Comments

great writing, great insights, keep going Busa

Hello Mikaela. Thank you for writing this interesting piece. Your passion for healthcare in PNG is clearly evident in the piece and you provide some useful examples. I have been conducting research on mobile phones in PNG for several years, including research into the use of mobile phones in the health sector. The best example of this is a maternal health hotline in Milne Bay Province. The toll-free service allows health workers in the province to call free-of-charge to the labour ward at Alotau Provincial Hospital at any time of the day or night. Information on the project, including published research, is available at: https://www.ahawatson.com/maternal-hotline . Western Highlands Provincial Health Authority established a health call centre, hiring a team of nurses to work on shifts, and making the phone number available to members of the public as well as health workers. This ambitious project did not last and I am at present conducting research into the reasons why some projects continue whilst others don’t work out. In your post, you mentioned my research in Orora village. Just a note that villagers were talking about household AM/FM radios, not HF/VHF radios, when they said that their radios were not always working. I can tell you though that there was no access to any HF/VHF radio in or near Orora when I conducted research there in 2009. Thanks again for your post. Amanda 🙂

Hi Terry. I think your raise a very important point. My article sought to defend the role of facilities – i.e. multi sector programs – in the mix of instruments that DFAT uses in partner countries. I did not intend to defend the role of private contractors versus NGOs. Once DFAT has decided to use a facility, then I think it is very important that DFAT’s procurement processes don’t inherently favour one group over another – because, of course, there could be contexts in which these facilities are best run by an NGO rather than a contracting firm. DFAT needs to choose who implements these programs based on which organisation or group of organisations will provide the best value. Having said that I do believe that DFAT run their procurement processes very effectively.

Thanks Jacqui for the thoughtful analysis of the role of private contractors. Ultimately I think the strongest argument for or against private contractors is not all the theoretical stuff above but a simple calculation: Which model has the best ratio of inputs vs long term impacts? It may be that the best model is yet to emerge: a not-for-profit body playing the coordinating role that you describe above.

This is a solid analysis of both Fiji's diplomacy and COP multilateralism, thank you for the interesting insights George.

It is good to hear that the promise of mobile health is actually working for CHWs in PNG. Do you think its use is best maximised when there is a doctor/medical professional formally available on the other end to provide regular tele-health services? Really interesting piece, thanks Mikaela.

Thanks Garth for your comments on this post (and apologies for the slow reply - I've recently relocated to PNG and have been busy starting a new job, so only just saw these comments). I agree with your assessment that overall the CDI remains a valuable tool for the international development community. Thanks also for your helpful explanation of the way in which changes in commitment relate to changes in scoring.

Thanks Carmen, great article on the life there! We operate a business from Australia in PNG and we were there last week again, things are improving with time!

Hi Richard, Thanks for this update. The movement away from a scholarships model to a hybrid whereby students pay for part of the education they receive seems sensible, but also runs the risk of prohibiting those without the means to pay for their education up-front. Was there any consideration of a HECS style loan system to negate this risk? Or does that provide too many complications for a scheme that appears to be going through some significant restructuring in phase 3? Cheers, Jonathan

A terrible, ongoing problem which needs a more radical approach, rather than pussyfooting. Maybe the time for political correctness is over and a straightforward discussion around the question of whether 'PNG is the most dangerous place in the Pacific to be a woman' (as the literature suggests). It admittedly doesn't sound as fancy as 'National Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender Based Violence and Sorcery'. But the 'Action Plan' is mired in inaction, anyway, as indicated by: 'response from national leaders and influential actors' to this medieval practice is muted. After the initial shock (if the killings still shock) leaders return to their merry ways. Indeed, the article raises some serious questions: if there is no public outcry, is the population too becoming numb to such atrocities? Women appear trapped in a cycle of violence and death —even modern educated women suffer in silence until the end. Is inaction by the state emboldening men to bully, imprison, abuse and murder women almost at will? The article suggests that like government, media attention is also fleeting. It seems PNG women are on their own. Trapped, hounded, beaten, enslaved and murdered in gruesome manner — for good measure — with little, if any hope, and no escape in sight.

That's right Terence, most NGO's don't provide a clear advertisement on the transformations that they create through child sponsorship. Every sponsor has the right to know what changes does their contribution makes to the orphan/un-privileged children and they must know. Hope there still exists the NGO's like ActionAid that are transparent to their sponsors providing the complete transformation.

When you say "energy" you mean "electricity generation" - as none of the Pacific NDCs include targets or commitments for the energy used in the transport sector apart from Marshall Islands - despite the transport sector being single largest user of fossil fuels and arguably largest source of emissions. And all the donor funding to date has been targeted to electricity generation with only one exception (again project in RMI)