It was a very informative and educational workshop where global as well as PNG specific concepts were presented and discussed.
INSIGHT
Papua New Guinea (PNG) has substantial oil, gas, copper and gold deposits as well as a significant number of existing resource projects. Increased transparency in the extractive sector is widely recognised as important for translating mineral wealth into sustainable forms of broad-based development.
The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) is a global standard that promotes transparency and accountability in the oil, gas and mining sectors. Following the establishment of an informal multi-stakeholder group in 2012, the PNG government announced its commitment to EITI in 2013.
ACTION
To support the implementation of the EITI in PNG, the Pacific Leadership and Governance Precinct commissioned Square Circle to design and facilitate a training and dialogue workshop on Leadership, Data Management and Transparency in the Extractives Sector. The workshop brought together 50 delegates from government, the private sector, civil society and development partners across the local, provincial and national levels. In line with the National Public Service ‘Ethics and Values-Based Executive Leadership and Management Capability Framework’, the workshops also focused on key leadership attributes and capabilities.
The workshop program centred around three core themes:
- Technical training to enhance understanding and competencies around EITI and extractives governance;
- Multi-stakeholder improvement projects to enhance stakeholder workflows and processes for extractives data collection, management, reporting and dissemination; and
- Legislative dialogue to enhance understanding and competencies around sector legislation.
IMPACT
The key output of the three-day workshop was the unanimous endorsement of an outcome statement highlighting priority projects for consideration through PNGEITI 2017 and 2018 Workplans, many of which were successfully implemented. Feedback from the workshop was overwhelmingly positive with learning outcomes feeding into the key next steps of the multi-year PNGEITI project, of which Square Circle has a continuing involvement.
