COVID-19 Pacific and Timor-Leste Preparedness and Recovery NGO Partnership: Final Evaluation Report
The COVID-19 Pacific and Timor-Leste Preparedness and Recovery NGO Partnership (the Partnership) was set up by the Australian Government through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) in June 2020 to support communities across multiple countries to become resilient to and recover from the impacts of COVID-19. An evaluation of the Partnership was undertaken by Humanitarian Advisory Group, in close partnership with the Institute for Human Security and Social Change at La Trobe University, Collaborate Consulting (CoLAB) and consultants based in Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste.
It primarily focused on the interventions delivered by the Australian Humanitarian Partnership (AHP) – which received most of the funding – in five countries: Fiji, PNG, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, and Vanuatu.
The evaluation found that partnerships achieved significant benefits for affected communities. While travel restrictions and the unpredictable nature of the pandemic created significant challenges for implementing agencies, the evaluation found that the programming under the Partnership improved communities’ resilience to the impacts of the pandemic and supported recovery efforts across the five country contexts.
The evaluation found that adaptability, coordination between agencies and program linkages were key enablers of the effectiveness of programming, with the AHP agencies achieving significant reach and providing short- and long-term benefits to communities.