Sam Chittick - What will Covid-19 mean for The Philippines?

Welcome to Episode 97 of Good Will Hunters, brought to you by Good Will Media. I’m your host Rachel Mason Nunn. Today is the first in a two part series with country representatives from the Asia Foundation. In this interview, I speak to Sam Chittick, Country Representative for the Phillipines. I really enjoyed this discussion for a few reasons. Firstly, Sam and I discuss the role of the private sector in achieving development in the Phillipines, and how dialogues are helping to bridge the gaps between government, private and NGOs. We then discuss the social impacts of Covid-19 in the Phillpines on households that were already experiencing poverty, including the loss of livelihoods and the decision of President Rodrigo Duterte to stop any children going back to school until a vaccine is available. On this note, we discuss the challenges of running an aid program under the Duterte Presidency. Lastly we discuss the decision made by the Australian Government to scale back our aid investments in much of Asia, and Sam’s view on whether this is in the best interests of the Phillipines or not. Now before I go, there are two upcoming events I want to tell you about. The first is the Pawa Liklik NGO Forum which is in two days, on Wednesday 30 September! It is a free event for anyone working in or interested in the development sector, run by my wonderful friends at the Kokoda Track Foundation. It’s not too late to sign up, just visit the link in our show notes. https://www.pawaliklik.community The second is the Oceania Connect Conference, hosted by ACFID, in partnership with the New Zealand Council for International Development and the Pacific Islands Associated of Non Gov Organisations, or PIANGO. The conference will be held virtually this year from 27 - 30 October. It is one of my favourites events for our sector each year, and I’m honoured to be hosting a very exciting panel this year which I’ll tell you more about in the coming weeks. Again, you can buy your ticket via the link in our show notes - this one is not to be missed! https://acfid.asn.au/content/oceania-connect-2020 I’d love to hear your take on the discussion - please visit our social media pages or you can tweet me directly. The links are in the show notes. www.goodwillmedia.com.au https://twitter.com/RachelMasonNunn Enjoy the episode, The GWH Team