AID/WATCH
Related Issues:
Fair trade;
Global poverty;
Globalisation ;
Access to information ;
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Why do we exist ?
AID/WATCH is a unique and independent organisation focusing attention on the environmental and social impacts and issues relating to aid, trade and debt. We represent a partnership of people campaigning for stringent social and environmental standards and real transparency and accountability from development institutions.
What do we do ?
- Support people and communities in low-income countries to determine the future of their development.
- Ensure aid money reaches the right people and communities and is appropriate for their environment.
- Increase the accountability and transparency of aid, development banks and Export Finance and Insurance Corporation (EFIC) projects
- Monitor aid and trade projects and policies and ensure they have stringent environmental, ethical, social and cultural guidelines.
What opportunities do we have for young people ?
AID/WATCH is a youthful organisation with half of our permanent staff under the age of 30. However at any one time AID/WATCH can have up to 12 young people on internships or volunteering in the office on a range of great campaign and research activities. Our big hope for the future is to expand our program for young people to involve them in our overseas campaigning and to provide a unique experience of grassroots community organisations in the Asia Pacific region.
Young people are currently engaged in activities including:
- survey of politicians and the public called: 'Understanding Australian Aid: How much do you really know?' This will be used to enhance our 'Where is your aid money going?' campaign
- policy development—researching the Australian Government’s Aid policy, attending policy development forums and conferences and formulating AID/WATCH response to government policy,
- independent research projects focusing on particular areas of the Aid program including multilateral organisations and the impact of projects on local communities
- events management—the organisation of and participation in fundraisers, conferences and forums
- project management—writing their own projects, implementing them, co-ordination of others to assist with their project objectives
- lobbying & negotiations with government and our regional partners on issues of aid, trade and debt, and
- outreach campaigning to universities and the broader public.
This kind of experience is invaluable for young people who want future careers with a strong social justice, advocacy and/or change driven focus and there is huge scope for a diverse range of new initiatives.
Other Stuff
Test your knowledge of the Australian aid program and contribute to our ‘Where is your aid money going?’ campaign by responding to our online survey on Australian Aid. The survey can be accessed on our website
http://www.aidwatch.org.au and takes about 3 minutes of your time.
Become a member of AID/WATCH! The best way to contribute to the organisation is to be a part of it. Members receive our triennial newsletters and regular campaign updates and it is a great way to contribute to an active, independent and collective organisation. Membership rates are also reduced for students and young people.
Volunteer at AID/WATCH. If you have particular area of interest in aid and development that you would like to pursue or just want to donate a few hours of your time to a worthy cause be sure to enquire about our volunteer program.
