APGF & the Australian Greens International Development Committee

The Australian Greens International Development Committee was established 13 years ago to help assist and support the work of Green parties in Asia and the Pacific. In 2016, we extended our activities to the Middle East Greens. Through a grant received from the Federal Department of Finance, we redistribute these funds to new and emerging parties in our region, and to initiate training and in-country specific projects that they request.

Since we began, we have undertaken over 60 projects in-country. We’ve supported countries like PNG, Nepal, Indonesia and Lebanon with initiatives such as communications training; training in the build-up to regional or national elections; green schools and weekend training camps; and gender equity training and mentoring. We also assist with logistics in remote areas for delegates to attend national congresses, party events and trainings, as well as the Global Greens Congresses to be a part of the 105-party-strong Global Greens.

Through the activities of the IDC, parties learn cross-culturally from one another’s experiences. These are highlighted in study tours where delegates from the Asia Pacific Greens Federation (APGF) of parties come to Australia to exchange their experiences and to learn from our own history and experience. The India Greens party was set up after our 2016 study tour and described the learning on that tour as a roadmap for their own party to adapt and develop.

Senator Mehreen Faruqi beautifully summed up the critical nature of the work of the IDC when highlighting that our movement for global justice has never been more important. “The challenges we face are global; they are not confined within arbitrary geographical boundaries of nations, they stem from colonialism and from the Global North using a massive share of the Earth's resources,” she said.

“The brunt of this resource extraction and overconsumption is borne by those who were least responsible for it in the form of climate change and poverty. For us, Australian Greens, is it crucial to recognise these disparities and work with other representatives in the AGPF on their terms by learning more about their needs and contexts. One way to do this for a wealthy nation like Australia is by reframing the whole idea of international aid, not as charity but as reparations owed to those nations.”

The contribution the Australian Greens make through the work of the IDC is critical to the ongoing development of real Green parties in the region. Many of these parties are on the frontlines of some of our world’s most pressing crises – to play our part in helping to provide a genuine option for voters on these issues we value and encompass is priceless.

Michelle Sheather (AG International Development Committee Coordinator)