The Draft Investment Concept for Monitoring and Evaluation Services for Human Development Programs (MESHD) in Papua New Guinea is provided for information to the market, prospective tenderers and suppliers with regard to an upcoming procurement.

DFAT's human development programs in health and education/leadership portfolios include flexible, adaptive and iterative programs that are adjusted as circumstances change in PNG, as well as more traditional, defined aid projects. Both these portfolios entail significant risks and account for significant volumes of Australian taxpayers' funds. The 2018-19 annual health and education budget combined is 26 percent of the PNG bilateral program. DFAT has limited staff resources in the Australian High Commission to monitor and assess the performance of these investments, and relies heavily on reporting from implementation partners.

DFAT aid quality checks and internal reviews have recommended a clearer and more integrated focus on monitoring and evaluation of programs in these two sectors.

Health Sector

• In health, there is a need for M&E support at all levels. An interim M&E framework has been developed as part of the Health Portfolio Plan, which outlines program and strategy over the 2018-2023 period, but there is a need for M&E support at all levels including independent, external M&E services to support DFAT's M&E capability and improve health portfolio performance at activity and investment levels. There is also a need for an external, independent mechanism to conduct periodic assessments to inform the Portfolio performance.

Education and Leadership Sector

• There is a need for ready-access to an external, independent mechanism to conduct periodic assessments about the quality of the Portfolio and individual investments within it, including the (planned) new program PNG-Australia Program for Improvement Performance in Education (PAPE), which will be responsible for investment and activity level M&E.

With an investment budget of AUD12 million over four (4) years from 2019 to 2023, the overall purpose of MESHD is to provide high-quality advice and independent monitoring and evaluation with regard to the individual investments, and holistically under the Health Portfolio Plan 2018-2023 and the Education and Leadership Portfolio Plan 2018-2023. Its core services will include:

Attachments:

• Investment Concept (Draft) – Monitoring and Evaluations Services for Human Development Programs (PNG) [PDF 307 KB]
• Investment Concept (Draft) - Monitoring and Evaluations Services for Human Development Programs (PNG) [Word 182 KB]
• DFAT Monitoring and Evaluation Standards (Apr 2017)

This Investment Concept is released with a planned one-step procurement in December 2018 as detailed in the DFAT Annual Procurement Plan on AusTender website (https://www.tenders.gov.au).

It is expected that an organization, a joint venture or a consortium of organisations will be required to manage the program to deliver expected outcomes.

If you have any questions or comments, please send them to meshdpng@dfat.gov.au.

This information is provided for planning purposes only and it does not represent solicitation or constitute a request for proposal, nor is it a commitment to purchase or tender for the described services. The scale, scope and focus of the proposed investment may change at any time and is subject to formal approval by the Australian Government before a tender process will commence. This potential procurement opportunity is subject to delays, revision or cancellation.