PARTNERSHIP POLICY FRAMEWORK

BETWEEN

THE GOVERNMENT

AND

THE CHRISTIAN CHURCHES

IN

PAPUA NEW GUINEA

A. PURPOSE OF THE PARTNERSHIP POLICY FRAMEWORK

1. The purpose of this Partnership Policy Framework for Service Delivery between

the Government of Papua New Guinea (GoPNG) and the Christian Churches is to

establish a framework under which to work together to bring to the people of

Papua New Guinea basic services relating to integral human development.

2. The Policy Partnership Framework provides the basis for the GoPNG to establish

an ongoing partnership between the Christian Churches in PNG for effective

service delivery.

B. BACKGROUND TO THE PARTNERSHIP

3. This Partnership formally recognizes and commends the great efforts of the

Churches over the years in being the face of service delivery for the majority of

Papua New Guineans. The Government recognizes that Churches manage and run

almost 50% of all education and health services.

4. The Government is confident that the Churches will continue to provide that basic

service delivery.

5. The Government has long recognized its limitations in its efforts to be there

where it matters most – where services are most needed. This Partnership

reinforces that recognition of the Government’s limitations.

6. The limitations of Government and the unique role and position of the Churches

have contributed to the Government’s decision to initiate this critical Partnership

to address these limitations of the Government by utilizing the role and position

of the Christian Churches in service delivery.

C. INTERNATIONAL OBLIGATIONS

7. The Partnership is being forged taking into account the international obligations

of the State of Papua New Guinea. One of such obligations is the Government’s

commitment to fulfilling the Millennium Development Goals (Annex 1). To

achieve these Goals requires a concerted effort of all stakeholders in the business

of service delivery and the Christian Churches are a critical stakeholder. The

Christian Churches are undeniably at the forefront of service delivery. The other

international obligation is the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness (Annex 2),

which has been translated into PNG’s Commitment on Aid Effectiveness (Annex

3). This Commitment obliges Government to ensure that its own resources

maximize aid effectiveness in PNG and the Christian Churches are being invited

to contribute to this process through this Partnership.

D. SHARED PARTNERSHIP PRINCIPLES

8. The Government and the Christian Churches commit themselves to the following

Shared Principles for the success of this Partnership for Service Delivery:

I. We have received the mandate of our Founding Fathers, as expressed in

the Constitution, to pursue the goals of integral human development and of

equality and participation, among others, and that such goals define our

path for action as public leaders;

II. As stated in the Preamble of our Constitution, “We pledge ourselves to

guard and pass on to those who come after us, our noble traditions and the

Christian principles that are ours now”;

III. That Divine mandate brings us together, to join efforts in order to improve

the delivery of basic public goods and services that are essential for the

realization of Integral Human Development;

IV. We, as Christian Churches and political leaders of Papua New Guinea

have a supreme duty to do our best efforts to assure that the Human

Dignity of each Papua New Guinean is valued and respected, and that

each one can exert his or her inalienable freedom without want for food,

health, shelter, education, and opportunities to be a productive and

peaceful member of our society;

V. It is our duty to guarantee each individual in our country the possibility of

realizing to its full extent his or her capacities, and to provide

opportunities for applying them for his/her individual wellbeing and in

benefit of the rest of society;

VI. Within the framework of Christian Principles as enshrined in the

Constitution, we recognize that the pursuit of equality, participation and

self reliance are Divine mandates, which we are obligated to implement

and promote in the best interest and benefit of all Papua New Guineans;

VII. That collaborative efforts of Government and other development partners

including the Christian Churches, can achieve more rapid progress

towards improving the delivery of basic services in Papua New Guinea;

VIII. The provision of basic services is a critical obligation of any Government,

but such recognition does not imply that the Government cannot utilize

other partners in the delivery of those basic services. It is thus important to

strengthen our solidarity with the Christian Churches in order to jointly

support Government’s development initiatives aimed at improving the

coverage and the quality in the delivery of basic services.

E. PARTNERSHIP COMMITMENTS

9. Developed in a spirit of mutual respect, responsibility and accountability to

service delivery, we, the Government and the Christian Churches, as Partners to

this Partnership commit ourselves to:

I. Initiate a process of coordination and consultation aimed at jointly

improving the delivery of basic public services and exploring new

opportunities of joint action to promote Integral Human Development in

Papua New Guinea;

II. Engage ourselves in the civic duty of expressing our views on public

policy proposals or situations which have significant implications for the

pursuit of Human Dignity and for the quality of life of our fellow Papua

New Guineans;

III. Combine our resources to generate synergies that enable greater

development impact in delivering basic services to all Papua New

Guineans, without any kind of discrimination;

IV. Develop an enabling environment conducive to effective participation,

including allowing for an appropriate degree of management autonomy to

the Christian Churches;

V. Adopt mechanisms and instruments that may allow for the transfer of

public funds and resources aimed at supporting the production and

provision of basic public services by Christian organizations, within a

specified framework of government to ensure exemplary accountability,

transparency, efficiency and compliance with Papua New Guinea laws in

the implementation;

VI. Meet annually and whenever circumstances may demand it, to analyze the

progress made in the implementation of the Commitment for the Integral

Human Development of All Papua New Guineans, and to adopt new

development initiatives including new agreements as deemed appropriate.

VII. Share relevant data and information on service delivery and development

progress.

F. PARTNERSHIP PRIORITIES

10. The Partnership is a commitment to a joint effort in service delivery. The focus

areas are the ones in which the Christian Churches are already involved and are

better positioned to further consolidate and enhance the delivery of those services.

11. The most critical areas the Government seeks strong Partnership in are in the

areas of Health, Education, Youth, Welfare Services and Community

Development.

12. Other areas will be considered on their own merits and the overall contribution to

achieving the agenda of service delivery for overall Integral Human

Development.

G. PARTNERSHIP RECOGNITIONS

13. The Partnership recognizes and is consistent with current existing arrangements

between the Government and the Christian Churches in delivering services.

H. PARTNERSHIP RESOURCING

14. The Government commits to funding the Partnership on an annual basis through

its annual budgetary process. The funding will be guided by a set of criteria to be

developed and agreed to by the Partners of this Policy Partnership Framework as

part of the Policy Partnership Framework.

15. The Christian Churches commit themselves to providing in-kind resources and the

manpower for the management of the Partnership activities.

I. PARTNERSHIP IMPLEMENTATION 16. All Christian Churches to work through their respective Head Organizations to

access Partnership funding for their respective Partnership activities.

17. All the Christian Church Partners will work together using their own processes to

create coherency and harmony in coordinating the implementation of the Policy

Partnership Framework.

18. All Partnership activities seeking Partnership funding will be submitted to the

Government through the Department of National Planning and Monitoring in the

prescribed format (Annex 4)

J. PARTNERSHIP PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

19. Under the Partnership, the Partners commit to creating a Joint-Coordination

Mechanism (JCM) to effectively coordinate the implementation of the

Partnership. This mechanism will act as a representative body of the Partners

vested with the authority to advance in the design of the aforementioned

Commitments within the Shared Partnership Principles. This joint-coordination

mechanism will also oversee their implementation, and propose any action or

initiative it may deem appropriate to further such agreements and to contribute to

the improvement in the coverage and quality in the provision of basic public

services.

20. The overall coordination, implementation, management and reporting of the

Partnership activities funded from the Partnership Resource will be the

responsibility of the affected Christian Church.

21. The Christian Church will provide quarterly reports to the Government through

the Department of National Planning and Monitoring.

22. The Government, through the Department of National Planning and Monitoring,

will monitor and evaluate the Partnership funded activities to account for service

delivery outcomes for overall performance reporting.

K. PARTNERSHIP ACCOUNTABILITIES 23. The respective Christian Churches will be accountable to God, their respective

congregations, their Head Organizations, and to the State.

24. The Government will be accountable to God, the people of Papua New Guinea

and the Christian Churches in the delivery of basic services.

L. PARTNERSHIP REVIEW

25. A comprehensive independent review of the Partnership Policy will be undertaken

on a three year basis.