Case stories on capacity development and sustainable results

PAPUA NEW GUINEA25PAPUA NEW GUINEA –Creating capacity fordecentralized service deliveryContextWhen the Papua New Guinea (PNG) Governmentintroduced the Organic Law onProvincial and Local Level Governmentin 1995, it decentralized responsibilityfor service delivery. The new law set intrain a complex reform process that hasgathered considerable momentum in recentyears.AusAID has supported the PNG Governmentin creating key enablers for decentralizedservice delivery which, alongwith the Government’s commitment andleadership, have brought intermediate butimportant development results and havemade sustained improvements in servicedelivery more likely.Development resultsThe reform process has achieved severalsignificant medium-term gains: it hasstrengthened corporate governance andadministration, which has improved publicservice administration in all of PNG’s18 provinces; a review of intergovernmentalfinancing brought more clarity to theresponsibilities of provincial and localgovernment and fiscal decentralizationhas increased funding for service delivery;and through national support and coordination,the Department of Provincialand Local Government Affairs has led astronger national engagement in servicedelivery. These achievements in administrativecapacity, funding, and accountabilityand coordination have now startedto bear fruit in more and better servicesfor people.Enhanced performanceBecause of the investment and the resultsthe reform process has brought, most provinces,districts, and local governments areintegrating planning and budgeting processes,allocating more money to key priorityareas (a 32 percent increase between2005 and 2009), moving staff from provincialheadquarters to districts and localgovernment to improve services, andbecoming more accountable for servicedelivery by submitting statutory nationalperformance reports and through localmulti-stakeholder performance monitoringforums.ResultsThe reform process has improved theadministration of public services in all of PNG’s 18provinces.Fiscal decentralization has increased funding forservice delivery.Accountability and coordinationfor local service delivery has increased.Planning and budgeting processes have becomebetter integrated.