Centre for International Development

The Centre for International Development at RMIT is a multidisciplinary research center with a collaborative focus on international development policy. The world is facing immense development challenges or shocks. While some of these shocks are environmental and some man made, they impact different people in different ways. For example, this small village has experienced a recent flood, while four resource management at a nearby mine has resulted in pollution entering the local river.

Bomas and Anay's family are resilient to the shock as they are far from the river and have an independent irrigation system. Abdul and Reyna are less fortunate. Their land is next to the river and the crops were destroyed by the flood. The pollution in the river has also poisoned the soil, rendering the land unfit for farming. With no money, Reyna is forced to move to the city to find employment.

Reyna works hard and sends money back to her family so her children can eat, but then a pandemic eat ups and Reyna's factory is forced to close, leaving her unemployed. With no income to send to her family, Reyna's children are forced to find work to survive. They end up in child labor where their health suffers and they contract disease. Reyna eventually finds employment as a made in a richer part of town. She can now send money back to her family again. However, her new employer is violent and abusive.

As you can see, some situations can go from bad to worse and patterns repeat over generations as inequality grows. The Centre for International Development looks at ways to reduce the impacts from these shocks, such as humanitarian assistance to help the village rebuild from disasters, social protection policies to transfer resources to the most vulnerable, growth and development for children to ensure adequate health and education. Trade, industry, innovation and economic development are also a focus, as well as crime and women's economic participation and culture and family support. Contact the Centre for International Development to find out more.