As the Lao government rolls out a new primary education curriculum, this multi-year study assesses the extent to which the Australia-supported Basic Education Quality and Access in Laos Program (BEQUAL) results in school leaders and teachers developing intended teaching practices, which in turn leads to improvements in student learning outcomes.

The purpose of the review was to assess Nabilan’s progress against its end of program outcomes with an emphasis on Phase 2 programming with a view to informing the design process for Phase 3. The Review was undertaken by a team of four from DESI Consulting, two in-country consultants and two working remotely.

In June 2021, DFAT commissioned a review of the Australia Awards Papua New Guinea Program to assess progress towards its end of program outcomes.

The mid-term progress report on the Australian Government’s Health Security Initiative for the Indo-Pacific region was completed in May 2021. The Initiative was launched in October 2017 with an allocation of $300 million over five years funded from the Australian aid program. Its goal is to contribute to the avoidance and containment of infectious disease threats with the potential to cause social and economic harms on a national, regional or global scale.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is releasing this Indigenous Diplomacy Agenda to elevate indigenous issues in the work of the foreign affairs and trade portfolio.

The Disability-Inclusive Development Guidance Note outlines DFAT's suggested approach to disability-inclusive development.

An Independent Progress Review (IPR) was commissioned to assess the performance of the Coalitions for Change Program (Phase 2) against its objectives and the program’s continuing relevance including its operational arrangements, in the context of the Philippines’ advanced middle-income status and the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The Transformative Agenda for Women, Adolescents and Youth in the Pacific: Towards Zero Unmet Need for Family Planning is a four-year program (2018-2022) that aims to contribute to strengthening national government capacity in six Pacific countries.

This paper provides an overview of literature and evidence from various countries, discussing how social protection can promote social cohesion. Social cohesion has two aspects: relations amongst citizens and the ‘social contract’ between citizens and the state (Babajanian, 2012). During economic downturns and crisis periods such as the current COVID-19 pandemic, social cohesion can be undermined by citizens’ reduced trust in governments and institutions, political unrest, challenges in essential service delivery, poverty and economic hardship. 

The Solomon Islands Gender Equality Plan outlines the approach and investments of the Australian Government’s Gender Equality Program for the period 2020–22. The Gender Equality Plan bridges the final period of Australia’s Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development (Pacific Women) program and the transition to Australia’s next phase of support for gender equality programming in the Pacific region.

DFAT uses PPAs to assess how well implementing partners are delivering the services required in aid agreements and to inform future funding decisions. PPAs are DFAT owned documents stored in its information and records management systems. PPA information can be used for internal DFAT purposes and de-identified performance reporting to the public and the Government, including but not limited to, informing future procurement evaluations by tender Evaluation Committees, partner selection decisions, funding to multilateral organisations, partner governments and DFAT's aid program publications. Partners will be de-identified for the purposes of performance data analysis used in public reporting, unless there is a legal duty to do so. Partners must seek DFAT's written consent to share PPAs with third parties.

This matrix provides guidance to agreement managers, those approving PPAs, and implementing partners on the allocation of overall ratings against quality criteria. The matrix is a guide to support clear thinking and good practice in the consistent application of ratings. While the sub-questions are rated, only the overall quality rating for each criterion is used when reporting on delivery partner performance. In awarding ratings managers should take into account the delivery modality. For example, where investments are executed by national entities under the supervision of the partner being assessed, the scope of the assessment should be limited to the partner rather than the executing entity. An overall rating of 1-3 is classified as unsatisfactory and 4-6 is satisfactory.

This report outlines the progress, including key activities and achievements, of the DFAT-funded Governance for Development program (GfD) in Timor-Leste for the period May 2020 to April 2021.

The three core donors to the Wan Smolbag Theatre Community Partnership (WSB) – Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Australia), Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (New Zealand), and Oxfam - commissioned an evaluation of WSB in late 2020 in order to inform the next phase of funding.  

The Educational Quality Assessment Program (EQAP) works with Pacific Community (SPC) members to support their efforts to build a robust education system through providing assistance with curriculum and assessment, education statistics and analysis, policy development, and technical qualifications.

The Water for Women (WfW) GESI mid-term review complements the recent Independent Review of the Fund completed in August 2020.

This publication is the independent evaluation and DFAT management response to the Australian-funded Vanuatu Skills Partnership Phase Four (VSP 2017- 2026) finalised in March 2021.

Timor-Leste COVID-19 Development Response Plan

Pacific Labour Mobility Accommodation Review was to examine the costs and inclusions of accommodation for Pacific Labour Scheme and Seasonal Worker Program

Kiribati COVID-19 Development Response Plan

Fiji COVID-19 Development Response Plan.

The Pacific COVID-19 Response Package (the Response Package) will provide AUD250 million over 2020-21 and 2021-22 to assist Pacific countries and Timor-Leste in weathering the economic impacts of COVID-19 and to better position the region for recovery.

The purpose of the Review of the Pacific Labour Facility (PLF) was to assess the PLF’s value for money, assess the effectiveness of PLF welfare services and to look for efficiencies between the Pacific Labour Scheme (PLS) administered by DFAT and the Seasonal Worker Programme (SWP) administered by the Department of Education, Skills and Employment (DESE).

This Investment Design for Papua New Guinea-Australia Transition to Health (PATH) is Australia’s primary bilateral health delivery mechanism, valued at $200 million over 5 years (2020 to 2025).

The Australian Government has a longstanding collaboration with the Papua New Guinea Church Partnership Program (CPP), which is now going on 15 years. This document outlines the rationale and strategy for Phase 3 of the CPP.

DFAT and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) commissioned an independent joint review of its Strategic Partnership Framework (SPF) 2016-20 and 2021 extension (SPF 2016-21) to assess the partnership performance and arrangements over the period and to provide recommendations to inform the next SPF 2022-25.

This report, Australia's Official Development Assistance: Statistical Summary, 2019-20, presents statistical details of Australia's development cooperation and reflects government priorities for 2019-20 with partner countries, multilateral and bilateral development agencies, civil society organisations and the private sector.

The mid-term review finds that the Aus4Transport Program assessed the implementation of the Program at both the strategic and operational levels. The MTR report considered the impact of COVID-19 on implementation as well as opportunities for the Program to assist Vietnam in its economic recovery.