Papua New Guinea - Second Phase of Rural Service Delivery Project

Overview & Synopsis

Rural Service Delivery Project - Phase 2 for Papua New Guinea; the development objectives are to improve access to resilient basic infrastructure and services and strengthen participatory local governance in participating provinces, including those affected by violence. Component 1: Preparation and Implementation of Community Sub-projects supports inclusive, community-led identification, planning, and delivery of small-scale infrastructure, services, and livelihoods through sub-grants and local facilitation, with climate, disaster, and conflict risk considerations integrated throughout. Sub-component 1.1: Ward-level sub-grants and support for community sub-projects provides Ward Development Grants and Women and Youth Subproject grants for rehabilitating or constructing facilities such as water systems, classrooms, health posts, multipurpose community centers, solar electrification, local access and Disaster Risk Management infrastructure, and livelihood activities, implemented by community committees with Local-Level Government (LLG) endorsement and technical oversight. Sub-component 1.2: LLG support and facilitation finances Local-Level Government Enable and Facilitation grants to strengthen LLG functionality and recurrent support for ward-level orientation, subproject preparation, approval, implementation, reporting, and operation and maintenance. Sub-component 1.3: Technical assistance for pilot initiatives funds assessments and pilots to enhance the community and local development cycle, including benefit-sharing mechanisms, incentives for inter-ward investments, conflict-sensitive and climate-resilient adaptations, and grant top-ups for climate-proofing or disaster response. Component 2: Strengthening Community and Local Government Capacity provides hands-on training and facilitation to Ward Development Committees (WDCs) and project-established committees on participatory planning, simple procurement, financial management, construction quality assurance, operation and maintenance, social accountability, and specialized topics such as climate and disaster risk assessment, climate-resilient livelihoods, women’s economic empowerment, gender and Gender-Based Violence (GBV) prevention, and conflict sensitivity; it also trains LLG and sector staff and supports coordination of the National Prevention Strategy Secretariat. Component 3: Project Management, Monitoring and Learning finances the Project Management Unit (PMU), Provincial Project Offices (PPOs), and implementation systems for procurement, financial management, environmental and social standards, grievance handling, communications, monitoring and evaluation (M&E), and the Management Information System (MIS), along with analytical work and feedback mechanisms to institutionalize participatory local development and strengthen inter-agency coordination for service delivery. Component 4: Contingent Emergency Response Component (CERC) enables rapid reallocation of uncommitted project funds to respond to eligible disasters or emergencies in targeted LLGs through an Emergency Action Plan and a CERC Manual, ensuring appropriate safeguards and procedures for timely local-level recovery and resilience.