The experience of war leaves countries with a mixed legacy: a lack of basic needs for survival but astonishing survival capacities; a complex legacy of emotions encompassing violence and distrust but also intense solidarity and, sometimes, pride. How can Australia assist countries emerging from conflict in the key tasks of reconciliation and rebuilding? How can outsiders best lend a hand in order to strengthen existing capacities, without overwhelming them? In this forum, we discuss Australia’s post-conflict engagement with Cambodia and Timor-Leste, as a means to identify positive outcomes and to learn lessons from the future.

Venue

Theatre, State Library of Western Australia, Perth Cultural Centre , 25 Francis St , Perth, WA 6000

Date & time

Wednesday, 9 June 2010 5:30 PM

Featuring

Caroline Hughes - Director of Asia Research Centre Murdoch University Associate Professor Caroline Hughes is Director of the Asia Research Centre and Associate Professor of Governance Studies in the School of Social Sciences and Humanities at Murdoch University. She is a graduate in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from the University of Oxford and she obtained her MA and PhD as an ESRC Scholar at the Centre for South East Asian Studies, University of Hull, in the UK. Caroline’s research interests focus on two related questions: the politics of post-colonial state-building in South East Asia; and the politics of post-conflict reconstruction and international aid policy. In pursuit of these interests, she has conducted a number of studies on the ways in which international aid politics and policy prescriptions relating to human rights, democracy promotion and ‘good governance’ have affected indigenous processes of state-building and concstruction of state-society relations. To date her field research on these questions has been focused on two post-conflict countries in South East Asia: Cambodia and Timor-Leste.
Emma Leslie - Director, Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies As an Australian citizen, Emma has worked on peace, conflict transformation and development throughout the Asia Pacific region since 1993. In 1997 she moved to Cambodia and in the same year helped to found the regional network of Action Asia. Since then she has held the post of Secretariat to the Action Asia network as well as being the course director of the Applied Conflict Transformations Studies MA program. Emma has extensive advisory experience and works as a consultant, practitioner and trainer on conflict transformation and peacebuilding issues in Asia. She has conducted a number of conflict analysis trainings in Eastern Europe, Africa and throughout Asia, holds a Masters degree in International Development and was one of the thousand peace women nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005.
Dr. Helder da Costa - Senior Advisor, National Directorate for Aid Effectiveness, Timor Leste Dr. Helder da Costa is currently a senior advisor to the Government of Timor-Leste’s National Directorate for Aid Effectiveness within the Ministry of Finance. In April, Dr Da Costa and his team at the Ministry of Finance organised the Dili International Dialogue on Peace building and State building attended by some 45 countries including both developed and fragile states. Dr Da Costa earned his PhD in Trade Policy at the University of Adelaide, South Australia in 2001. He has over 15 years of management experience and 12 years of work in the academic and development fields. Dr Da Costa’s professional career includes 6 years of senior posts with both the Asia New Zealand Foundation and Volunteer Service Abroad (VSA) based in Wellington, New Zealand as a Tertiary Education Manager and the Asia Programme Manager overseeing 5 countries in Asia (Bhutan, Lao PDR, Viet Nam, Cambodia and Timor-Leste). He has also consulted for various international development agencies over the past 10 years including UNDP, UN, ADB, World Bank, AusAID and ACIAR Australia.
Moderator Dr Jane Hutchison – Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Studies, Murdoch University Jane is Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Studies and a Fellow of the Asia Research Centre at Murdoch University. She is co-Chair of the Development Studies Program, Member of Asia Research Centre Management Committee, and Alternate Chair of the Student Appeals Committee. Jane’s research interests cover urban land reform and poverty in the Philippines, particularly the political economy of currently proposed slum-eradication programs. She has written various journal articles and book chapters on these themes, and is the co-editor of Organising Labour in Globalising Asia. Since 2004 she has been a member of the Oxfam Australia Board and since 2008 Chair of the Board's Governance Committee.
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