Comments

I really like this article. I can only hope that this type of 'practical' and 'useful' approach to evaluations are integrated into Australian government aid policy.

When did all 99-year land lease cease in PNG, especially land acquired during Australian administration of PNG since 1906? What will happen to a land title when the lease is over? Do traditional landowners have the right under certain laws to acquire their title from a defunct company deregistered by the company's registrar?

Thanks Tobias and congratulations for tackling a difficult political issue. Apart from the access to force or violence, the analysis of the lack of transmission of PFM reform efforts into service delivery outcome improvements is consistent with my most recent experience in Lao PDR. And the rent generating opportunities are multiplied in decentralised settings. The three guiding principles are useful, and although it may be difficult for donors and other stakeholders to explicitly accept the provision of compensation for the surrender of rent entitlements, there may be more nuanced means available to compensate the losers.

Thanks! Road maintenance involves remedying defects such as potholes that occur in the carriageway from time to time (corrective maintenance) and providing treatments such as crack sealing which will slow the rate of deterioration (preventative maintenance).

Nice piece. I have thought about the exact issue - sharing my research findings with the study participants, and have started sharing my findings as short public health information on my Facebook page. Thanks a lot.

Thank you Dr Rooney for this interesting blog post. I also shared my PhD findings with the people of the two key villages in Madang Province of Papua New Guinea where I conducted my research. For each village, I printed a bound version of the thesis and also asked the printers to create a hard cover box for the thesis in the same colour, to protect it in the village setting. I also took and left in each village the various publications, newspaper articles and so on that had mentioned the research. In each village, I gave an oral presentation, explaining the process and the findings in Tok Pisin, and introducing and passing around the various materials. The villagers were delighted that I had "brought the name of our village to the world", as they said it in Tok Pisin. I think they were thrilled to see their ideas and photographs of the village in print. Thanks again for this blog post. I will share it with the students in the research methods course that I am currently teaching at the University of Papua New Guinea. Dr Amanda H A Watson

Thankyou Andrea. Happy to engage with the blogs and share some of our learnings about adaptive programming. Looking forward to more discussions.

Thank you Margaret. It was interesting to read that some of the challenges you discuss in the Zambia context- research fatigue, helicopter researchers with preconceived ideas, and over researched communities - resonate with the PNG context. Thank you for sharing it.

Thank you Alice. I hope it helps. The more people I speak to I realise that this is something many researchers think about so it's good to know we are not alone.

Thank you Anna for your kind words. Still so much more we researchers can do to share our research with communities. Tenkiu tru

Hi Oliver, Thank you. I agree with you that simplicity is best. Glad you like these ones although I do wish I had the time to translate it as well as more time to workshop the research findings. I left several copies with different people and at the school and hope they will be used. I also left lots of paint and canvases at the school and hopefully the students might do some of their own posters - this, I would have loved to spend more time with. The Port Moresby GIS maps were prepared by the very excellent ANU CartoGIS team. Cheers, Michelle

Hi Elizabeth, Thank you. Interestingly village courts were only mentioned in very few cases). The table fees that women mentioned are mainly in reference the settlement komitis. The relationship between the various services is important and I think there is much more to be understood. We are hoping to get a few more emerging results out soon. I think there is a need for more understanding on how women navigate between the different services.