Monitoring & Evaluation

KTF understands that people live in poverty due to complex and multidimensional factors including a lack of access to assets (including physical assets such as shelter, water and sanitation), human rights (such as access to health and education services) and social support (including solidarity in a community and women’s safety and empowerment). In response KTF delivers programs in Education, Health, Livelihoods and Leadership. Our Effectiveness Framework provides the means to track and sum up the results of KTF’s aid and development programs – by counting tangible outputs, measuring longer term changes over time, and assessing KTF’s contribution to those changes.

Below is a series of project impact assessments that provide more information about the impact of our aid and development activities in PNG.

Effectiveness Result 2023

With a renewed strategic vision and a commitment to expanding our reach and impact, KTF continues to drive positive change, transform lives, and empower communities across Papua New Guinea.

In 2023, we delivered 20 projects across five of PNG’s Provinces; as well as our ongoing national work in leadership. Our projects achievde remarkable outcomes across our four pillars of education, health, equality and leadership.

KTF’s Response to the Kicks 4 Kokoda Evaluation

As part of our monitoring and evaluation framework, KTF is committed to the continued and improved success of our projects, taking on findings and recommendations from both internal and independent project reviews.

Here you can read our response to the KTF evaluation of the Kicks 4 Kokoda and suggestions to continuously improve the project’s design to achieve long-term outcomes and impact.

Internal Evaluation for KTF’s Kicks 4 Kokoda

KTF’s Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Advisor completed a comprehensive evaluation of KTF’s Kick 4 Kokoda. Kicks 4 Kokoda is a 9-week soccer program that embraces the power of sport to empower participants aged 12-19 by connecting them to vital services, and mentors and educating them on healthy behaviours needed to improve their lives, livelihoods and futures. As a result, K4K graduates become a force of positive change in their homes, schools and communities..

Here you can read the evaluation of Kicks 4 Kokoda.

Independent Evaluation for KTF’s Light for Learning project

KTF engaged Equity Economics to carry out an independent evaluation of KTF’s Light for Learning project. Light for Learning is a project which installs household and community solar systems to villages in Oro and Western Province in remote, off- grid communities linked to KTF's education projects. The solar systems provide power for light and device charging and other low-energy activities. The project seeks to improve access to lighting and power, decreasing reliance on kerosene and other battery devices. Its objective is to improve education, health, safety, and security outcomes for remote communities.

Here you can read Equity Economic’s independent evaluation of Light for Learning.

KTF’s Response to the Independent Evaluation of Light for Learning

Here you can read our response to Equity Economics’ independent evaluation of the Light for Learning project and suggestions to continuously improve the project’s design to achieve long-term outcomes and impact.

Independent Evaluation of KTF’s Project Zero

KTF engaged Rachel Mason Nunn from Equity Economics to carry out an independent evaluation of KTF’s Project Zero in Oro Province. Project Zero addresses the high rates of family and sexual violence (FSV) in Oro (Northern) Province, Papua New Guinea (PNG), through a combination of preventative community education and outreach, and supporting responsive service delivery for survivors of violence. The purpose of this evaluation was to examine the impact and effectiveness of Project Zero in supporting people to live safely in their homes and communities in Oro and provide recommendations to help inform the future direction of Project Zero.

Here you can read Equity Economic’s independent evaluation of Project Zero.

KTF’s Response to the Independent Evaluation of Project Zero

Here you can read our response to Equity Economics’ independent evaluation of Project Zero and suggestions to continuously improve the project’s design to achieve long-term outcomes and impact.

Effectiveness Result 2022

Despite on-going global and national challenges in PNG throughout 2022, KTF and our dedicated teams and partners were committed to the ongoing delivery of high-quality, impactful projects across a range of program areas and regions throughout PNG.

In 2022, we delivered 20 projects across five of PNG’s Provinces; as well as our ongoing national work in leadership.

Providing critical healthcare services to rural and remote PNG. An independent evaluation of KTF’s Healthy Communities project

KTF engaged Albert Arija from Omie Consultants to carry out an independent evaluation of the Healthy Communities project in Oro & Central Provinces. Healthy Communities has been one of kTF’s longest running and most important projects. KTF’s health workers were on the front line during the COVID-19 pandemic, providing vitally important public healthcare to thousands of people across Oro and Central provinces.

Here you can read Albert’s independent evaluation of the Healthy Communities project.

KTF’s response to the Independent evaluation of the Healthy Communities Project

Here you can read our response to the independent evaluation of the Healthy Communities Project and suggestions to continuously improve the project’s design to achieve long-term outcomes and impact.

Towards the Next Generation of PNG’s Leaders

Building on previous assessments of the Archer Leaders Development Program, this 2022 independent evaluation by Humankind Advisory focusses on the three key themes of personal development, leadership and adaptive leadership, and social change through “next generation” leaders.

With a focus on storytelling, this evaluation hopes to empower the voices of Archer alumni and highlight the impact of the program through their stories.

KTF’s response to the Independent evaluation of the Archer Leadership Development Program

Here you can read our response to Human Kind’s independent evaluation of the Archer Leadership Development Program and suggestions to continuously improve the project’s design to achieve long-term outcomes and impact.

Independent evaluation of Teach for Tomorrow, Early Years program

Our Early Years program seeks to develop readiness and preparedness for formal schooling for early childhood aged children. The program works alongside Provincial Departments of Education to develop an ECE program framework and teacher upskilling program.

Equity Economics examines the impact and effectiveness of the Early Years program on improving Early Childhood Education knowledge and skills among trainers, teachers, and other partners in PNG.

KTF’s response to the Independent evaluation of Teach for Tomorrow, Early Years program

Here you can read our response to Equity Economics’ independent evaluation of the T4T Early Years project and suggestions to continuously improve the project’s design to achieve long-term outcomes and impact.

Effectiveness Results 2021

In 2021 we took the learnings from 2020 on how to get things done during a global pandemic; times of great challenge and uncertainty.

And we had our biggest year ever.

We stood by the people and communities we work alongside to implement programs in the critical areas of education, health, equality and leadership, in doing so helping to improve lives, livelihoods and futures.

Read on for the details of our programs and projects.

KTF Response to Kokoda College Evaluation

Here you can read our response to Equity Economics’ independent evaluation of the Kokoda College FODE project and suggestions to continuously improve the project’s design to achieve long-term outcomes and impact.

Independent Evaluation of KTF’s Kokoda College FODE Program

KTF established FODE at Kokoda College in response to a national re-structure of the schooling system to a 3-6-6 model. This required the upgrading of teacher qualifications to a minimum Grade 12 level, and expanded teaching infrastructure at many schools across the country to accommodate grades 7 and 8. As many teachers and health workers did not finish Grade 12 studies, many were at risk of losing their jobs due to limited opportunities to complete their schooling. Kokoda College’s provision of FODE enabled local teachers and health workers to continue working, thus preventing widespread job losses across vital industries in the region.

Equity Economics examines the impact and effectiveness of the Kokoda College FODE offering in creating and supporting pathways for people into formal, second-chance education opportunities and then onto tertiary training and careers in teaching and health work.

KTF Response to Strongim Meri Bisnis Evaluation

Here you can read our response to Equity Economics’ conducted an independent evaluation of the Strongim Meri Bisnis project and suggestions to continuously improve the project’s design to achieve long-term outcomes and impact.

Independent Evaluation of KTF’s Strongim Meri Bisnis Program

Equity Economics presents their independent report on our Strongim Meri Bisnis Project. Falling under our equality program, the project works with women’s groups in remote and rural communities across PNG to establish and support small-business operations with an aim to equipping women with technical and business skills, access to start-up capital and equipment and supply chains to provide them with an opportunity to generate an alternative income.

Equity Economics evaluates how we’re going against those aims, as well as future opportunities to further enhance the project and resulting support for women, their families and communities.

Village Connect Final Evaluation - 2021

Our Village Connect project connected 1,000+ households and facilities in the Kokoda Track catchment area to solar solutions between 2018 - 2020; brining a range of outcomes for families and communities.

The results were overwhelmingly positive. The household solar systems have had a very positive impact on a number of education, safety, financial and wellbeing outcomes for people living in remote and rural catchment region of the Kokoda Track.

Read on for more on this life-changing project.

Effectiveness Results 2020

In a year like no other, KTF is delighted to report on the projects we were able to implement during 2020, the year of the great pivot.

2020 was a year of immense challenges and uncertainty. Yet, as you will read , our commitment to sustainability and continuity, as well as the safety, health and security of our people, saw us end the year having fulfilled the majority of our intended organisational goals; albeit with major pivots towards directly responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and adapting our work to remain relevant and impactful under difficult circumstances.

Read on for the details of our programs and projects.

Effectiveness Results 2019

KTF’s 2019 Effectiveness Results summarise our progress towards long-term changes in our four major program areas of education, health, livelihoods and leadership.

This report outlines output and outcome tracking across 13 projects and 4 program areas by counting tangible outputs, measuring longer term changes over time, and assessing KTF’s contribution to those changes.

Archer Leaders: Evaluation 2020

With the generous support of the Fred P. Archer Trust, KTF have been finding and fostering the next generation of Papua New Guinea’s leaders.

This program has identified an extraordinary cohort of 58 leaders over the past nine years and we are looking forward to welcoming the 2020 cohort for the program’s 10th anniversary.

This evaluation measures the program’s impact on participating students from 2011 to 2019 across three main areas: Personal Development, Community Application and Continuous Aspiration.

Teach for Tomorrow II: Evaluation

The Teach for Tomorrow II project improves the skills, capacity and experiences of elementary teachers across remote and rural Papua New Guinea.

It follows on from the highly successful Teach for Tomorrow program, delivering vital in-service training to teacher trainers in rural and remote locations via an outreach, train-the-trainer model.

The purpose of the evaluation was to understand the efficacy of the training program delivered to date and to identify the future professional development, training and support needs of elementary teachers across participating provinces.

Kokoda Track: Education, Health & Wellbeing

In late 2019 we crossed the iconic Kokoda Track, capturing the experiences of people and communities along and around the Track to provide an insight into the changes in education, health and outcomes experienced and to identify their future needs.

Teach for Tomorrow: Independent Evaluation Report

This independent evaluation was commissioned by the Kokoda Track Foundation (KTF) to provide an interim report on the outcomes of Teach for Tomorrow, a teacher training initiative that trained 3,685 elementary teachers in 14 provinces across remote and rural PNG.

The report evaluates the impact of Teach for Tomorrow on teachers, as well impacts observed by other key stakeholder groups, including trainers, provincial education staff, and representatives of the PNG Education Institute, who partnered with KTF on the delivery of TFT.

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Independent Research Report: Informal Training Initiative

This research report was commissioned by the Kokoda Track Foundation (KTF) to determine the effectiveness and impact of an informal elementary teacher training program that was designed and delivered to teacher trainees from across the Oro and Central Provinces of Papua New Guinea (PNG). The research followed a cohort of teachers who had previously participated in the KTF teacher training program and draws out the reflections from the teachers and communities across the Kokoda catchment region.

Kokoda College: A Formative Evaluation

Via a suite of education, health and livelihoods projects delivered at KTF’s Kokoda College campus, we have endeavoured to improve a range of learning outcomes for teachers and health workers, prepare a cohort of students for careers in teaching and health work, improve health and education outcomes for communities surrounding the College and communities impacted by teachers and health workers, and develop pre- and in-service training programs that can be taken to scale across Papua New Guinea.

This formative evaluation explores the impact of the activities delivered at the College during its first two years of operations.

SolarBuddy: Impact Assessment

Energy poverty is the lack of access to modern energy services; it especially affects people in developing countries whose wellbeing is negatively affected by very low consumption of energy, use of dirty or polluting fuels, and excessive time spent collecting fuel to meet basic needs.

KTF has partnered with Australian charity, SolarBuddy, to reduce energy poverty in PNG. During the partnership’s first 18 months, almost 14,000 solar lights were distributed to children living in energy poverty.

This preliminary Impact Assessment investigates the impact these lights have had on study time, feelings of security, and expenditure on kerosene.

Archer Leaders: Evaluation

Since 2011, 50 final year tertiary students from 21 of PNG’s 22 Provinces have participated in the Archer Leaders Development (ALD) Program. The current evaluation invited the 2011 – 2017 cohorts to participate in the evaluation.

A mixed-method evaluation was utilized to measure four levels of impact: Reaction and Satisfaction, Learning, Application and Implication, and Results or Impact.

The Archer Leadership Development Program has been successful in meeting a range of short and long term outputs and outcomes over the past 8 years that contribute to its ultimate aim of finding and fostering a new generation of PNG leaders.

Effectiveness Framework

The purpose of an effectiveness framework is to bring about better outcomes for people living in poverty, through better projects, programs and development approaches (Australian Council for International Development). An effectiveness framework is a way to articulate ‘why’ and ‘how’ NGOs know their operations are impacting on poverty and social change.

This document seeks to outline Kokoda Track Foundation (KTF)’s effectiveness framework in order to advance the organisation’s overarching purpose. The Framework will provide the means to track and sum up the results of KTF’s aid and development programs – by counting tangible outputs, measuring longer term changes over time, and assessing KTF’s contribution to those changes.

Effectiveness Results - 2018

Click on the image to download a copy of KTF’s Effectiveness Results from 2018. These results outline some of KTF’s achievements from 2018.

Village Connect Interim Evaluation - 2019

In 2017, KTF commenced its Village Connect project which aims to connect 2,000 households across the Kokoda Track catchment region to sustainable solar solutions by 2020. The project aims to connect remote villages to improved solar lighting and energy solutions, providing a cost effective and environmentally friendly source of lighting and energy. This interim evaluation report was commissioned by KTF to measure the impact to date of the Village Connect project on a range of outcomes for recipients including time spent on homework, family income, and use of kerosene.