Peacebuilding and resilience

Without peace, there is no development and without development, there is no peace.

Under its peacebuilding and resilience portfolio, UNDP is working towards building and sustaining peace and addressing multi-dimensional fragility in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea and the Autonomous Region of Bougainville.

The portfolio presently comprises of six projects including three being implemented under the framework of the UN’s Highlands Joint Programme for Peace and Development as well as the Parliamentary Strengthening: Papua New Guinea National Parliament and the Bougainville House of Representative; Sustaining Peace Through Economic Empowerment; and the Humanitarian Advisory Team projects.

The United Nations Highlands Joint Programme for Peace and Development is an area-based programme aimed at creating enabling conditions for peacebuilding initiatives to address root causes of conflicts in the provinces of Hela and Southern Highlands. A flagship UN programme in Papua New Guinea enjoying strong support from the National Government and respective Provincial Governments, it is jointly implemented by six UN organizations with UNDP providing thought leadership and programmatic coordination as the lead participating organization. Under the Programme, UNDP is also delivering peacebuilding initiatives through three projects, namely Creating Conditions for Peace; Addressing Conflict and Fragility in the Highlands; and Preventing Climate-Induced Conflicts through Empowered Women Leadership.

The Parliamentary Strengthening and the Sustaining Peace Through Economic Empowerment projects are two projects implemented in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville (ARoB). The parliamentary strengthening project will work to strengthen collaboration between Papua New Guinea’s national parliament and the Autonomous Region of Bougainville’s parliament. The project will support members of both legislatures in their efforts to raise awareness among citizens on the role of strong parliaments for democracy and good governance. The Sustaining Peace Through Economic Empowerment project is focused on growing the entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem in Autonomous Region of Bougainville particularly in micro, small to medium enterprises (MSMEs).

Supporting Papua New Guinea’s humanitarian preparedness and response architecture also falls under this portfolio. The Humanitarian Advisory Team project is strengthening national and international humanitarian coordination by bringing together humanitarian entities, Government, non-governmental organizations, and faith-based partners to ensure a coherent response to emergencies and crises in Papua New Guinea. It manages the Disaster Management Team, which provides a framework within which each entity can contribute to overall response efforts. The project is also supporting updates to legislation that govern emergency response in the country while facilitating training, capacity-building, and investment in national and provincial partners across key aspects of disaster management.

Projects

• Creating Conditions for Peace (UN Highlands Joint Programme)
• Addressing Conflict and Fragility in the Highlands (UN Highlands Joint Programme)
• Preventing Climate-Induced Conflicts through Empowered Women Leadership (UN Highlands Joint Programme)
• Parliamentary Strengthening Project: PNG National Parliament and Bougainville House of Representative
• Sustaining Peace Through Economic Empowerment
• Humanitarian Advisory Team