Australia signs agreement with Bhutan on education and health

Updated on: Monday, May 28, 2012

An agreement signed on May 15 will allow Australia to commence volunteers’ placements in Bhutan before the end of the year. who will be assisting Bhutan in its development.
 
The programme will begin with around eight volunteers. The initial focus will be on education and health.  Each volunteer will work in Bhutan for a period of one to two years.  Volunteer placements will be managed by one of the three partner organisations – Australian Red Cross, Austraining International and Australian Volunteers International – contracted by the Australian Government.

Peter Varghese AO, Australia’s ambassador to Bhutan, said, after signing the agreement in New Delhi,  “There is a strong interest among Australians in volunteering in Bhutan. I expect this new programme to attract a large field of quality applicants. We hope it will grow over time.”
 
Australia is celebrating fifty years of development assistance to Bhutan this year. The volunteer programme marks the latest phase in Australia’s longstanding development relationship with Bhutan. The relationship began in 1962 when Bhutan attended the Colombo Plan meeting in Melbourne as an observer.

Australia’s current bilateral cooperation with Bhutan is centred on human resource development, mainly through scholarships. Australia’s assistance to Bhutan has increased significantly in recent years, from A$1m in 2001 to an estimated A$11m in 2012-13. A total of 389 Bhutanese students have studied in Australia on Australian Government funded scholarships since 2007.

The Australian Government has supported more than 12,000 Australians to volunteer in Asia, the Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, as part of the overseas aid programme since the 1960s. By contributing their time and skills, those volunteers have made a positive contribution to poverty reduction, sustainable development and cross-cultural understanding.
 

More Education news