issues affecting development; natural disaster mitigation; social exclusion and disadvantage; and natural resources.
One of SARF’s first tasks is to select candidates from the region for up to six PhD scholarships. The three-year scholarships are tenable at Australian universities with AusAID meeting full living allowances, fares and visa costs and the recipient Australian universities covering tuition fees and supervision.
For further information:
Tracy Lee, SARF Projects Officer, Tel: (61 3) 9479 2685 or
Email: t.lee@latrobe.edu.au