Australian Aid to PNG - AusAID

deliver community and public services. Early reviews 20 of the two streams of theFund 21 have been positive about the concept of the Incentives Fund and thepotential for using incentives to motivate behaviour change in Papua New Guinea.5.2.3 CIVIL SOCIETYAustralia has consistently supported the development activities of nongovernmentorganisations (NGOs) in Papua New Guinea since independence.Since the late 1980s, this support has been extended to other communitydevelopment initiatives, as well as support to strengthen human rights, labourrights and other industrial relations matters. To a much smaller extent,Australia has also provided support for private sector development, particularlythrough micro-enterprise development, but also in assisting with trade policydevelopment. In recent years, support for the development of civil society hasincreased markedly. By enhancing community awareness and participation, it ishoped that this support will facilitate better public scrutiny of governmentpolicies and practices over time, ultimately contributing to improvinggovernment accountability in Papua New Guinea. Since 1999–00, Australianfunding for community and private sector development activities has averagedA$7.7 million per annum, compared with an average of A$2.5 million perannum over the previous decade (1989–90 to 1998–99). In addition to theseamounts, substantial assistance has been channelled through NGOs to supportpeace-building efforts on Bougainville, particularly since 1996.The largest activities, the Community Development Scheme (CDS) and theBougainville NGO Project, have been operating since 1996. In its first phase,the CDS succeeded in delivering grants to small NGOs, church, or communitybasedorganisations in all provinces, including in rural locations beyond thereach of other existing schemes. It was also able to achieve an equitabledistribution of available funding, including the active participation of women.Overall, the final report of Phase I concluded that the impact of the fundedprojects had been overwhelmingly positive on participating NGOs and recipientcommunities. The longer term viability of many of these small groups remainstenuous, and Phase II of the CDS is focused on developing strategies to promotesustainability. Australia has also provided training for more than 800 people insmall business and micro-enterprise training programs, located throughout ruralPapua New Guinea as well as in urban settlements of Port Moresby.20 Draft Report of Independent Review of the PNG Incentive Fund, AusAID, September 2002 and Draft Review ofIncentives and the Australian aid program, Program Evaluation Section, AusAID, December 2002.21 The PNG Incentive Fund has two components – a Program stream which, at the time of Review, had funded19 awards totalling K121m and a Policy stream that approved four awards, all in the Health sector, totalling K2m.The Contribution of Australian Aid to Papua New Guinea’s Development 1975–2000 41