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it's effectively what was in place prior to the increase in project and then program assistance which progressively replaced budget aid in the early 1990s. In those days there were many overseas contract officers who were in inline positions on salaries well below the subsequent consulting rates, and who had direct responsibilities within the system, just like their PNG counterpart staff. At the time is was strongly suggested by some that the shift to project/program assistance, with all its associated program planning and oversight overheads, shuold take a different form. The Australians were increasingly concerned about weak accountability over budget aid by the Government of PNG, so introduced the programs partly as a way to increase accountability to the Australian (and PNG) public, but the programs greatly increased demands on the relatively weak capacity of the PNG government, especially with many staff being taken out of central agencies also to help manage the program from the AIDAB/AusAID/DFAT side. The suggestion was for a more compromise arrangement, which would still leave the PNG Government with some continued flexibility where to allocated funds and staff - and between overseas and local staff (as occurred under the previous Budget support), but to establish chains of oversight and accountability over those components of funding provided for specific activity, including the capacity to provide some shorter term support staff for specific functions, where needed (ie advisers) to complement funding inputs for PNG and longer term contract inline staff....training and advisory functions can be very useful for various specific functions, but one needs the flexibility, to be able to include a range of human and other resources to implement service provision by government..Of course, it also requires a clear understanding of what GoPNG shuold be funding and what the development partners should fund. Core functions shuold be undertaken by GoPNG, adn should be properly budgeted and accounted for, which also requires Govt avoids putting its money into status projects etc, and leaving core services often to be funded by donors (sometimes through church services etc)...the role of development partners should particularly be to assist in developing training and capacity building of the PNG institutions (and some physical infrastructure..so long as GoPNG commits to its maintenance); but human and institutional development by its nature does involve a fair amount of human input, without development partners being unduly burdened with funding routine staffing; but this input shuold be able to be provided from a range of PNG and overseas sources -including overseas volunteers, e.g. for teacher/teacher training etc, as required and as most cost effective.... But the shift needs to be well thought out and in close consultation..none of this silly business of announcing in November that one education system would replace another, before the successor curriculum has been prepared or teachers trained etc...!

Amanda, you have done well on using this method of data collection, it may work well for quantitative research methods. In quantitative research you are only collecting numerical data, and short answers that can be easily analysed. However, on the other hand, data as we know in PNG is not easily accessible because data is scattered and not easily stored in one particular place. For example, in the case of farm produce sold to supermarkets. The supermarkets receive supplies from farmers at random basis and from suppliers and not ant fixed amounts. that is an example of where researchers from outside PNG cannot understand and work out ways to analysis this kinds of data. Kind Regards Kuriya

I agree with much of what's been said. In my experience over nearly 15 years (2000-2014) at provincial level in PNG health as a Project Manager and TA, TA, PNG needs TA. Again, in my experience, this is both recognised and highly valued by local counterparts. With regard to 'accountability', the issue is not that TAs are 'unaccountable'. Papuan New Guineans are rightly concerned that Advisers work for and are accountable to donors etc not Papua New Guinea. They don't 'own' TAs and often talk of being sidelined, bypassed, ignored and reduced to 'spectators'. The current model for providing TA and other forms of aid is also not cost-effective. I'm not sure we've learnt the lessons of the past decade or so - or that we're even listening - and I'm disappointed more Papua New Guineans, especially from provinces, who are responsible for service delivery, are not contributing to the discussion and speaking out.

I am in agreement with Stephen Howes' analysis of strengthening governance and law and justice in PNG. I was one of the former civil servants in PNG right after independence (1980s-90s) and the process of training and capacity building for PNG public servants (succession planning) at that time was at its peak. I felt I was properly trained as I was well monitored and groomed. The preparation was to train as Assistant Secretary (AS) in all Divisions, and as I gained confidence I was moved to another Divisions in succession every three months or so to prepare me to move into the next level as First Assistant Secretary (FAS). At that time contracted civil servants were not only Australians but a mixture of expatriates from various countries. There were professions from New Zealand, Canada, USA, India, Singapore and so on who mingled with PNG nationals as colleagues rather than advisors. In-house training was on-going and the public service was thriving. There was enthusiasm in what we did - we were motivated despite the little salaries that I received for my efforts I was happy. I have visited PNG recently (from April - June 2015) and found the civil service had become stagnant; it lacked motivation and purpose - that is to serve the communities. Where I originate two three government funded projects had failed (the time I was there) as civil servants were unable to deliver; partly because of the rampant corruption in the procurement process, and partly because politicians kept stealing the show of service delivery, practically replacing civil servants. Clearly, civil servants in PNG have little purpose in service delivery which could be the impetus for their lack of motivation and enthusiasm. In other words, politicians in their quest to gain electoral voting support have perpetuated the demise of the PNG civil service. As long as corruption and the politicisation of the civil service exist, the Australian taxpayers money (AUD450m) will be wasted.

Thanks Kjetil for a very good comment. I agree, if the word innovation helps sell externally internal processes such as "more quality improvement, more experimentation" (and I would add more learning) then, so long as we don't end up captured by the term that's fine. Unfortunately in aid work (at least in this neck of the woods) I don't think innovation is being used as a means of selling better practice. However, like you, I am all for creating learning organisations. Thanks again. Terence

Good post Terence! I agree with your critique of the term neoliberalism. I find that the term is used in a similar way in development the way New Public Management (NPM) is thrown about in discussions of public administration in the North. It is has become too wide a term that is used to describe a plethora of interventions or reforms that are often not directly connected, except temporally. Subsequently, they are dismissed in a ritualistic fashion. Much better to be precise about what exactly you are critiquing and what can be improved. When it comes to innovation, it is another buzzword, and the precise content of varies according to the context. It may be used in an inclusive fashion as a way to build capacity and time for creative problem solving and using new methods and approaches within development organisations. Usually, if it is the fundraising and institutional partnerships arm of an organization that is promoting the term innovation, it becomes heavily tilted towards the private sector and often technological silver bullet solutions, often as a part of a larger branding strategy externally to find more private sector partners. However, there is an innovation "movement" within public administration. Within the public sector innovation movement, connected with the proliferation of government innovation labs, it is often said that the word innovation should not be used as much in internal communications. Innovations teams promote specific methodologies and approaches such as user-centered design and/or behavioural approaches and should promote those specific approaches rather than an unspecific innovation agenda. In the National Health Service in England, promotion of new approaches and new service delivery models are communicated as quality improvement, because the term innovation within healthcare is almost exclusively applied to the development of new drugs and medical devices. The innovation agenda in development is about taking more calculated risks, experimenting with new approaches and investing in the organizational capability to adapt and evolve. Learning is a key component of this but it cannot be reduced to it. Yes, more quality improvement, more experimentation and if need be, use the word innovation to promote it externally.

Thank you very much, Terence ! I wish SDGs will do the greater good to marginalised humanity around the world. Plz keep on promoting impact assessment and the discourse alive. All the Best. Karori

Thanks everyone for your comments and thoughtful debate on this article. ABC Radio hosted a panel session (with Simon Berry and Tim Costello, among others) that addressed some of these issues - it can be found <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/sundaynights/stories/s4281063.htm" rel="nofollow">here</a>. Sam

Thanks Angus, I think I follow you. I take your point to be that we (the world of aid) may do our best learning if we seek to emulate my stylised model of innovation in the private sector by starting with a blank sheet for bright ideas but then subjecting ideas to "competition" in the world of ideas through "rigorous testing against knowledge drawn from existing and historic programs". Innovation in this sense seems fine to me -- now that it's shorn of its gee-whiz factor. This seems fine to me. Though I think your question "How then to extract and package the relevant learnings and knowledge about context around emerging innovations to improve their traction, and reduce risks associated with failure?" is the crucial one. Part of my response is that we will do a better job if we simply, explicitly admit that we need to study and to learn. The second part is that we need to devote a higher share of our aid spend to resources for learning. i.e. M&E and research, and to having sufficient aid staff in aid agencies that they can take the time to learn. Thanks again. Terence

Thanks Karori, I think that's a good point: agreements on their own will achieve little; and whether we see achievements (at least in certain areas) will depend on whether there is successful collective action from civil society in holding governments to account. Terence

Am greatful, am doing an assignment on importance of data in planning, your article is very suportive, will be one of my references. Its encouraging to have people with common interest in data collection. I suggest face to face interview for data sensitive issues and sms non sensitive issues, also perhaps 1-2 permanent local recorder/interviewer per village would help us on regular and updated data. moreover, its true collecting data in rural areas is a huge task. "A nation without records, history, data is a lost nation,"..by late Dr. Sam Kaima, PNG Achives, .....thanks B bange

I understand that formal rules of behaviour are neither feasible nor possible in the world which is structured in 'States' . As regards the Civil Society model, it can be effective when citizens are educated and aware. Though I have not undertaken any structured investigation, my impression is that role and contribution of civil society organisations in implementing MDGs is not so significant. Let us see how they will be effective in case of SDGs and contribute to the movement 'no one should be left behind' by 2030.