Simon Barns Email & Phone Number

Port Moresby, National Capital District, Papua New Guinea

Indonesia

Dhaka Bangladesh

Dhaka Bangladesh

Overseeing DFID Bangladesh’s largest programme – the £223 million strategic partnership agreement with BRAC. Key roles included overseeing results based monitoring of the investment with BRAC; supporting DFID’s contribution to aid effectiveness in Bangladesh, including coordinating DFID’s engagement with the Economic Relations Division and relationship building with Government of Bangladesh officials; and effective portfolio analysis of pooled trust funds and agreements with multilateral partners.

Canberra, Australia

Working in the Pacific infrastructure team, my roles included: supporting DFAT’s (then AusAID’s) engagement with Pacific Regional Infrastructure working group meetings, including preparation of analysis and briefings that supported DFAT’s engagement in the sector wide programme; negotiating co financed infrastructure activities with other development partners (World Bank and Asian Development Bank) and influencing design of projects to better address social safeguard/governance reforms; project management, including financial pipeline planning, negotiating terms of reference with consultants and managing multiple consultant contracts; and coordinating DFAT’s preparations for the annual dialogue with Government of Kiribati, included preparing a high quality written briefing pack for senior executives and, prior to dialogue, negotiating key issues for discussion and reaching consensus with senior partner government officials.

Canberra, Australia

Working in the Kokoda Initiative Program, I supported local Kokoda Track Authority staff to deliver livelihoods projects along the Kokoda Track, Papua New Guinea. This involved preparing project plans and budgets, engaging suppliers and visiting communities along the track to assess the effectiveness of projects. Through this role, I also guided local staff on preparing project reports that met requirements of donors/partner governments. The role also supported the delivery of the Australian Government’s $5 million Kododa Safety Package.