Audrey Aumua, Charlotte Blundell, Michel Kerf on Lowy Institute Pacific Aid Map 2020

Summary: On Thursday 8 October, Lowy Institute's Director of the Pacific Islands Program, Jonathan Pryke, hosted a panel discussion on the economic devastation across the Pacific brought on by COVID-19–related lockdowns and restrictions. As the Lowy Institute releases the second annual update of its Pacific Aid Map, an analytical tool that collates and analyses data on all aid projects in the Pacific, join us to hear from regional experts and development partners about how the COVID-19 crisis is playing out in the Pacific. The panel consisted of Audrey Aumua, Deputy Director-General at the Pacific Community; Charlotte Blundell, Assistant Secretary for the Pacific Partnerships & Human Development Branch, DFAT; Alexandre Dayant, research lead of the Lowy Institute's Pacific Aid Map; Michel Kerf, World Bank Country Director for Papua New Guinea and the Pacific Islands; and moderator Jonathan Pryke, Director of the Lowy Institute Pacific Islands Program.