Peter Bowden: Institutional advisory work
Dr Bowden has advised governments and the international agencies - United Nations, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and the bilateral agencies of England, US and Australia, on a multi-disciplinary basis, as well as a number of private companies, large and small. Most analyses are confidential to the country or agency concerned.
For sampling of this work, in over 30 countries, click on a topic of interest:
- Environment and Conservation
- Economic and Institutional Development
- Legal Institutions, Law and Order
- Education and Training
- Forestry
- Transport
- Health
- Poverty Alleviation and Community Development
- Economic and Financial Management
- Private Sector Development
- Multi-disciplinary Research
* Indicates sole responsibility or leader of a small multi-disciplinary advisory group.
Environment and Conservation
China: Advisory work on institutional components of a water & air environmental project in four cities in Hubei Province;
Papua New Guinea:* Design and partial supervision of a strengthening program for the Office of Environment and Conservation;
Papua New Guinea: Australia based Project Director (1994-96) on a conservation project for the Queen Alexandra Birdwing butterfly - the world's largest;
Solomon Islands:* Insitutional assessment & preliminary strengthening proposals for Ministry of Forests, Environment & Conservation.
Economic and Institutional Development
Bhutan:* Development of a public sector management and human development program;
Cocos Is.: Identification of business development opportunities;
Mongolia and Laos: Developmental concepts for these countries, undertaken for the UN;
Pakistan: Identification of policies and institutional factors in strengthening human development capacities in the country. Concentration placed on education, health, civil service training, and central/provincial financial relations;
Papua New Guinea: Assessment of public sector administrative capabilities;
PNG, Belize*, Marshall Is*, Tonga*, Tuvalu*: Separate multi-sector analyses. Key concerns were financial issues between the centre & provinces, education & public service training, health of local communities, immigration, economic & financial management, development of outlying regions, and human development issues;
South Pacific: (i) Analysis of decentralisation and local government initiatives in 10 countries for the UNDP's Human Development Report; (ii) Assessment of a review of the ADB's role in public sector reform in five South Pacific countries;
Thailand*: Evaluation systems for the Auditor General;
Washington DC*: Methodologies for establishing the institutional capabilities of a country, (World Bank, 1990, updated 1999, currently being updated again).
Legal Institutions, Law & Order
Papua New Guinea: Feasibility of strengthening legal institutions in the Courts, Attorney General's and Ombudsman Commission;
Member of appraisal groups for strengthening the police and legal institutions.
Education & Training
Indonesia: Development of a major improvement program in five universities in the Eastern Islands;
Fiji, Solomon Is, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Tonga: Evaluation of EDI (Economic Development Institute of the World Bank) training program in these countries;
Pakistan, PNG, Belize*, Marshall Is*, Tonga* Tuvalu: Multi-sector institutional analyses which have included the Departments of Education;
Papua New Guinea, Thailand, Indonesia, Belize, Solomon Is., Fiji,
Vanuatu: Presentation and training courses undertaken for projects in these countries;
Samoa:* Strengthening t teaching and administration of the Samoa Polytechnic;
Southern Africa - Tanzania, Zambia, Kenya: Assessing the role of universities in development;
Vanuatu:* Public Sector training needs analysis.
Forestry
Indonesia*, Sri Lanka*: Development of monitoring and evaluation systems for the Tropical Forest Action Program;
Papua New Guinea: Member of assessment panels on forestry projects;
Solomon Is.*: Institutional strengthening, Ministry Forests, Environment and Conservation;
Vanuatu*: Organisational restructuring for the Department of Forests.
Transport
Papua New Guinea: Road upgrading analysist;
Philippines: Transport sector management study;
Samoa:* Institutional strengthening and privatisation program, Public Works Department, the authority responsible for roads & drainage.
Health
Tonga, Fiji, Solomon Islands:* Country-wide evaluations of health promotion through rural theatre, including the role of the Departments of Health.
Poverty Alleviation & Community Development
China: member, NGO projects assessment for Australian aid;
Solomon Is.: Institutional strengthening of the Solomon Islands Development Trust &endash; in association with a Netherlands NGO;
Sri Lanka: Appraisal and supervision a multi-year micro-enterprise development credit program;
Bangladesh: Institutional appraisal of rural micro-credit and poverty alleviation project;
Philippines, Indonesia, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Nepal:* Six country study of NGO contribution to rural development.
Board member, Australian Foundation for Asia & Pacific (1988-2000). Undertook projects in Fiji, Solomon Is, Tonga, Vanuatu;
Member, Development Projects Committee, Community Aid Abroad (1980-1983); Founding Chairman, International Development Support Services (1987-88).
Economic & Financial Management
Papua New Guinea: Evaluation of UNDP/World Bank project to strengthen central & provincial economic and financial management capabilities, (World Bank);
Samoa: TAP member on Treasury strengthening project (AusAID).
Private Sector Development
Taught, consulted and written on development strategies for private sector firms and on role of government in privatisation and development of the private sector, including small businesses and micro-enterprise programs.
Multi-disciplinary Research
Early career appointments were initially as a civil engineer, and subsequently with Stanford Research Institute, a research institute started by Stanford University and now known as SRI International. Was its director in Australia, coordinating SRI's work in the physical and life sciences, economics, management and the information sciences.
