The award was accepted by the coordinator and author of the book Jennifer Rush and Coffey’s PNG Country Manager Neville Saunderson.
The AES Awards for Excellence in Evaluation are significant peer recognition for leading evaluators, leading evaluations and evaluation best practice in Australasia (Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Region). The Chair of the AES Awards for Excellence, Mr Peter Bycroft, praised the high quality of the nominations for this award and recognised the hard work of the APNGIF team in producing such high quality publication contributing to knowledge sharing and best-in-class evaluation practices. The evaluation expert on the Incentive Fund, Jenny Rush, is to be congratulated for her dedication and the work she did to develop and coordinate this publication.
Funded by AusAID and managed by Coffey International Development, APNGIF has supported the construction of hospitals wards, teachers’ houses, classrooms, libraries, clinics, university facilities, computer laboratories, markets, wells and water systems, roads and a bridge.
The success of this eight year program (2000–2008) was the result of collaboration and direct engagement with communities across PNG to help them achieve the outcomes they wanted through initiatives they generated. These infrastructure projects were awarded to PNG-based organisations and more than 100 small local contractors were provided with work. This illustrates what can be achieved and sustained when there is investment and participation in meaningful development partnerships.
The stories in the book are, quite simply, fascinating. Whether it be the construction of a new market to provide a safe and clean environment for women who are now growing in confidence about earning their own income, or ensuring high schools girls have safe dormitories and lights to study by at night, each story highlights the pitfalls, triumphs and ultimately, incredible achievement of the programmes.
Several Papua New Guineans were present at the AES annual awards dinner and they were especially proud that their stories were recognised by an international organisation for their importance, relevance and quality.
For more information, visit the APNGIF website.
