Background: Australia and Pacific Island governments have long emphasised the role of effective community-centered policing in promoting regional development and security. The Australian Federal Police-International Development Group’s (AFP-IDG) Pacific Police Development Program-Regional (PPDP-R) is part of this wider agenda. The PPDP-R implements policing projects with Pacific law and justice agencies that are not covered by bilateral or trilateral Australian programs, including the Cook Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Niue, Palau, the Republic of Marshall Islands (Marshall Islands), and Tuvalu. The annual budget of the program is approximately $8 million
In 2014, Sustineo reviewed the progress made by PPDP-R since 2008 with reference to key issues around the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, monitoring and evaluation procedures and gender of the program.
Approach: Sustineo implemented a mixed methods approach to triangulate the findings of the review. Firstly, our consultants undertook a desk-based review of relevant documents and then our team engaged in extensive face to face consultation with stakeholders in the Cook Islands, Kiribati, the Republic of the Marshall Islands and New Zealand. Our team then synthesised these insights to develop a regional perspective on PPDP-R’s progress. Throughout, the process Sustineo worked closely with the AFP-IDG. A representative from the Design and Evaluation team at AFP-IDG accompanied our team on all in-country consultations and the AFP-IDG provided important inputs in shaping the project.
Outcome: Sustineo produced a systematic evaluation of the PPDP-R performance against the criteria specified by the AFP-IDG. Our final report highlighted that while the program was held in high regard, it was not well known. Our report also revealed a need for greater coordination between the internal management and M&E procedures of the PPDP-R, the wider AFP and the Attorney General’s Office. Sustineo provided recommendations for program improvements for the remaining period of the current PPDPR phase to address these issues.