Approval Date: 24 November 2010

BACKGROUND

Bougainville is located at the eastern-most point of the New Guinea islands and comprises two large and many smaller islands. It has a population of approximately 200,000 with over a dozen different language groups. A province of Papua New Guinea since 1975, Bougainville is now an autonomous region within the country, a result of a nine-year revolt that left tens of thousands killed, a divided and traumatised population, degraded infrastructure, and a shattered economy brought on by the collapse of its main industry, mining. Prior to the conflict, women played vital roles in community-level decision-making and were key agents of development. Overall, women held important positions in the family and community. The dynamics of the conflict and post-conflict period weakened this role resulting in women being marginalised from community decision-making processes. Further, during the conflict, women suffered violence as victims of torture, rape, and forced labour. The weakened capacity of women as agents of development within their communities and the low capacity of government departments working at the local level, are widely viewed as significant challenges to development efforts. 

ABOUT THE PROJECT

Inclusive Development in Post-Conflict Bougainville (IDIB) will strongly benefit women and women’s organisations across the region, as well as the communities where projects are implemented and the individuals and agencies who are trained under projects.

Component 1:  Building Capacity for Inclusive Community Development

Under this component, training will take place for women’s organisations and civil society organisations which support the involvement of women in development. These organisations must meet at least one of the following criteria: highest executive is a woman; majority of members are women; current programs have a significant focus on women as primary beneficiaries; experience in implementing community development projects. Twice yearly trainings will also take place targeting Community Development, Education, Health, and Planning staff in the Autonomous Bougainville Government, district and sub-district levels, as well as local level governments, civil society and other community leaders. The training will be developed and delivered in collaboration with the Division of Human Resource Development which oversees civil service training in the Government and will rely on approaches that integrate practical lessons from the field and encourage a learning-by-doing approach.

Component 2:  Small Grants for Inclusive Community Development

Individuals and organisations trained under Component 1 will be able to apply the concepts and skills they have learned directly to the development and implementation of community-based projects through the availability of small grants. Additional financing will also be provided to grantees to strengthen their ability to implement their projects. The types of activities eligible for funding include:

·  Small-Scale Social Infrastructure such as school building repair or rehabilitation, housing or transport for Community Health Workers, and village access road improvement.

·  Small-scale Economic Infrastructure such as improved market access tracks, roads, or bridges, and common storage or drying areas for crops.

·  Occupational Activity & Economic Livelihood Training such as horticulture, handicrafts, eco-tourism, and business management.

·  Social Issues Training and Awareness Campaigns such as on HIV/AIDS awareness, reproductive health, campaigns against domestic violence, nutritional education, and environmental awareness.

Component 3: Project Management and Knowledge Sharing

Project management, and monitoring and evaluation costs, will be covered under this component. Additionally, two meetings will be financed in order to serve as a platform for knowledge exchange across community projects. These meetings will provide an opportunity for Autonomous Bougainville Government staff, local government staff, and civil society organisations that have been engaged in the project to meet, build alliances, and share information and lessons on their activities.

LOCATION

The project will operate at a regional and community level across Bougainville.

RESOURCES

 Project Details
 Download Project Flier (558kb pdf)

CONTACT

World Bank Task Team Leader

Erik Johnson
Senior Opertions Officer
ejohnson1@worldbank.org