The World Bank Group has approved US$100 million for the second phase of Papua New Guinea’s Rural Service Delivery Project, with more than one million people expected to benefit from improved infrastructure and basic services.
The Rural Service Delivery Project Phase 2 (RSDP-2) will expand a community-led development model across 12 provinces, supporting investments in clean water, sanitation, healthcare facilities, classrooms, rural roads, electricity and livelihood activities.
Financing is being provided through the World Bank Group’s International Development Association (IDA).
The programme is expected to support at least 800 community infrastructure and service investments, including projects in remote areas where access to public services and development programmes can be limited.
Around 300,000 of the more than one million people expected to benefit are living in remote communities.
RSDP-2 will allow communities themselves to identify, plan and implement priority projects, with the programme designed to ensure local investments reflect the needs of residents, including women, young people and vulnerable groups.
Han Fraeters, World Bank Division Director for Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, said: “RSDP demonstrates what can be achieved when communities play a leading role in shaping their own development.
“The new programme will support at least 800 community infrastructure and service investments and will reach more than one million people including 300,000 living in remote areas that are often underserved by development programmes.”
Second phase builds on 291,000 beneficiaries
The new investment follows the first phase of the Rural Service Delivery Project, which reached more than 291,000 people across five provinces.
According to the World Bank, the initial programme demonstrated that communities given greater responsibility for development decisions could deliver local services and infrastructure effectively and transparently while reducing costs.
RSDP-2 will significantly increase the geographical and operational scale of the approach.
Alongside individual infrastructure schemes, the project will strengthen local planning and decision-making processes.
Support will be provided to Papua New Guinea’s Department of Provincial and Local-level Government Affairs, local-level governments and Ward Development Committees.
The intention is to strengthen the institutions responsible for supporting community participation in planning and service delivery while creating a more transparent mechanism through which local governments, residents and development partners can work together.
39,000 job opportunities expected
The programme is also expected to generate more than 39,000 job opportunities through community infrastructure works.
These employment opportunities will accompany wider efforts to improve economic conditions in rural areas through infrastructure and livelihood-related investments.
The community-led structure means the programme will encompass a large number of relatively small investments rather than concentrating funding into a limited number of major infrastructure projects.
This will require coordination across multiple provinces, local governments, Ward Development Committees and communities as the programme moves from local project identification through planning and implementation.
Climate resilience will also form part of the investment programme.
RSDP-2 will support infrastructure designed to help communities prepare for and respond to natural disasters and other climate-related challenges, integrating resilience considerations into local investment decisions.
The programme forms part of wider efforts to improve access to basic services in rural Papua New Guinea while strengthening the capability of communities and local institutions to influence how development funding is prioritised and delivered.
