the OECD's 0.7% of GNI target, increasing its ODA by 27.8% on 2012 levels. In May 2016 the government handed down the 2016/17 federal budget which confirmed the final round of Australian aid cuts, $224 million or 7.4% of the Australian aid program. This was the sixth-largest cut in any one year of the aid program's history. Increases to the aid program over the forward estimates (the next four years) were pegged to the rate of inflation. Fairfax Media's Matt Wade reported that Australia's aid program, while only about 1% of budget expenditure, has made up around 25% of all budget cuts announced by the government for the period 2013–14 to 2018–19. The Lowy Institute's Jonathan Pryke reporte that these cuts have seen Australia tumble in international rankings and left Australia at an all-time low when it comes to its aid generosity as measured by aid as a proportion of Gross National Income. According to the OECD, 2020 official development assistance from Australia decreased by 10.6% to US$2.6 billion. Projects It operated programs in five separate regions: Papua New Guinea, South Asia (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka), East Asia (Burma, Cambodia, China, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Mongolia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam), the Pacific (the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu) and the Middle East (Afghanistan and Iraq). AusAID also ran the Australian Youth Ambassadors for Development program, a volunteer program allowing Australians aged 18–30 to volunteer for up to a year in countries throughout Asia and the Pacific. Past projects Past projects included bridging the Mekong River between Thailand and Laos with the Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge, and reintroducing the Przewalski's Horse (a Mongolian national symbol which had become extinct in the wild) to the nation. See also ASEAN Australia Development Cooperation Program Australian Civilian Corps Developmental Leadership Program Philippines–Australia Community Assistance Program References Further reading External links Historical (Links to documents containing answers to questions on notice.) Foreign relations of Australia Commonwealth Government agencies of Australia International development agencies Funding bodies of Australia