Boosting Women-Driven Development in Bougainville

Boosting Women-Driven Development in Bougainville

World Bank approves additional grant for inclusive development project

PORT MORESBY, April 13, 2015 – The World Bank has approved an additional grant of US$2.4 million from the State and Peace-Building Fund (SPF) for the Inclusive Development in Post-Conflict Bougainville (IDIB) Project, bringing total funding to US$4.9 million for activities to strengthen the participation of women.

The additional funding will enable the delivery of further training and advocacy support for women’s groups across Bougainville, as well as the expansion of grants for community infrastructure and services to all 41 community governments. Training will be expanded from 450 to 1,000 civil servants, women and other community leaders. The number of small grants to women’s groups will increase from 41 to 123, with total beneficiaries increasing from 48,000 to 80,000 – more than 30 percent of the population, at least half of which will be women.

“Women from across Bougainville have brought men and women together in their communities to identify and implement small-scale projects to improve their living conditions,” said Stefanie Stallmeister, World Bank Country Manager for Papua New Guinea. “The results of the project so far have been impressive and we are very pleased to continue our support for this important work.”

For an objective evaluation of the project’s results to-date, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade hired PNG-based Tanorama Ltd. to conduct research during 2013 and 2014, with reports finding that the social and political power of women in Bougainville is being strengthened as a result of the project.

“With the window for conducting a referendum on the future of Bougainville just opening, it is critical that we garner all the resources at our disposal to chart a path of peace and prosperity,” saidMonovi Amani, Chief Secretary for the Autonomous Bougainville Government. “The potential of women to contribute to development and to add their voices to policy debate is being greatly enhanced by this project. We look forward to seeing women taking on more and more initiatives to drive development in their communities.”

The IDIB project features three components: (i) strengthening the capacity of women’s organizations, the Autonomous Bougainville Government, and community governments to undertake development activities which are inclusive of women; (ii) providing small grants to women’s groups for high priority community development projects; and (iii) project management, monitoring, and evaluation.

The project will continue to be managed by the Autonomous Bougainville Government’s Department of Community Development, with a new closing date of March 31, 2018.

ENDS

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