In international development, every project begins with a plan. When the plan is in action, a project team track the day-to-day progress. Although, success isn’t just about following the plan; it is about staying accountable to the communities that are served through constant reflection.
Opportunities for reflection occur at every stage of a project. In the short term, this involves looking at the day-to-day progress and identifying any challenges or opportunities for improvement. However, during an evaluation, the focus shirts towards asking the ‘big picture’ questions: did we do what we said we would? Did it actually work?
When answering these ‘big picture’ questions, we want to include the perspectives of individuals that are directly impacted by the project. For Femili PNG this could include Femili PNG staff, survivors accessing services, community members attending outreach sessions, and local organisations who assist survivors (e.g police, health workers, other local Non-government Organisations) receiving training and/or support from Femili PNG. This is to ensure that the evaluation is deeply rooted in the lived experiences and evolving needs of the Papua New Guinean community.
By analysing data gathered from day-to-day progress, along with real world perspectives, insights are gathered into what has worked well and what has not. These findings lead to the question ‘now what?’. Learning from previous experiences allows for the continuous improvement of a project’s impact. These findings are then used to inform the design of future projects and are shared broadly so others in the sector can benefit from the lessons learned.
Evaluating the Projects We Support: The Femili PNG Goroka Outpost
At FemiliPNG Australia, we are able to support our partner, Femili PNG through the generous support of our Australian donors, partnerships and other grant opportunities. Our mission is to be an effective, efficient, and ethical organisation supporting local solutions to family and sexual violence – a mission that depends on the trust of our supporters. To uphold this accountability, we focus on the entire project cycle from plan to impact, to ensure that every contribution drives lasting change.
Since 2021, FemiliPNG Australia has focused on deepening the impact of the Femili PNG Goroka Outpost (now Case Management Centre). To measure this progress and ensure high standards of care, the organisation has commissioned two formal evaluations.
The first evaluation was conducted in 2022, and focused on the first year of the Goroka Outpost operations. The Evaluation was also intended to be a practical planning tool for Femili PNG. The two organisations worked together to ensure that the Evaluation would be useful for the future direction in the form of achievable recommendations aligned with Femili PNG’s values and overall strategic direction. The learnings from the this led to changes including:
- A client feedback process was introduced where former clients are surveyed to better measure Femili PNG’s quality of services and impact on individual clients
- A project manager was recruited to strengthen support to other local service providers
The second evaluation was conducted in 2025, and reflected on the past five years of Goroka Outpost operations. The evaluation concluded that Femili PNG’s Goroka Outpost represents a highly effective, trusted, and contextually relevant survivor-centred case management model, delivering strong outcomes for survivors of family and sexual violence (FSV) and sorcery accusation-related violence (SARV) under challenging conditions. The evaluation presented a list of recommendations for future improvements. Lessons learned from this evaluation will inform the future of the project. .
Read the full 2025 Evaluation report here.
The Goroka Outpost receives receives support from the Australian Government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP).
