In a joint statement, ACFID, Australian Council of Social Service and the United Nations Association of Australia have welcomed the findings and recommendations of the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee’s Report on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Leading humanitarian organisations say Australia will suffer internationally if Senate recommendations for the Sustainable Development Goals are not taken seriously by the government.

This week, ACFID joins with a coalition of organisations to support the ‘Urgent Medical Treatment’ amendment moved and accepted in the Senate last year – if this Bill succeeds any offshore patient requiring further medical treatment will be moved to Australia at the behest of a panel of Australian doctors.

ACFID has published its submission to the Australian Government ahead of the 2019-20 Federal Budget which is due to be handed down on 2 April 2019. In the news, Australia’s record on emissions and sustainability is condemned by OECD review – Australia is not on track to meet its 2030 emissions targets under the Paris agreement and needs to bring its environment policies into line with the “scale of the challenge” the country is facing. Dr Helen Clark warns us on Devex that global agendas are set to fail unless something changes, and US spy agencies warn over China’s efforts to undermine the west, including the “bullying” of Pacific island nations in Australia’s backyard.

On the blog this week, Response Manager for the Australian Red Cross’ International Program, Jess Letch, tells how the Australian Red Cross promotes the rights, protection and inclusion of all people in humanitarian operations. In the news, Concetta Fierravanti-Wells has again managed to suggest to her Pacific neighbours that they can’t manage their own affairs, and also in the Pacific, there are questions being asked about the Australian government’s recent announcement of a multi-million dollar plan to fund Australian television content in the region.

Now available on ACFID’s YouTube channel are highlights from concurrent sessions during ACFID’s National Conference in October 2018, including the Preventing Sexual Misconduct and Safeguarding Human Rights session, which showcases examples of good practice and leadership from the ANGO sector and beyond. Scott Morrison’s historic Pacific Tour dominates aid and development news this week, with Australia and Fiji announcing a new partnership, and the PM announcing $500,000 in security and policing aid for Vanuatu.

As part of ACFID’s Spotlight on the Code series, Director, Programs and Institutional Relations for Islamic Relief Australia Simon Eccleshall discusses the relevance of rights-based approaches to development on the ACFID blog this week. Foreign Minister Marise Payne, who is in New Delhi for a regional geopolitical conference, entrenches the Coalition’s turn toward challenging Chinese funding by using its aid program to help build roads and bridges abroad. In the Pacific, authorities assess the damage as different weather systems have battered several countries, including PNG, Solomon Islands, Fiji and Marshall Islands.