A New Wave of Sustainable Development for Enga
Those fortunate to set foot in Wabag, in Enga Province, may sense that it might become a hub of sustainability in Papua New Guinea. Change is coming, and Enga is leading this change.
A determined Engan Governor and Provincial Administration, and those at the helm of change in politics, policy and implementation have embarked on a new exciting programme supported by the European Union and the United Nations Development Programme.
In the streets of Wabag Town and the corridors of the “Green Haus” (the affectionate name given to the Provincial Administration building, the Ipatas Centre), the provincial slogan is: ‘Unity, Peace and Prosperity.’
One project implemented has the potential to change the approach to the management of natural resources, in particular.
On 19 July 2021, the United Nations Development Programme in Papua New Guinea with its partners, the Climate Change Development Authority and the Enga Provincial Administration, launched the EU-funded ‘Strengthening Integrated Sustainable Landscape Management Project’ at the Enga Take Anda Conference Centre, in Wabag Town.
The launch of this new project was witnessed by a range of dignitaries, including: Governor of Enga Province, Grand Chief Sir Peter Ipatas; Ambassador of the European Union, H.E. Mr. Jernej Videtič; French Ambassador, H.E. Mr Guillaume Lemoine; Minister for Fisheries and Marine Resources, and Member for Wabag Electorate, Dr Lino Tom; UNDP Resident Representative, Mr. Dirk Wagener; Enga Provincial Administrator, Dr Samson Amean; Climate Change and Development Authority Managing Director, Mr. Ruel Yamuna; and other senior officials from Enga Provincial Administration.
The project has three objectives. The first is to improve climate change mitigation and adaptation, the second, to strengthen food and nutrition security, and thirdly, to improve biodiversity, land and forest conservation.
Valued at 5.4 million Euro (EUR), the project will run from 2021 to 2026 to support community farmers and women’s groups to develop their sustainable agricultural practices through small grants. This is aimed at helping to improve their livelihoods, and gain access to local and international commodity markets, while conserving their surrounding environment and Papua New Guinea’s biodiversity for future generations.
Governor of Enga Province, Grand Chief Sir Peter Ipatas fully supports the project. Twenty-seven per cent of land in Enga Province is suitable for agriculture. Many locals are engaged in subsistence farming. Coffee is the main cash crop. Recent improvements to the Highlands Highway has increased markets for many and accessibility to the highway varies significantly across the province. The province hosts a very rich biodiversity that is yet to be fully surveyed.
“The project will fully strengthen and build capacity of community farmers, share knowledge and implement best practice of integrated sustainable landscape management in Enga Province. As we move towards the turn of the decade, it is crucial for our country to maintain key steps that need to be taken to address climate change and achieve its development goals,” said Governor Ipatas.
Ambassador of the European Union, H.E. Mr Jernej Videtič, thanked the Engan Provincial Government and UNDP for witnessing the official launch.
“It is well known that food security, poverty alleviation, climate change, and biodiversity loss are the global challenges that have been at the forefront of international agendas during the last decade,” Mr Videtič said.
“One of the most attractive elements of this project is to support community farmers and women’s groups to develop their sustainable agricultural practices through small grants. It will help them to improve their livelihoods and economics and get access to local and international commodity markets while conserving environment and biodiversity for their children and the children of their children.”
The United Nations Development Programme's Resident Representative, Mr Dirk Wagener said "UNDP is proud to partner in delivering this project, made possible with the leadership of the National Government and, in particular, the Climate Change and Development Authority. We are deeply grateful to the European Union for funding this important project and we are honoured to have here with us today H.E. Mr Jernej Videtič - as well as H.E. Mr Guillaume Lemoine,” said Mr Wagener.
Overall, the project will continue to support Papua New Guinea in its effort to address climate change, by exploring innovative ways to mitigate carbon emissions and demonstrate the potential of green economies.
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Biodiversity and Climate Fund to benefit present and future generations
Financial resources to tackle biodiversity loss and the impacts of climate change is desperately needed in Papua New Guinea.
By 2050, the required global investment to address this planet's climate crisis and loss of biodiversity will amount to USD 8.1 trillion, over USD 536 billion annually. This is four times the current financial resources available.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is supporting Papua New Guinea to establish a Biodiversity and Climate Fund - that can benefit present and future generations of Papua New Guineans - by catalyzing financial and technical resources to protect the country’s biodiversity and build resilience in the face of climate change.
This Fund is fundamental to support the 87% of Papua New Guineans who are reliant on natural resources, and directly impacted by climate change, as well as maintain the 7% of global biodiversity within the country.
UNDP combined a national stakeholder consultation process with an international best practice review to design a legally independent Fund with equal representation of Government, development partners, civil society and the private sector. The legal registration process is currently underway together with the resource mobilisation plan and fund website. The Fund will be launched at the UN Climate Summit later this year.
As many climate solutions developed in Papua New Guinea are nature-based, the Fund has a significant opportunity to create strong linkages between nature conservation and climate mitigation/adaptation. It will help catalyse the potential of ‘green’ and ‘blue’ businesses in renewable energy, climate-resilient agriculture, protected areas, sustainable fisheries and tourism.
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Onward and Upward ... Toward Peace in the Highlands
Working urgently to implement critical peace building interventions in the Southern Highlands and Hela Provinces of Papua New Guinea, UNDP has joined in partnership with the Korea International Cooperation Agency.
The new partnership, formalized in July with a USD 3 million agreement, will support the United Nations Development Programme in Addressing Conflict & Fragility in the Highlands as part of the larger UN Highlands Joint Programme. This marks the first of its kind between UNDP and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) in Papua New Guinea.
“This project will help prevent any volatile situations from reaching crisis point and contribute to sustainable development in the Highlands,” said UNDP Papua New Guinea Resident Representative Mr Dirk Wagener.
The Southern Highlands and Hela Provinces in Papua New Guinea have experienced internecine violent conflicts over the last 30 years, seeing more than 300 deaths and an estimated 100,000 people displaced as of 2017.
“The KOICA investment will contribute to peace building activities in line with the Hela and Southern Highlands Provincial Government’s endorsed priorities to ensure critical peace interventions are carried out in communities affected by conflict in the Highlands”.
The peace building and development project aims to address capacity building for leaders - including women, men, and youth in conflict resolution – and to strengthen capacity of faith-based organizations in community mediation, and improved community access to government and state institutions to improve outcomes of multi-dimensional challenges to economic and human development in both provinces.
The project is part of the United Nations Highlands Joint Programme led by UNDP, which brings together a range of other UN agencies, including: the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), International Organisation for Migration (IOM), United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), United Nations Childrens Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and UN Women to jointly foster sustainable development and peace in the Highlands.
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Leaving no one behind in the digital era
The United Nations Capital Development Fund, in Port Moresby, held its first Country Strategy Validation Workshop in July.
After the 2009 launch of financial inclusion interventions in Papua New Guinea, the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) developed a dedicated country strategy to actively support government, finance and other private sectors to accelerate digital and financial inclusion - that align with the global strategy of 'Leaving No One Behind in the Digital Era'.
The UNCDF – Papua New Guinea Country Strategy Validation Workshop joined private sector networks online to validate a draft country strategy.
The new country strategy is based on experiences and lessons learnt from supporting a cross-section of projects in Papua New Guinea, informed by consultations with government ministries and departments, financial and telecom sector regulators, financial institutions, donors, digital finance providers and other private sector entities.
The United Nations Development Programme's Deputy Resident Representative, Mr Edward Vrkic says there is a huge demand for a digital economy country strategy.
“The strategy should be more catalytical in nature and be aligned with the national architecture, and existing programmes, in using it as a way forward to support new initiatives,” Mr Vrkic said.
This 15th July 2021 validation workshop was one of three planned for public and private sector stakeholder groups to solicit feedback, insights, and suggestions to further refine and finalize the strategy.
Workshop participants included representatives of Women’s Micro Bank, Centre for International Private Enterprise, Digicel, Kadaporoman MicroBank, the Palladium Group's Market Development Facility and EmStret Holdings.
On the Road to Sustainability in Milne Bay
Long committed to Papua New Guinea, UNDP celebrates the partnership and value gained from complex challenges on the road to sustainable development in Milne Bay, and across the country.
On a journey of sustainability toward good governance in Papua New Guinea, the Provincial Capacity Building Programme is a vital tool to help build provincial capacity and embrace necessary skills and technologies to enhance transparency and accountability of public finances.
Launched in 2004, by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Provincial Capacity Building Programme has met a unique set of challenges. Training teams in regional areas was a major hurdle, at that time, when provincial power and telecom infrastructure was weak and computer experience very low. Many challenges have significantly been overcome in the past two decades, but some remote districts continue to face connectivity challenges in 2021.
In the initial years, the PCaB program helped impart the necessary skills for staff to adapt to computerized accounting, and to operate the PNG Government Accounting System. This legacy-government accounting system operated on standalone computer systems, based in provinces and districts, and was supported externally by the Department of Finance. The system was cumbersome and time-consuming with restricted visibility for monitoring and control over public expenditure and financial accountability.
A new roadmap, introduced in 2015-2018, required all Government of Papua New Guinea agencies to migrate onto an Integrated Financial Management System. This system uses the power of internet connectability for accountability, transparency and visibility that is essential for consolidation, monitoring, and control via Department of Finance local servers.
Power and internet connectivity challenges in the provinces and districts hindered the IFMS rollout up until 2018. As a result, the new system was rolled out initially to Port Moresby-based national agencies - to adhere to the roadmap - and was followed by a provincial schedule from 2018 as connectivity in the provinces improved.
During 2019-2021, the PCaB program provided rollout support for migration, user training and extended support to the 20 provinces and 22 Provincial Health Authorities (PHAs). Up until the Covid19 pandemic disrupted IFMS rollout, in 2020, the PCaB teams helped IFMS rollout to 13 provinces and 9 Provincial Health Authorities.
Due to Covid19 restrictions - no IFMS rollout occurred until July 2021. During this second phase, the Department of Finance cautiously recommenced the rollout to Milne Bay Provincial Administration with a 4-day training workshop, for over 50 staff from various agencies. Over 50% of the participants were female.
“Provincial and district administrations welcome IFMS to improve accountability and transparency, with Milne Bay Provincial Administration showing commitment by installing a fibre optic link,” said Milne Bay Provincial Administration's Deputy of Corporate Services Ms Sharon Mua, on opening the IFMS rollout workshop.
The PCaB National Programme Coordinator Mr Sam Erepan says that the programme has an excellent team of provincial advisors to support the IFMS rollout in the provinces to ensure all staff are confident on the new system. “We are grateful to the Australian Government and UNDP for their support over the past many years”.
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Provincial Team Mission Finds Ready Partnership
Facing some of the highest and most egregious rates of gender-based violence in the world, Papua New Guinea appears to be on a cusp of change, strongly supported by the work of the European Union-funded UN Spotlight Initiative.
An innovative, yet simple approach of convening critical players, experts, evidence, transparency and public awareness is showing signs of impact on the road to ending gender-based violence in Papua New Guinea.
In May and June 2021, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Spotlight Initiative Technical Team, together with national partners, visited all four regions of the country – from the New Guinea Islands to Momase, Southern and Highlands regions.
UNDP and the Department of Community Development and Religion, joined with the national Family Sexual Violence Unit (FSVU) and National Capital District Commission, and Action Committees, to assess and engage provincial capacities to address gender-based violence.
Under the European Union-funded UN Spotlight Initiative, UNDP is working with the Department for Community Development and Religion to support the full establishment of a National Gender-based Violence (GBV) Secretariat and Provincial GBV Secretariats - in coordination with various sectors, including existing Family and Sexual Violence networks.
While the National Gender-Based Violence Strategy (2016-2025) became a formal policy in 2016, it has never been formally implemented. With support from the EU - and working with parliamentarians and Government at a national and sub-national level, UNDP has made significant strides, with strategic and timely interventions to capacitate and co-coordinate action.
A total of 132 key partners were consulted on Peer Group Strategy during provincial visits. This included Provincial Administrators, District Administrators, Provincial Planners, Community Development Advisors, Provincial Justice Liaison Officers, Family Sexual Violence Units, Courts, Family Support Centers, Faith Based Organizations, and Civil Society Organizations supporting GBV Prevention and Response. Responses demonstrate readiness to work collaboratively and share lessons learned.
The work of eleven parliamentarians showed significant commitment. Chair of Morobe GBV Action Committee, and Member for Lae Open, Hon. John Rosso committed his support to provincial GBV response. As did Governor Gary Juffa, and MP Richard Masere of Oro Province, Governor Allan Bird of East Sepik Province, and Hon. Minister Jelta Wong. Pledging K100,000 for police response, the Member for Goroka Open, Hon. Aiye Tambua also asked to join the Coalition of Parliamentarians Against Gender-Based Violence. The Member for Wabag Open, Hon. Lino Tom and Governor for Western Highlands Province, Hon Pais Wingti also joined the Coalition.
With Members of Parliament leading the way forward in the provinces, consultations completed, and the National GBV Secretariat and partnerships established, UNDP has successfully used its convening power to bring together critical partners as a peer learning network.
We won’t win the fight against climate change without transparency
Transparency is at the heart of the climate emergency. If countries do not take efforts to become transparent about their climate contributions we will not be able to move from planning to action, and we cannot win the fight against climate change.
Since the start of the year, eleven developing countries around the world have reported on their progress around transparency through the submission of Biennial Update Reports. This is all the more impressive when you consider that for developing countries, collecting and managing data on their sources of greenhouse gas emissions and analyzing the trends is no easy feat. Tracking climate data against other targets such as Nationally Determined Contributions and Sustainable Development Goals, reporting the results, and providing quality assurance and control is quite challenging; many developing countries, including small island states, lack the capacity and resources to undertake such processes.
Changing seasons of Kimbe
“Storms are more intense now, than ever before, in Kimbe”.
“King tides and coastal flooding has washed away schools - and forced fishing villagers to move inland,” explains Mr Desmond Vaghelo, Director of Environment and Climate Change, West New Britain Provincial Administration.
Kimbe is the capital of West New Britain, a province in northern Papua New Guinea in the islands of New Britain. When the tides began rising and storms increased, about a decade ago, Mr Vaghelo explains that schools built of traditional materials near the coast had simply washed away by storm surges. With increasing annual damage to vital infrastructure, the village was relocated.
“The road to the school was so damaged that the children could not reach the school anyway,” Mr Vaghelo said.
Smallholder farmers have seen their access roads destroyed by more intense seasonal rainfall. Landslides block the roads, preventing farmers from reaching their crops to harvest and transport to market.
Local economies suffer from frequent loss of income as a result of increased climate impacts. Local people say they now witness "stronger winds, increased wildfires in protected areas, drought with food and water shortages". With lack of certainty on budgets to 'climate-proof' infrastructure, island provinces such as West New Britain face increasing future challenges.
This same scenario now is also increasingly evident from Milne Bay to Manus Island, and every island province in between, according to provincial participants at the Islands Region National Adaptation Planning (NAP) Workshop held in Kimbe, in July 2021.
The impacts of climate change on essential infrastructure such as roads and bridges, now is a hot topic across the nation with the rollout of NAP consultations that covers the main regions of National, Southern, Islands, Western and Highlands, from June to August 2021.
In Kimbe, specialists from Islands Region provincial governments joined the deep dive discussions to examine key issues and challenges, coordination, knowledge sharing and pathways to financing a climate-proofed future.
The regional consultations - working towards urgent funding and implementation of a National Adaptation Plan in 2021 - examine how to adapt to changing climates and landscapes. Key areas are explored to strengthen strategies, policies and to guide provinces on how to best protect important sectors including agriculture, fishing, tourism, infrastructure, health and housing that are essential to wellbeing, local livelihoods and the national economy, while ensuring protection of important biodiversity.
West New Britain lies in the heart of the Coral Triangle and is a growth region for international marine and ecotourism. Also a production centre for beef, oil palm and tuna markets the economic impacts of a changing climate in Kimbe are real.
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UNDP Employee Profile: Meeting Lynette Migile
“I believe UNDP is working very hard towards achieving the SDGs in the country, and in close communication with our government to provide public services to our people” - Lynette Migile, Procurement & Travel
A passionate musician and stamp collector, Ms Lynette Migile is a Procurement and Travel Associate at the United Nations Development Programme in Papua New Guinea.
Together with her vibrant team, Ms Migile ensures efficient and effective services required to purchase materials and supplies for projects implementation. A true professional with a deep passion for her work, she says her ethics are a result of growing up with a strong mother.
“My greatest role model is my mother, she has taught me to be self-reliant and to always strive for the best,” said Ms Migile.
“Growing up was a struggle as my mum had to take on the responsibility of both a mother and father, my dad passed away in the first week of my first year at University.”
As part of the 'UNDP family' for four years, Ms Migile says she is very proud to assist the country office in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and targets, and believes in "close communication with our government to provide public services to our people".
UNDP in Papua New Guinea also encourages us to live a more 'sustainable lifestyle at home by changing our consumption patterns', she said. Ms Magile also highlighted the value of Gender Equality, applauding UNDP’s role in taking the lead in addressing its significance in the country.
“The United Nations has made immense progress in advancing gender equality. Just a brief example is our procurement unit, dominated by females,” she said. “I am also proud of the contributions that the United Nations Development Programme is making towards eliminating violence against women and girls”.
Ms. Migile is from the Niugini islands Province of East New Britain, a Divine Word University graduate with a Diploma in Accounting and Degree in Business Management – and loves to play piano and collect stamps.
“I play keyboard for my church community group where I am a member of St. Charles Luanga Catholic Church. I am still a little rusty, but can play,” she said.
Collecting stamps during her younger years in New Zealand, Ms Migile loved swapping stamps with friends who shared the same interest.
"But with technology, it is now very rare that I come across stamps, but when I do I still have that excitement inside of me when I see one,” she said.