February 2016Newsletter THE MONTHLY NEWSLETTER FOR SYDNEY DEVELOPMENT CIRCLE

HELLO AND WELCOME to the first edition of the Sydney Development Circle’s newsletter for 2016. Here we aim to keep our members informed of what’s new in the Sydney development world. Feel free to keep in touch with us, we love hearing from our members!

What’s new in February

1. New Sydney Convenor!2. 2016 strategic planning day3. Floating fundraiser for Congo, 3 April4. Tectonic shifts in the development sector5. Social networking event, 29 February

New Convenor for Sydney Development Circle!

In early February, after two years as Convenor of SDC, Patricia Garcia stepped down from this role to focus on her research and publishing. Thank you Patricia for all your hard work; you will missed! The new Convenor is Michael Nest, who has worked in the area of governance, accountability and corruption prevention for 20 years, including on international development projects for DFAT, USAID and GIZ in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, as well as in dedicated anti-corruption roles in East Timor and Australia. He has authored three books related to development issues, including Coltan (Polity Press, 2011) about efforts to reform the global supply chain for conflict minerals.

Michael works as a consultant focusing on public sector reform and building organisational capacity to improve decision-making around transparency and accountability, especially in the mining sector.

SDC’s 2016 Steering Committee includes: Patricia Garcia, Dean Wood, Valentina Baú, Caitlin Barrett, Samantha Chivers, Priya Shaw, Kiran Hutchinson, Robyn Hutchinson,

Lucy Hobgood-Brown and Yordanos Negassy.

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If you are interested in being part of our dynamic group, please contact sydney@developmentcircle.org

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2016 STRATEGY PLANNING

On Sunday, February 7th, the SDC steering committee met to discuss last year’s actions and plan for the future.

For more than 8 years, SDC has been growing as a successful social network and knowledge sharing platform to connect with people in the international aid and community development sectors. The Committee discussed past actions that were useful and popular, and brainstormed new events for the coming year.

We crafted a new organising structure, so everyone in the Committee would have a role with responsibilities. We’re working on improving our communications, spreading the word through facebook and twitter, and building partnerships with like-minded groups.

Debating the plan for the next three years was exciting and challenging. Everyone had brilliant ideas on where they wanted SDC to go, and contributed novel ideas. We were particularly excited by the discussion on working with our members to advocate for change and build awareness of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Committee is currently working on a calendar of events for the upcoming year.

Our planning day was kindly facilitated by Sharon McGann, a longtime friend of SDC who brings

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many years of experience as a professional Facilitator.

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CONGO FUNDRAISERPlease join SDC members Dr Vera Sistenich and Lucy Hobgood-Brown on

Sunday, April 3 2016 for a floating fundraiser benefiting the first emergency medicine education project in the Democratic Republic of

Congo.

What a contrast between these two boats… the overloaded canoe is how the majority of Congolese travel, while we in Australia have the pleasure of travelling by ships like the one pictured above. Radiance of the Seas, a Royal Caribbean International vessel, is contributing to leading change in a less privileged part of the world, by hosting an April 3 floating fundraiser on Sydney harbor benefiting Congo. Enjoy a 3-course lunch on board the ship, African-inspired entertainment, VIP ship tour and a silent auction. Tickets are $60 for lunch or $80 if a tour is included. Matthew Neuhaus, Assistant Secretary of DFAT’s Africa Branch, and former Ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo, will be a special guest and share his views on “Why Africa is important to Australia”. Vera Sistenich will share the plans underway to introduce life-saving medical training to Congolese health care professionals. This emergency medicine education program is the first in Congo, a nation of more than 70 million people who have access to few ambulances and no paramedics. Vera and Lucy will leave shortly after the fundraiser for Congo, where Vera will conduct resuscitation and other emergency medicine skills in hospitals in six provinces. Please follow the link for bookings:https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/all-aboard-for-congo-tickets-21108691665 For more information contact Lucy Hobgood-Brown: 0417 272 101 or lucy@claypartners.com.

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TECTONIC SHIFTS IN THE DEVELOPMENT SECTOR2016 promises to be a challenging year for the development sector. Tectonic shifts are occurring as the government promotes more and more private sector involvement in project delivery and program design, and makes funding for some projects dependent upon partnerships between businesses and NGOs – a trend already entrenched in Indigenous Affairs. Paths of entry into the development sector will be shaped by these changes, as DFAT seeks graduates who do not fit the profile sought by AusAID. Changing recruitment patterns will have a flow-on effect across universities’ development studies programs as DFAT, NGOs, project management firms and other development stakeholders will look for recruits with non-traditional development experiences. The Sydney Development Circle will organise a series of events to illuminate these changes and their impact on the sector, especially new opportunities for jobs and funding.

SOCIAL NETWORKING EVENT

The year starts with a social networking event on Monday 29 February, 6-8 pm, including an overview of development sector changes for 2016 – including funding, project management, jobs and recruitment – followed by a facilitated ‘speed networking’event. Opportunities will be available for volunteering, mentoring, meeting the new SDC

committee, and pitching ideas for events.

When: 6-8 pm, Monday 29 FebruaryWhere: Door 1, 2 Arundel Street, Forest Lodge Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Sydney

Please bring something to drink or a snack to share.

Register via Eventbrite (registration is free, but entry is by donation): $5 at the door for students; $10 for non-students.

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https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/social-networking-event-sydney-development-circle-tickets-21606859699

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