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PNG 2018-2022 Strategy Note – Social Inclusion

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Programme Strategy Note: Social Policy and Social Inclusion

Title of Programme Strategy Note

Social Policy and Social Inclusion

Responsible Business Owner

Representative

Responsible Manager

Social Policy Chief (new position)

Date of submission 27 November

Partners engagement

18 Nov 2016 validation meeting with the Department of National Planning and Monitoring.

Date of review 26 January 2017 (RO team); 30 January 2017 (IA)

Reviewed by EAPRO emergency, CJ Ozga, Chemba, Social policy

Reviewers Feedback Included in revised text and consolidated notes in Q/A

Dates of subsequent revision

30 Jan 2017, 4 February, 15 February, 18 February, 22 February

1. Introduction Responding to Goal Area 5 of the new UNICEF Strategic Plan, that “Every child should have an equitable chance in life”, this Outcome area aims to ensure that national policies, plans and systems in PNG effectively promote social inclusion, gender equality and multi-dimensional poverty reduction. National policies should also support the strengthening of critical cross sectoral interventions such as evidence generation, and more targeted services supporting the development and participation of adolescents in decision-making processes. UNICEF PNG does not currently include an outcome on social policy and social inclusion, although these issues are very pertinent for the country and for the realisation of child rights. UNICEF is well placed in PNG to expand its cooperation in these areas: not only is the Organisation recognised as the leading child rights advocate in country, but it has credibility as a policy advocate at upstream levels and technical authority in the field. Working with government, donors and UN partners under the UNDAF, UNICEF’s niche is focusing on ensuring that social policies, plans, budgets and systems incorporate commitments and specifically target children including specific attention to adolescents. This positioning was discussed with national counterparts at various levels, including through a formal planning meeting chaired by the National Department of Planning and Monitoring on 18 Nov 2016. This Outcome will contribute to the realisation of a number of national and SDG targets (see TOC narrative) and help other UNICEF-supported sectoral outputs in furthering their upstream governance, policy, and advocacy objectives related to the health, education and protection of children and adolescents. Supporting national and provincial government for improved public financial management (PFM) and Decentralised Local Governance (DeLoG) will specifically aim at improved service delivery by strengthening the enabling environment of planning and budgeting resources for children. 2. Prioritized issues and areas Social Policy and social protection

UNICEF Guidance: Programme Strategy Notes

2 | P r o g r a m m e S t r a t e g y N o t e , P N G

Overall, PNG is recognised for having progressive policies and plans for sustainable and equitable development. The challenge for the country is to translate these policies into outcomes, ensuring efficiency in public finance management and addressing the various bottlenecks and barriers, including critical capacity gaps in planning and budgeting that impede implementation especially at decentralised levels. Despite recent rapid economic growth, the people of Papua New Guinea, especially the rural poor and urban disadvantaged, didn’t get the benefit of economic dividends towards accessing basic social services. It is the only country in Asia and the Pacific region that could achieve none of the MDG targets. Access to basic social services is one of the lowest in the world. The decelerating growth rate, with estimated GDP increase rate at 10% for 2015, 4.3% in 2016, and an estimated 2.4% in 2017 will be an added challenge. Poverty, including income poverty and multi-dimensional child poverty, is in the root most inequalities. Children of the poorest income quintiles and from rural or remote areas are more likely to die before the age of five, to be stunted or malnourished, and excluded from essential services including health care, education, and access to proper water and sanitation. Latest poverty estimates show that around 40% of the households could be considered poor, with higher rates in rural areas rather than urban ones (42% and 29% respectively)1. Applying the food poverty line as a proxy of extreme poverty – meaning that families do not have enough money to buy the basic food they need to consume – Almost a third (27%) of the households in PNG are extremely poor. The Government does not yet have a consolidated policy to fight poverty and hardship or a comprehensive social protection system2 that might provide social safety nets for its vulnerable populations3. In 2009, the National Executive Council made a historic decision to develop a formal policy on social protection in PNG and some progress was made to expand child protection programmes under the Lukautim Pikinini Act and Policy), disaster assistance (under the Disaster Relief and Emergency Office), and support for elderly and persons with disabilities (approximately 600,000 persons representing 10% of the population) – but for the most part, social security is informal, haphazard and ensured primarily through extended family and the “wantok” system of clan and community. The State has the mandate to intervene by assisting families and communities whose own resource capacities have been exhausted or depleted, but almost 83% of the Social Protection national budget is allocated specifically to pensions, primarily for ex-military and civil service personnel4, who are considered “non-poor”. In recent years, the Government and UNICEF5 worked together to develop a conceptual framework that would place children at the core of a social protection scheme – and some strong advocacy was done to develop specific social safety nets for children affected by HIV/AIDS – but a comprehensive approach has not yet been implemented. Social protection programmes (such as the ones found in Indonesia, Mexico and Brazil, where investments in children are at the core of fighting poverty) are not found in the country. Addressing the multiple dimensions of child poverty is not just an important issue for the country, it is important for the sub-region. Due to its population size, it is estimated that around 75% of the Pacific Region’s poor population live in Papua New Guinea.

1 HIES 2009/10 2 PNG defines social protection as: “Policies, programs, and services, which allow for some form of protection and assistance to be provided directly, either in-cash or in-kind to individuals, families and households that are vulnerable to risks and shocks. At the same time, it empowers these groups to cope with the demands of daily life, leading towards the transformation of their lives in the long term”. 3 Save the Children, Sept 2016 4 ADB: PNG: Updating and improving the Social Protection Index, Aug 2012 https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/project-document/76074/44152-012-reg-tacr-19.pdf 5 Department of Community Development and UNICEF PNG, 2008



PNG has ratified six Human Rights treaties, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the Convention on the Elimination of all Discriminations Against Women (CEDAW), the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability (CRPD). The government faces challenges in meeting its reporting obligations and has not submitted any progress report since its initial CRC report in 2002. However, PNG reported and participated in the second cycle of the Universal Periodic Review in 2016, accepting 108 of the 159 recommendations, and has committed to establish a National Mechanism for Reporting & Follow-up. The Social Policy and Social Protection Output area will support all sectoral programmes to ensure that PNG national development and sector specific plans, budgets and social protection systems make specific commitments to children, with appropriate targeting. - Supporting normative work: Enhancing the abilities of national authorities to ensure inclusive and

effective reporting and follow up of commitments under ratified human rights treaties and the concluding observations of their respective treaty bodies, in particular for the CRC, CEDAW, CRPD and the UPR. This will include linking with youth councils and members of civil society to increase government accountability in the review process.

- SDG Localisation: Support the UNCT in promoting the SDGs agenda. This includes support to mainstream child-related SDGs goals and targets in national and sub-national plans and budget frameworks. It also means working with national authorities to address issues of equity and social inclusion for children in national development Acts and policies and sector-specific plans, including local development plans –ensuring that the furthest behind are reached first;

- Policy and Programme Advocacy: In coordination with major development partners, and respective technical teams of the Country Programme, during the design phase of social programmes, to ensure appropriate, evidence-based social protection schemes and safety nets (including disaster relief assistance). This is critical to ensuring that children, adolescents, women and vulnerable groups (such as children with disabilities) are appropriately targeted and reached by social protection measures.

Data and Evidence Generation Experience suggests that problems that go unmeasured go unsolved. Obtaining and analysing credible data about children, adolescents and women situation is critical to the improvement of their lives – and indispensable to realizing their rights. However, severe limitations in national capacity for data collection, management, analysis and dissemination, and to design, lead and use research related to the status of children and women, have led to critical data gaps about women and children in PNG, and the performance of national institutions in delivering basic social services. At this time:

National household surveys (such as the last Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2009/10) have been limited in terms of frequency; range of indicators related to issues most affecting women and children; statistical relevance below regional level and lack of disaggregation by age, sex and other determinants of inequity. This has greatly limited potential analysis by national authorities and development partners. The ongoing Demographic and Health Survey will provide a much-needed update for a wider range of indicators at the provincial level, with some age and sex disaggregation – but not all indicators relevant for SDG monitoring have been integrated in this survey- posing challenges for establishment of baselines.

Some routine monitoring systems such as the Health Management Information System and the Education Management Information System are functional – but suffer from great gaps in capacity, particularly at decentralised levels where reporting is inconsistent. There is also a need to further the localisation of SDG monitoring by integrating and/or adapting some outcome-level indicators into the



national monitoring mechanisms to better measure the coverage of essential services. Other routine monitoring systems (such as those that might track case management of vulnerable children and families) are limited in scope and functionality.

Some sectors and areas of interest have extremely limited data, information and analysis. Data on violence and its impacts on boys and girls is scattered for example, partly because the country does not have any recent perception survey that helps to quantify cases of abuse and qualify causes and determinants, and partly because there are no established mechanisms that collect and report data on disability, violence and abuse. In this sense, much of the available data comes from limited surveys or initiatives, leading to massive cases of underreporting.

Centralised data collection and management systems that could facilitate better analysis of policy implementation are not fully in place or not used for decision-making, and compounded by lack of standardisation. For the most part, routine data collection systems for health, education and social protection are still stored separately in the provinces.

The universal SDG agenda stresses that data, research and evaluation are critical to tracking and improving the lives of women and children globally. This agenda places a renewed emphasis on the imperative of addressing specific capacity gaps related to data and evidence generation. The Evidence Generation and Data output will strengthen national capacities (in the National Statistics Office and specific line Ministries) for the collection, management, and analysis of data and information, while supporting the research agenda for children and the management of technical knowledge on the status of child rights. In collaboration with relevant UN Agencies and partners, activities will include:

Developing the research agenda for the new Country Programme, in coordination with the National Department of Planning and Monitoring and the National Statistics Office – ensuring that timely, credible and useful analysis on the situation affecting children, adolescents and women is available for policy advocacy. Priorities include providing secondary analysis of the 2016 DHS and strengthening government capacities in child poverty analysis;

Providing technical support to the National Department of Planning and Monitoring to monitor the progress of the current PNG Development Strategic Plan (2010-2030) in delivering results for children;

Providing training and technical assistance to line Ministries for results-based planning, monitoring and evaluation;

Ensuring that both national household surveys and routine monitoring systems are better able to collect relevant SDG-related and child-related indicators and provide disaggregated data (by age and sex and other determinants of inequity);

Building capacity of local authorities (particularly in the Education, Health, Child Protection s) to collect, manage, share and analyse child-related and SDG-related data through routine monitoring systems.

Decentralisation and Local Governance for children PNG is highly decentralized, with 22 provinces, 89 districts, 313 Local Level Governments (LLGs) and 6,131 Wards. This decentralized system is complex, with multiple tiers of Government and administration, each funded largely from the national budget. Central Government policy making and fiscal control is strong compared with the weaker capacity of line Government agencies and subnational service providers in implementation and service delivery. The 2014 National Human Development Report noted that the complex decentralization system is a consequence of PNG’s diverse population, “which retains a stronger



allegiance to and trust towards sub-national levels than national.”6 Provincial governments have complete delegation of power and authority to administer public finance, mobilise local/domestic resources, execute governance and administration, and to manage and deliver public goods and services. However, there is uneven governance capacity at provincial and district levels which have “historically performed relatively poorly in terms of delivery of services and development to their respective populations. Allocation of the national budget for programmes related to children to the provinces, districts and local level governments is done through a myriad of channels that include conditional and unconditional grants that flow from national to sub-national departments. The current process is extremely complex, and, consequently, difficult to be monitored by civil society, and even by the provincial governments (see UNICEF PNG Sitan V.41 for more details). This makes it challenging to advocate for child-friendly budgeting practices, and difficult to provide investment cases and costing of strategies for implementation of Acts and Policies (such as the Lukautim Pikinini Policy – or Child Policy of 2015) that reflect the reality of how resources are allocated in practice. PNG’s complex and weak governance is also further challenged by corruption. Transparency International’s 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index ranks Papua New Guinea 139th in a list of 163, a consistent ranking over the last four years7. In this complex environment, specialised technical assistance is required to enhance public expenditure tracking and overall public finance management for the purposes of increasing investments in children. Such work is particularly important in the context of PNG’s economic downturn (driven by falling oil and commodity prices), which has resulted in a dramatic decrease in the national budget (reduced by 23% in 2015 with a 16% drop cut in expenditures), with additional cuts foreseen during the cycle of the new Country Programme. In the 2016 budget proposal, the total funding for the Education sector in 2016 was equivalent to US$ 414 million, which represented 9.2% of the total 2016 Budget expenditure. Health was supposed to receive 11% of the country’s budget; and Social Protection – responsible for public policy interventions and programs on gender equality and violence, children and youth, disability and support to the elderly – is allocated only 1.1% of the national budget. The Decentralisation and Local Governance output will address the staggering capacity gaps of the national and provincial governments to improve the public financial management (PFM) and Decentralised Local Governance (DeLoG) systems and provisions that would enable to effectively utilise resources towards maximising results for children, adolescents, women in selected deprived areas. Activities will include:

Evidence-based Costing, Budgeting and Planning: For creating investment cases related to investments for children and adolescents and costing for the budgeting and implementation of key new Acts and Policies that support realisation of child rights (such as the Lukautim Pikinini Policy, National Nutrition Policy, National Immunisation Policy).

- Public Expenditure Tracking and Budget Advocacy: In collaboration with other UN Agencies, technical assistance will be provided to conduct public expenditure tracking for the purposes of evidence-based advocacy to sustain (and eventually increase) national budget allocations to the social services (this is particularly important to maintaining recurrent investments in the Tuition Fee Free Policy and other positive schemes in the context of the current economic downturn).

- Capacity building of provincial and local governments: For improved coordination, decentralized planning and monitoring, budgeting and leveraging of resources for children and adolescents. Technical assistance will also be provided to strengthen accountabilities based on a robust function mapping and to ensure community participation in local governance.

6 The PNG National Human Development Report: From Wealth to Wellbeing: Translating Resource Revenue into Sustainable Human Development,

2014, p.39. 7 Hayward-Jones, March 2016



3. Theory of Change for Programme Components The following theory of change provides a narrative complement to the schematic on the following page. The first level relates to impact level changes, the second to outcome level changes, the third to intermediate outcomes and the final to the output level.

UNICEF Outcome: Evidence-based national policies, plans and systems effectively promote social inclusion, poverty reduction, decentralized governance for children, and participation of communities including children and adolescents in decision-making processes.

Social Policy and Social Protection: National capacity to ensure inclusive and equitable social policy and social protection is improved

Evidence Generation: National capacity for collection, management and analysis of child-sensitive data is improved

Decentralisation and Local Governance for children: In selected provinces, provincial, district and local councils, have improved planning and budgeting capacities to ensure that priorities for children and adolescents are included in development plans

If Recommendations from the CRC Committee are implemented and If policies, plans, budgets and systems effectively promote social inclusion and poverty reduction, then it is more likely that:

There could be a reduction in inequality and poverty

An increase in those households/individuals benefiting from social protection transfers

If policies, plans and systems effectively promote social inclusion and poverty reduction, then it is more likely that:

Plans and policies are evidence-based using accurate, disaggregated data that support accurate targeting of vulnerable, marginalized or excluded groups

If policies, plans and systems effectively promote local governance for children , If provincial and local level plans and budgets make commitments to children, including adolescents, IF services are targeted to children and adolescents and IF systems effectively promote their participation in decision-making, then it is more likely that more children and adolescents uptake social services and engage in their societies. This can, in turn, lead to changes in the status of their health, education, protection and overall empowerment.



If National capacity to ensure inclusive and equitable social policy is improved, then it is more likely that:

Recommendations from the CRC Committee will be implemented

National legislation and social policies will identify specific strategies for reducing inequalities and promoting social inclusion;

Social protection schemes will better target poor and vulnerable/marginalized groups (since they currently do not).

If: National capacity for collection, management and analysis of child-sensitive data is improved, then it is more likely that:

Routine monitoring systems will include additional child-sensitive indicators;

Household surveys will include relevant child-sensitive indicators and disaggregate data to the lowest level possible (and by the determinants of inequity);

The effectiveness of monitoring and reporting systems will increase;

National authorities will improve analysis and feedback of information and analysis to decentralized levels;

Additional research related to the status of children and women in PNG will become available.

If: National and sub national capacity for decentralised planning is increased, then, it is more likely that:

Resources for basic services targeting children and adolescents will be allocated in Provincial and other local government Development Plans

The sub national plans will be evidence based

The sub national plans reflect the needs and aspirations of the communities

If: - National authorities are

supported to improve reporting and follow up to CRC commitments;

- The NDPM is supported to “localise” child-related SDGs goals and targets in national and sub-national plans and budget frameworks;

- Civil society (including youth groups) are

If:

National Department of Planning and Monitoring and the National Statistics Office work together to map data gaps and develop a clear research agenda for children;

National line Ministries receive training and technical assistance to

If

The NDPM and various line ministries and sub national governments have access to investment cases and costing analysis for implementation of key new Acts and Policies that support realisation of child rights;

The NDPM support to conduct public expenditure tracking related to social



supported to increase government accountability in review processes;

- Major development

partners work with the

government to use evidence

to better target (or

universalise) social

protection schemes/safety

nets;

Then: National capacity to ensure inclusive and equitable social policy and social protection is improved. (UNICEF OUTPUT)

improve results-based planning, monitoring and evaluation;

National authorities receive training and capacity development to improve collection and management of disaggregated data related to SDGs and the status of children through both survey and routine monitoring systems….

Then: National capacity for collection, management and analysis of child-sensitive data is improved. (UNICEF OUTPUT)

service/child friendly investments at national and sub national levels

National and Subnational plans include resources for services for children and adolescents;

Then: In selected provinces, provincial, district and local councils, have improved planning and budgeting capacities to ensure that priorities for children and adolescents are included in development plans (UNICEF OUTPUT)

4. Results Structure (Outputs and Outcomes, and the Associated Indicators)

The following table outlines the results structure for this outcome area.

Links to impact-level results in the 2030 Development Agenda: - SDG Goal 10 and Goal 1 Related to Social Policy- Goal 10 Reduce inequality within and

among countries (10.2 – By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status and SDG 10.2.1 Proportion of people living below 50 per cent of median income, by age, sex and persons with disabilities) and Goal 1: Ending poverty in all its forms everywhere (SDG 1.3.1 Proportion of population covered by social protection floors/systems, by sex, distinguishing children, unemployed persons, older persons, persons with disabilities, pregnant women, new-borns, work-injury victims and the poor and the vulnerable)

- SDG Goal 17 related to increasing data and evidence base: Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development (SDG 17.18.1 Proportion of sustainable development indicators produced at the national level with full disaggregation when relevant to the target, in accordance with the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics and SDG 17.19.2 Proportion of countries that have conducted at least one population and housing census in the last 10 years)

- SDG Goal 16: Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.

UNDAF 2018-2022 - Outcome Areas:



- People Sub-Outcome 1.1: Legislation, social policies, plans and budgets promote inclusive human development and actors in the social sectors are effectively led, regulated and coordinated.

- Peace Sub-Outcome 4.2: By 2022, government agencies have a results based, transparent and accountable governance system and equitable delivery of services

UNICEF’s Outcome statement: Evidence-based national policies, plans and systems effectively promote social inclusion, poverty reduction, decentralized governance for children, and participation of communities including children and adolescents in decision-making processes.

Potential outcome level indicators: - Total expenditure on basic services (education and health) per capita (Public Finance)-

UNDAF indicator 114) - Number of children covered by social protection systems (Social protection and child

poverty) - Number of Provincial and Local Governments that have evidence based and costed plans

for children

Output Statement #1: National capacity to ensure inclusive and equitable social policy and social protection is improved.

Potential output level indicators:

Existence of child-sensitive national social protection strategy and/or policy

Existence of mechanisms to increase inclusion of excluded children into social protection (Social protection and child poverty)

Output Statement #2: National capacity for collection, management and analysis of child-sensitive data is improved

Potential output level indicators: - Number of national household surveys that include child-sensitive indicators and are

disability inclusive - Number of research/studies with a child-related focus that are produced with UNICEF

support

Output Statement #3: In selected provinces, provincial, district and local councils, have improved planning and budgeting capacities to ensure that priorities for children and adolescents are included in development plans

Potential output level indicators: - Information and reports on sector specific child-focused public expenditures are available

(Public Finance and Local Governance) - Number of Provincial/Local development plans including and budgeting for specific actions

for children and adolescents health, nutrition, education, and child protection - Number of Provincial /Local Governments with mechanisms for community participation

including children



5. Monitoring Outputs and Demonstrating UNICEF’s Contribution to Outcomes

The following table provides some early thoughts on the methods for establishing baselines on potential indicators and the means of verification for measuring progress against outputs over time.

Output #1 Statement:

National capacity to ensure inclusive and equitable social policy and social protection is improved

Output indicator Method for establishing baseline

Means of verification

Details/Notes

1. Existence of a child-sensitive national social protection strategy and/or policy (RAM Standard)

A score will be assigned: Strong (score 3) = The policy or strategy is finalized & approved within the valid timeframe of the policy/strategy Good (score 2) = The policy or strategy is drafted but not approved Weak (score 1) = There is NO policy/strategy or it is out of date

UNICEF Reports NDPM Reports

This analysis will need to be repeated at the mid-term and end of the CP cycle

2. Existence of mechanisms to increase inclusion of excluded girls and boys into social protection (Social protection and child poverty) (RAM Standard)

CO will assess the extent to which mechanisms exist and are utilized to increase inclusion of excluded children into social protection programmes

UNICEF reports NDPM reports

This analysis will need to be repeated at the mid-term and end of the CP cycle

3. Information and reports on sector specific child-focused public expenditures is available by government (Public Finance and Local Governance) (RAM Standard)

CO will make an analysis of the situation (see details) Score 3 = all three criteria met / Score 2= only two / Score 1 = one criteria met / 0 = no criteria met

UNICEF reports NDPM reports

Country is scored based on the following three aspects: at least once within the past two years, (i) the government has applied a methodology to estimate child-focused expenditure which includes



different categories of the impact of spending on children (direct and indirect) in at least one stage of the budget cycle (budget allocation or spending); (ii) the estimation exercise is carried out across the entire budget cycle; and (iii) the findings/analysis were made publicly available.


National capacity for collection, management and analysis of child-sensitive data is improved



Details/Notes

1. Number of national household surveys that include new child-sensitive indicators

CO will analyse the national surveys

National survey concept notes and reports

2. Number of research/studies with a child-related focus that are produced with UNICEF support

Study reports


In selected provinces, provincial, district and local councils, have improved planning and budgeting capacities to ensure that priorities for children and adolescents are included in development plans



Details/Notes

1. Local governments with functioning/ institutionalized mechanisms for community participation including child and/or adolescent participation in

CO will analyse the current situation through review of related legislation and reports from local governments

Reports from Local Governments



local planning, budgeting and monitoring processes (RAM Standard)

Local governments (incl. municipalities) with plans and budgets that reflect priorities of marginalized communities, including children and adolescents

CO will analyse the current situation through review of plans and budgets from local government

This Outcome will be monitored in the following ways:

Programme

Monitoring and Performance

Monitoring Systems

Use of the monitoring frameworks above to provide timely updates through performance monitoring systems (RAM/VISION);

Participation in review processes to enable timely and corrective actions to be identified concerning constraints, bottlenecks and barriers.

Improved Field Monitoring

Use of updated field monitoring checklist for monitoring implementation of activities in the field (particularly related to the targeting of services for adolescents). This new checklist considers global good practices – as well as the potential use of technological innovations (SMS-based tools, and mobile applications, etc.) linking to the e-Tools and Vision.

Knowledge Management:

The use of shared repositories (such as the team site, One Drive and the internal shared drive) to share documents. Efforts will be made to promote information and resource sharing with UN Colleagues through relevant UNDAF Tasks Teams.

Coordination of relevant after-action reviews and/or lessons learned exercises to ensure that good practices and lessons are properly documented and disseminated for internal and external learning with government and partners.

Evaluations: Comprehensive evaluation/study of the sub national planning and

budgeting in the country will be able to inform strategic interventions.

This Outcome Area will also make the following contributions national monitoring mechanisms/systems



Household surveys and/or census

The Social Policy and Social Inclusion team will engage in advocacy to ensure that future household surveys (such as the HIES and DHS) include child-sensitive indicators and have specific age and sex disaggregation (to ensure that the adolescent age group is covered- to increase the evidence base on adolescents). Overall this team will conduct advocacy for disaggregation to the lowest geographic level possible and by as many determinants as feasible.

National routine monitoring

systems:

- The Social Policy and Social Inclusion team will also consider the use of mobile phone-based data collection to support government departments to collect and communicate vital data between departments and stakeholders. (RapidPro is UNICEF’s mobile phone based system for real-time data collection for improved monitoring of service delivery. It is a communication engine to power connections among decision makers, frontline workers and government partners. For example, using RapidPro, government departments are collecting a broad range of real time data from school enrolment numbers to information about district level funding and cases of juvenile justice).

- The Social Policy and Social Inclusion team in collaboration with UN agencies and responsible technical teams will also advocate with national authorities for adequate age disaggregation in national monitoring systems such as HMIS and EMIS – to ensure specific and adapted services for specific age range.

- In collaboration with the communications team, and others, the team will also employ a range of innovations to expand opportunities for adolescent participation. The expansion of mobile phones in PNG provides an opportunity for people to connect with each other, and for young people to be more engaged in the decisions and processes that affect them. Through U-Report, UNICEF is seeking to leverage the expansion of mobile phones in PNG to empower adolescents to speak out on issues that matter to them, encourage citizen-led development and create positive change. U-Report relies on volunteer community members to serve as ‘U-Reporters’ to give feedback on polls and surveys, and report issues in their communities. U-Report responses are then aggregated and shared back to the community and with decision makers to strengthen accountability and influence social change, providing a two-way avenue of engagement.

Studies/profiles and research:

- A Child Centred Risk Analysis is planned to facilitate evidence based targeting of provinces and areas where children, including adolescents, face the highest risks and vulnerabilities.



- PNG is interested in exploring opportunities for an Adolescent Situation Analysis, along the lines of those supported by DFAT in EAP countries.

6. Resource Requirements The following technical resources are required for this Outcome Area:

Management Structure8

This Outcome Area will be led by a new position, P4 Social Policy Chief, reporting to the Representative.

Technical Resources

Required - The Social Policy and social inclusion Outcome will require: A P4 Social

Policy Chief; a P3 Specialist (preferably with experience in decentralized planning and monitoring).

- A P3/NOC Adolescent Development and Participation Specialist (TA). - The team will closely work with the planning, monitoring and

evaluation as well as communications and sectoral programmes teams.

Special Services and External Technical

Expertise

- The team will likely forge service contracts with major telecommunications companies (such as Digicel) to further use of rapid SMS innovations. This team may also engage contractors with specific digital communication and engagement skills, to fully explore and take advantage of the opportunities presented by a rapidly developing and expanding space for participation and engagement over social and other digital media.

- The Team will also forge formal partnerships with civil society organisations – therefore specialists with public advocacy skills will be required to reach decision makers. This team will work closely with Communications to amplify the voices of children in the mainstream media.

- The Outcome Area may also require specific technical expertise in Child Rights Monitoring – also to ensure participation of children and adolescents in relevant government monitoring and reporting mechanisms on the CRC.

-

Outcome Area RR OR Potential for ORE (not included in ceiling)

Social Policy Total 4,000,000 2,000,000

Output 1 social policy, social protection

1,500,000 500,000

8 Note that the Country Office Management Plan including office structure is currently under discussion. Elements

included in this Strategy Note are indicative



Output 2, evidence generation

1,000,000 1,000,000

Output 3 PFM and Local governance for Children

1,5000,000 500,000

The PNG Office is commissioning a Resource Mobilisation Strategy in 2017, to ensure that the new CP begins with a solid foundation of Other Resources. Some of the early fundraising potential for the Outcome area is described below:

Opportunities for Joint Programming

The Team will explore the potential for partnership with: - UNFPA (Lead Agency on Population), to ensure that child sensitive

indicators are included in national surveys - UNDP as Lead Agency on Decentralisation and on SDG localisation - UNDP, ADB, WB, ILO on social protection

Major global programme

partnerships and Development Partners

- DFAT (Australian Government) is the major development partner in PNG and has consistently supported UNICEF. DFAT has a well-developed programme in the region for Adolescent Development and Participation. Opportunities to expand partnership in this area are being explored;

- The High Commission for New Zealand has expressed a specific interest in partnering with UNICEF on Sports for Development approaches – and a concept paper has been shared for further discussions.

Natcom/Private Sector/Foundations

- PNG office will be strengthening its engagement with National Committees (particularly Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Japan) and the child/ adolescent participation element of this Outcome area has particular appeal;

- Oil Search Foundation has expressed an interest in partnering with UNICEF in the coming Country Programme.

Contributions in-kind - The team will likely forge service contracts with major

telecommunications companies (such as Digicel) to further use of rapid SMS innovations – and will try to seek these services as contributions in kind.

7. External Risks and Planned Responses The following table describes some of the main risks that may affect UNICEF’s ability to make an effective contribution to the achievement of shared outcomes.

Risk Category

Specific Threat Mitigation Measures



External Stakeholder Relations

There is a risk that there will be significant turnover of ministerial staff following the 2017 elections. This can pose risks for continuity of programme priorities, agreements and accountabilities.

This Outcome area is designed to encourage proactive and strategic advocacy with decision-makers. The relationship with NDPM will be critical before, during and after the election period.

Organisation Strategy and Neutrality

Increasing engagement and participation of communities in governance could bring national and sub national authorities under scrutiny and criticism, thus threatening the effectiveness and ownership of the programme by government departments

UNICEF will ensure coordination and ownership of the programme by Departments of Planning and Monitoring, Community development and Religion, Provincial and Local Government Affairs, Health and Education.

Natural Disaster and Conflict

PNG is highly exposed to natural hazards and experiences a high-level of localised communal conflict. Insecurity and disasters can affect the continuity of access to different communities, thus interrupting support and supervision. This can affect the continuity of monitoring and reporting.

UNICEF will employ a variety of means (including rapid SMS communications) to ensure continuity of engagement with partners and counterparts in the field. UNDSS conducts security monitoring and UNICEF adjusts programme modalities to adapt to changing circumstances.

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