Over 20 per cent of people in Pacific Island Countries (PICS) live in hardship, meaning they are unable to meet their basic needs. Increasing risks from natural and economic shocks also mean many traditional safety nets may not be as effective as they have been in the past.

Two new reports shed light on these issues both in the Pacific and worldwide, the World Development Report for 2014, Risk and Opportunity: Managing Risk for Development and a new World Bank report, sponsored by the Australian aid program, Hardship and Vulnerability in the Pacific.

At the Australian launch of both reports we found out the latest thinking on risk and risk management both worldwide and in our region.

Kyla Wethli is a World Bank economist and a lead author of the World Bank flagship World Development Report 2014, Risk and Opportunity: Managing Risk for Development. Kyla has a BSc in Government and Economics and an MSc in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Dr Truman Packard holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. He was a lead author of the new Hardship and Vulnerability in the Pacific report, and will present the key findings from that report.

Dr Michael Carnahan holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Michael will introduce the session.

This lecture was presented by the Development Policy Centre at Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University.