Comments

I don't understand why anyone is paying attention to the comments of Ms du Plessis-Allan. What qualifications and experience does she have to warrant these responses? She's a commercial radio announcer paid to provoke - is that a position where her views are worthy of respect? By responding you are giving the lady unwarranted status which would delight her ratings-hungry employer. Debate the issue - but by hearing from those with credibility.

The development of tourism in the Pacific island countries is certainly possible but imperfect government policy too often makes it improbable. In the past 35 years, I don't think I've read a single paper on PIC tourism that has been able to make the connection between tourism potential and the realities that private developers face in investing in tourism development in the islands. Please see my blog of February 13, 2012 "Islanders in business? There could be more if the policies and institutions were right" and the now many private sector assessments of the Private Sector Development Initiative: http://www.adbpsdi.org/p/what-is-psdi.html

A useful piece Lisa, and looking forward to the next two. On MEL you might want to take a look at our recent summary of a discussion on a related topic: https://asiafoundation.org/2018/09/12/monitoring-evaluation-and-learning-in-adaptive-programming-expanding-the-state-of-the-art/ or at this blog summary from Arnaldo Pellini: https://arnaldopellini.org/2018/06/21/mle-or-mel-in-adaptive-programming/ or Chris Roche's take: https://oxfamblogs.org/fp2p/simplicity-accountability-and-relationships-three-ways-to-ensure-mel-supports-adaptive-management/ thanks, Sam

Hi Lisa, I agree. Not all programs claiming to be adaptive are using TWP and PEA analysis. Those who are using those tools are doing so at various degrees and levels. My experience shows that those who are using those tools more often are driven by the need to understand the 'local context', and I also believe that those programs are in the front this work in PNG.

Thanks, that is a short and fairly accurate summary.

The GDP measurement challenge continues, and seems to be getting worse. Is there intentional misleading or is it mere ineptitude? Has an update been published?

Yes, that may well be true Stephen! My argument is about trying to make the most of what we've got (trying to get TA to work better, given there's so much of it), but you are right that this approach does run the risk of continuing to legitimise its use in the longer term.

The issue of whether there is too much TA in the Australian aid program (surely, yes) is quite different from whether enough of that TA is spent on actually doing useful things (surely, no). The problem with suggesting that there are other "fancy" things TA can do (like "joining the dots" as you suggest) or of giving approaches to TA labels such as adaptive is that this simply legitimizes further reliance on TA with little or no return. It becomes a form of whitewashing.

Hi Jeol Negin, I wanted to ask what your point of view is about the guidelines provided by WTO and OECD for poverty reduction through aid for trade?

Thanks Stephen - my TA line was a bit of a throw away and not well explained. I agree that there are instances where substituting capacity may be necessary (and where the importance of getting a task done immediately outweigh that of longer term capacity building). But the Australian aid program remains quite TA heavy and I think there is also a danger that TA are too often the default answer. My wider point, however, is that even if you are in a program with lots of TA (which may constrain your ability to adapt to some degree) there are a variety of roles that TA can play that you can adapt the program to as is appropriate.

Many thanks for your comments John - yes indeed, adaptive programming fundamentally requires a 'thinking and working politically' approach, informed by good political economy analysis. I'm not sure that all programs that claim to be adaptive live up to that in practice (would welcome your thoughts on that in the PNG experience!) but certainly that's the intention...

Thank you for all the insightful comments. Many have asked what is behind my arrest and the bullying of Prof. John Warren the Vice Chancellor of UNRE? Regrettably, some public universities in PNG operate like joint criminal enterprises, serving only the interest of Council members and selected senior staff. Foreign Vice Chancellor need to respect the law of the land and will always aim for compliance. This is what creates the push back. When the foreign Vice Chancellor tries to take corrective action, the Council reverses the decision. I dismissed somebody in the payroll section for stealing after internal investigations found evidence twice. Council put her back. The Councils are aware of the illegalities, but choose not to act so as not to upset anyone. The former Vice Chancellor for example misappropriated K575,000 of PIP infrastructure funding, as evidenced by an internal investigation shared with the Dept. of DHERST. Similarly, the Registrar had evidence from parents that large bribes were paid to a selection officer, but refused to act. Although there was enough prima facie evidence, senior staff refused to cooperate with any police investigations. The same senior staff in 2013, in my absence, monetized a travel allowance to the amount of 15% of base salary, which in their case amounts to an extra K5,000 to K10,000 per year. In June 2017 it became clear that this allowance was illegal, but the senior staff refused to cooperate in phasing it out. All staff gets practically free housing, and in November 2017 it became clear that taxes had to be paid on the imputed rent. The Councils like a weak Vice Chancellor and become rubber stamp machines for the Chancellor. These chancellors exercise authority without accountability, and like to call frequent council or council committee meetings so that they can travel and receive per diems. If there is a Chancellor who correctly understands his role, he is perceived as "weak". It is truly not easy to fix University governance in PNG, but without a solution the learning experience for the students will remain abysmally bad.