Aid Program Performance Report 2015-16

10.CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES

11.GENDER EQUALITY AND WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT

This objective was rated ‘amber’ because although some progress has been made, there was still room to leverage more outcomes from Australia’s large mainstream investments and through diplomatic engagement. Eighty five per cent of Australian investments effectively addressed gender at implementation in 2015-16, exceeding the 80 per cent target in Making Performance Count: enhancing the accountability and effectiveness of Australian aid. However, this represents a reduction of ten percentage points from 2014-15, reflecting a decline in collecting data and reporting on targets and the need to strengthen coordination, learning and advocacy¹⁰.

The Australian Government recognises that gender equality and women’s empowerment are essential to PNG’s economic and human development and are critical cross-cutting issues for Australia’s engagement in PNG. The PNG Government’s policy documents also recognise gender and social inclusion as important development priorities. The Aid Partnership commits both governments to “work together to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment and increase efforts to address Family and Sexual Violence in Papua New Guinea”. Specifically it includes the commitment, “where possible, schedules will seek opportunities to better improve the lives of women and girls in PNG”. Each of the five schedules under the Aid Partnership includes specific gender targets – in the case of the transport sector, for the first time.

DFAT’s Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Strategy, released in February 2016, identifies three priorities for Australia’s work on gender equality: enhancing women’s voice in decision-making, leadership, and peace-building; promoting women’s economic empowerment; and ending violence against women and girls and increasing access to support services. These pillars are incorporated into the Australian High Commission’s Gender Action Plan for PNG 2015-2020, which provides an over-arching framework for engagement and investment in gender equality and performance targets for aid investments. The Pacific Women PNG Second Country Plan (2014-19) and the Bougainville Gender Investment Plan (2014-19) also provide guidance.

In Port Moresby, Australia supported two Meri Seif buses that provide safe and free transport for women and girls to access markets, the central business district and hospital.

Pictured above: Representatives of UN Women and the Australian High Commission PNG launch the second Meri Seif bus in Port Moresby in February 2016.
Australia supported women’s leadership by assisting PNG to implement the National Public Service Gender Equity and Social Inclusion (GESI) policy. Our assistance included a GESI toolbox for government agencies, GESI focal points within those agencies, awareness and training, funding for agency activities and gender help desks. In Bougainville, we supported women’s local leadership through a program that provided women with skills and knowledge to actively participate in the planning and delivery of 39 community development projects. Twenty of the 31 women who stood for parliament in the Autonomous Bougainville Government elections in 2015 identified as being actively involved in this program. They gained credibility as leaders at the local level and this gave them the confidence to run for parliament.

Australia’s investment in women’s economic empowerment included working with the coffee industry to improve the capacity of women farmers to participate in and benefit from farming. In 2015, women represented 43 per cent of participants in extension services (514 people), up from five per cent when the program commenced in 2013. Through Australian support, the Microfinance Expansion Project has provided financial literacy training to 43,063 women and 48,256 men. The Business Coalition for Women, funded by Australia and comprising over 50 successful businesses, developed an executive leadership course for women in the private sector. This course has sold out each time it has been run. Businesses pay PGK12,000 ($4,800) per participant which is a measure of the demand for such training.

In addition to our support through PNG’s law and justice sector, Australia has supported a number of targeted measures to address the multi-dimensional aspects of family and sexual violence prevention and response. The Business Coalition for Women has developed a full suite of policies, training and tools to cost the impact of violence and to help businesses address violence against women. The Coalition assessed the costs to three businesses of gender-based violence using this tool (launched by Australia’s Ambassador for Women and Girls during her visit in 2015). The assessment found that on average each staff member loses over 11 days of work each year as a result of the impacts of gender-based violence. The PNG Government’s Family and Sexual Violence Action Committee finalised and launched Referral Pathway Guidelines, which were drafted with Australia’s assistance, to improve the coordination and quality of services available to survivors of violence. We supported more than 1,500 survivors of family and sexual violence to access services such as counselling; case management; and in some circumstances in the Highlands repatriation and reintegration for those who experienced or were at risk of sorcery-related or extreme violence.

Outlook

Gender indicators in PNG remain low. PNG has a 2015 Gender-Related Development Index (GDI) of 158 (out of 188), meaning women are severely lagging behind men in three basic dimensions of human development - health, education and command over economic resources. Demand continues to outstrip supply of quality services, particularly in relation to support provided to survivors of violence and, above all, in remote and rural areas and for women and girls with disabilities. Despite positive legal and policy developments, the PNG Government has dedicated limited funding to addressing women’s equality and services. The constrained economic environment in PNG is likely to further limit the availability of resources.

While gender has become a key focus within many Australian aid investments, the annual report on the Gender Action Plan indicated a greater effort was needed to collaborate, learn and advocate. Monitoring and evaluating the impact of gender investments remains a challenge. A number of sectors did not have adequate data collection and reporting systems to effectively report progress against agreed targets. This will be a focus of management responses.

Australian sectoral programs are providing large numbers of training programs on a range of skill and knowledge areas to promote women’s participation and economic advancement. More research is needed to see if this training translates into more income and control over assets for women. Research funded through Pacific Women in PNG indicates that increasing women’s income does not necessarily lead to greater bargaining power within the household which is necessary to produce empowerment for women, control over resources and reduced violence.

The design of a women in leadership program under the Pacific Women program has been slower than expected. Implementation is now expected to begin ahead of the national election in 2017. Women’s representation on district and ward councils, although mandated by law, remains low. In advance of the 2017 elections, the program will need to target investments to support women leaders at the local level upwards.

12.DISABILITY-INCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT

While progress continued in addressing disability inclusive development, more needs to be done to mainstream disability responses throughout investments, as indicated by the ‘amber’ rating. Australia delivers assistance through sector programs and the SPSN program (see Outcome 5 for more information), which concluded on 30 June 2016. Through SPSN, Australia provided $2.4 million (PGK5.8 million) in small grants in 2015-16 supporting gender and disability networks to advocate on behalf their constituents and to engage on the practical implementation of PNG Government policy focused on social inclusion. Achievements included:

• 
  the development of an advocacy strategy and plan to support the work of the PNG Assembly for Disabled People over the next 10 years, and enhance its capacity as an advocate for the implementation of PNG’s National Policy on Disability. Through the Assembly, people with disability are working with the Constitutional Law Reform Commission in pursuit of disability specific legislation, as recommended under the National Policy on Disability.
  
• 
  the Department for Community Development and Religion (the mandated agency for social inclusion) increasing its counterpart-funding support to disability inclusive activities including a data collection project which improved PNG’s registration of disabled people
  
• 
  increased access to disability support services for people with disabilities living in rural and remote areas through the delivery of assistive devices to 8,750 people (39 per cent women).
  

Disability-specific measures delivered through sectoral programs included four braille embossing machines delivered to regional educational locations around PNG. The 150 classrooms completed in 2015-16 included ramps and other design features to enable access for children with disability. Twenty two Australia Awards were offered to people living with disability in 2015-16, with the program providing support for equipment and other aids to reduce the barriers to study in Australia. Health infrastructure incorporated disability access into scoping, design and construction. Our sports for development programs regularly included people with disability in cricket, football and other activities to improve their quality of life and increase their participation in the community. Through a partnership with DFAT, CBM Australia provided technical support and broader capacity development to Australian High Commission officials in December 2015 to improve disability-inclusive programming.

Outlook

A lack of funding, accessible infrastructure, and capacity within the PNG Department for Religion, Youth and Community Development remain as key challenges for achieving disability-inclusive development. Australia will continue to implement disability inclusive activities through sectoral programs, the PNG Governance Facility (replacing SPSN activities), and by ensuring programs and delivery partners comply with policies including Development for All 2015–2020: Strategy for strengthening disability-inclusive development in Australia’s aid program and the Accessibility design guide: universal design principles for Australia’s aid program.

13.PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT

Despite its sustained period of high economic growth, PNG has not yet harnessed the full potential of the private sector to promote broad-based, inclusive growth. The country’s economy is heavily dependent on the mining and petroleum sectors and needs to broaden its economic base if it is to withstand future price shocks and ensure greater inclusion. The cost of doing business in PNG remains high and deters greater investment. In the World Bank’s 2016 Doing Business report, PNG ranked 145 out of 189 economies surveyed (141 in 2015). A lower ranking in the report indicates higher costs. PNG also rated poorly in the category of ‘enforcing contracts’ (169 out of 189, no change from 2015).

Twenty eight per cent of Australia’s PNG aid budget for 2015-16 was allocated to aid for trade and private sector investments. This was up from 20 per cent in 2014-15 and meets the performance benchmark of 28 per cent for 2015-16. The ‘green’ rating reflects this achievement and the performance of projects described below. By 2017, we aim to allocate 50 per cent of the bilateral aid budget to infrastructure, and 30 per cent to aid for trade and private sector activities.

The Microfinance Expansion Project delivered financial education training to more than 85,000 people nationwide.
In scaling up aid for trade, Australia is targeting country-specific constraints to participation in trade. Areas of focus include governance and regulatory impediments, trade facilitation, infrastructure (including energy and mining), private sector development, agri-food, fisheries, services and empowering women to engage in economic activities. The private sector, multilateral development banks and other donors will be important partners in the delivery of aid for trade outcomes.

Aid for trade is an important lever to meet the Australian Government’s broader economic diplomacy objectives. In 2015, we worked closely with the PNG Government to develop the PNG Private Sector Development Framework. The Framework operates on four pillars of cooperation, including: the business enabling environment; agriculture, rural development, markets and trade; innovation and partnerships; and financial inclusion.

The Microfinance Expansion Project delivered financial education training to more than 85,000 people (48 per cent women) nationwide through partnerships with regional non-government organisations, microbanks and faith based organisations. Through the project, more than 35,000 poor men and women increased their access to financial services in 2015-16 (84 per cent women), above the performance benchmark of 30,000. The project established a Centre of Excellence in Financial Inclusion Centre, a risk share facility (a mechanism to encourage lending to business), a women's micro-bank, microfinance industry standards and PNG's first women-only lending product. The project is currently working with its partner financial institutions to build their capacity, expand their footprint and deliver financial services to a predominantly rural population.

Australia supported an entrepreneurship pilot, the Kumul Game Changers project, aimed at unleashing creative solutions to development challenges. Over 40 per cent of the finalists in the business innovation start-up competition were women. One finalist has established himself in Silicon Valley.

Australia continues to have a strong focus of support for rural livelihoods through an enhanced DFAT-Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) partnership that includes a focus on developing markets in the agriculture sector. A new ACIAR program aims to foster private sector-led development in agriculture, increase agricultural productive capacity and improve access to market for farmers in PNG, including in Bougainville, particularly women farmers. By working in innovative ways with women’s groups and the private sector, both of which will lead various aspects of the program, we are seeking to develop new approaches to translating small-scale impacts of agricultural and forestry research for development into larger scale development outcomes in PNG.

Australia continued to strengthen PNG’s capacity to deal with cross-border trade issues, such as quarantine and customs, to improve PNG’s access to international markets. The Pacific Horticultural and Agricultural Market Access program began in PNG in late-2015. Since then it has supported the agriculture industry to re-establish export markets for coconuts to Australia at an approximate wholesale margin greater than 100 per cent of the local market price.

The Market Development Facility (MDF) was launched in PNG during 2015. The goal of the MDF is to sustainably increase employment and incomes for poor women and men in rural and peri-urban areas. The MDF is designed to address the impediments poor people face in accessing market opportunities. The MDF has established partnerships with private enterprises to identify profitable business opportunities that benefit the poor. A recent example is the MDF’s agreement with local tourism web based booking operator, Village Huts, to expand its tours and village stays into new rural areas and improve existing services through a quality assurance accreditation scheme.

Outlook

Key risks to private sector development and economic growth are the challenges of maintaining a stable and attractive business investment climate. PNG economic and fiscal policies directly impact on the willingness of the private sector to invest, and the job creation and public revenues that flow from economic growth.

14.AUTONOMOUS REGION OF BOUGAINVILLE

The focus of Australia's development assistance in Bougainville is to enhance stability and support development as Bougainville moves through the final stages of the peace process. Australia supports the shared PNG and Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) priorities of stability, security, and economic and social development. Australia's main objectives are to: improve the performance of the ABG and PNG Government in delivering autonomy and responsive governance; strengthen peace, stability and community cohesion; achieve sustainable and inclusive economic development; and improve delivery of basic social services. Empowering women and youth are cross-cutting priorities. We also assist the ABG to improve its transparency, accountability and communications to build the confidence of Bougainvilleans in the ABG.

Consistent with Australia’s agreement with the PNG Government to increase Australia’s aid contribution to Bougainville as a proportion of total aid to PNG, Australia delivered around $47.4 million (PGK114.6 million) in assistance in 2015-16, an increase of $1.9 million (PGK4.6 million) on 2014-15. Around 60 per cent of this figure comprises Australia's support through PNG-wide programs in the areas of health, law and justice, transport infrastructure and education, as described in this report. The remaining 40 per cent was delivered through dedicated Bougainville programs aimed at improved governance, economic development, gender equality, youth and peace building.

Through the Governance and Implementation Fund (GIF), which is co-funded with New Zealand, Australia provided comprehensive technical advice and project based support to key ABG departments. Outcomes in 2015-16 included the development of the Act relating to the formulation of Bougainville's community (local-level) government. The Act will bring reform to community governance, including a requirement for each government to have one male and one female member. Elections may be held in November 2016. We also assisted the ABG to complete and launch comprehensive infrastructure profiles for Bougainville's 13 districts. The profiles map current land use and infrastructure and budgetary information, as a basis for districts to plan their infrastructure priorities for the coming year and beyond.


We assisted 40 Bougainvilleans, including 16 women, to graduate from a program which qualified them for police entry-level training.
Australia supported peace building through the Bougainville Peace Building Program (BPBP), which is co-funded by Australia and the ABG. The program focuses on community and traditional approaches to reconciling issues and grievances stemming from the Bougainville crisis. The program's successes included important reconciliations in Central and South Bougainville. The program strengthened the ABG's capacity to undertake peace building work by training a cadre of mediators as a resource for districts to move ahead with local-level reconciliations. This support is improving communities’ ability to resolve low-level disputes and is bolstering stability more broadly. In May 2016 we commissioned an independent review of the BPBP which will reshape elements of the program, in consultation with the ABG and stakeholders.

Australian assistance in the law and justice sector helped the ABG to develop the Bougainville Law and Justice Mid Term Development Plan. The plan provides a unifying framework for sector development. We assisted the ABG and PNG to re-establish magisterial services in South Bougainville and public solicitor services in Central Bougainville. We continued to construct a juvenile rehabilitation centre and we assisted 40 young Bougainvilleans, including 16 women, to graduate from a program which qualified them for police entry-level training. Twenty three continued to entry level training and graduated as probationary officers in the reporting period. The remaining 17 started their training in June 2016. This innovative program has boosted historically low numbers of Bougainvilleans in policing.

In 2015-16 Australia increased support to sustainable and inclusive economic development. Recognising that economic participation bolsters stability, our assistance focussed on improving primary industry production, the investment climate, business environment and trade links. We provided value chain diagnostics in cocoa and coconut to help inform the ABG's industry plans. Australia launched two new programs to support economic opportunities for farmers, develop the cocoa value chain and improve management strategies for cocoa and food security.

In the transport sector, Australia helped the ABG to maintain about 400 km of Bougainville’s road network. About 80 per cent of Bougainville’s population, schools and health facilities are in close proximity to the core road network that Australia helps to maintain. We also supported the sealing of eight town roads in the township of Arawa, Central Bougainville – including 9.7 km to Kieta Port – in order to connect population centres and promote improved trade connectivity and economic growth.

Investing in education is essential to improve Bougainville’s human capacity. Support to the education sector helped the ABG to finalise a five year education plan. Forty four Bougainvilleans benefited from Australia Awards in PNG and Australia. We funded the establishment of the Bougainville chapter of the PNG Australia Alumni Association. In health, we continued to assist the ABG to progress key public health programs and reforms. Our technical assistance helped the Department of Health to develop a new workforce structure, the Bougainville Health Administration Bill and a mental health policy. With the Asian Development Bank, we built new community health posts with associated staff housing and ablution facilities in South and Central Bougainville. Sexual reproductive health programs and support for maternal health expanded to new sites.

Under our Bougainville Gender Investment Plan (2014-19) we delivered grants and projects to improve women’s economic opportunities in cocoa farming and to support the Bougainville Women’s Federation to deliver programs to empower young women’s leadership skills and confidence. A grants program trained more than 1,400 young people in cocoa production, financial literacy and life skills.

Outlook

The Autonomous Region of Bougainville continues to face constraints to economic growth and human development, including low government capacity and additional challenges as a result of its nine year (1988 to 1997) civil conflict. We will continue to reinforce our development assistance through diplomatic engagement and broader international support. In 2016-17 Australia will roll out significant industry assistance aimed at boosting sustainable cocoa production and other primary industries prioritised by the ABG. To build greater fiscal sustainability, we will assist the ABG with the draw-down of revenue generation powers and functions and continue to provide advisory support on public financial management and taxation. In transport, Australia will continue our focus on maintaining priority assets and improving the ABG’s capacity to develop and maintain quality infrastructure. Our focus in education will be on building 20 prefabricated primary school kits and training up to 50 TVET teachers to complete an Australian qualification in training and assessment. In health, we will focus on completing the upgrade of Arawa health centre and continuing our dialogue with the ABG on their commitment of funding for the procurement of medical equipment for the centre. We will continue to support the Bougainville Women’s Federation to take a stronger role in policy development and advocacy and we will help the ABG to introduce the PNG Government’s Gender Equity and Social Inclusion Policy in the public service.