Supporting inclusive growth in Papua New Guinea

The Quality and Technical Assurance Group (QTAG) supports Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) to improve the quality and performance of programmes that provide stability and inclusive growth in Papua New Guinea. Through strategic advisory evaluation, and quality assurance capability, QTAG works to inform DFAT and the Government of Papua New Guinea to facilitate informed decision-making. It also allows bilateral partners to exercise greater accountability for the performance and quality of their investments within DFAT's Governance, Subnational and Justice portfolios.

Challenges

The bilateral relationship between Papua New Guinea and Australia focuses on promoting effective governance by strengthening the public sector and rule-of-law to support Papua New Guinea's ongoing stability and economic growth. DFAT has engaged OPM as an independent voice to ensure aid investments are being well managed, achieving key goals and satisfying value-for-money. We provide robust analysis to inform strategy and adaptation across DFAT programming in Governance, and Justice portfolios.

As a major tool for improving and maintaining the quality of Australian assistance in Papua New Guinea, QTAG allows DFAT to manage risks associated with new models of programme delivery being implemented. This includes the large Governance Partnership, which aims for greater coherence and coordination of governance in Papua New Guinea - enabling programming that effectively responds to the country’s complex political and operating context. Since the closure of the large Governance Partnership, QTAG has supported the design and establishment of the new investments.

Our approach

We provide a range of services to DFAT including:

• conducting annual performance reviews of the Governance Partnership, assessing performance of each core element against its respective results framework;
• making recommendations on the adequacy of results frameworks and systems to achieve the desired programme outcomes;
• doing independent evaluations, designs or reviews as required by DFAT across the three portfolios; and
• providing quality assurance inputs by developing research and analysis to enhance strategic decision making and effective programming.

We have provided both desk and Papua New Guinea based advice on an ad hoc basis and supported the development of a Value-for-Money framework and organisational development reviews. Recent work includes:

• Governance Partnership Annual Reviews, including the final 2022 review;
• annual review cycles for the Institutional Partnerships Programme;
• the mid-term review of the Church Partnership Programme and design of the next phase; and
• independent review of the South Fly Resilience Plan

Outcomes

QTAG has provided key insights into the quality and performance of DFAT’s governance and justice investments in Papua New Guinea. Close and constructive working relationships with development and implementation partners have allowed QTAG to provide practical recommendations for improving governance arrangements, management systems, monitoring and evaluation, and gender and inclusion across the investments to improve accountability and performance.

QTAG analysis is informing design considerations for future governance programming in Papua New Guinea. It is assisting with both programme and facility-level analysis to support the work of both governments towards stability and inclusive growth in Papua New Guinea.