Following the successful conduct of the 2019 Bougainville Referendum, UNDP has designed a new two-year Post Referendum Support Project to assist the National Government and the Autonomous Bougainville Government with continued implementation of the Bougainville Peace Agreement.

The Project has been designed in close consultation with the two governments and takes forward a range of decisions made by the Joint Ministerial Post Referendum Taskforce and the Joint Supervisory Body. The Project has three areas of focus, which are to support ongoing consultations, awareness raising and increasing participation of a range of processes and dialogues.

The Project’s inaugural Steering Committee meeting, co-chaired by representatives of the two governments and UNDP’s Resident Representative, Mr. Dirk Wagener, endorsed by the Project’s design in late June. The Project currently enjoys the support of the Governments of the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and the United Nations Peace Building Fund. Additional funding is also currently being discussed with the Government of Germany. The Project officially commenced in July 2020.

The United Nations has a long history in Bougainville dating back to the negotiation of the Bougainville Peace Agreement. It works with the two governments and key stakeholders to support the ongoing peacebuilding process. In recent years, UNDP has supported the implementation of the Peace Agreement and the Bougainville Referendum through the Bougainville Referendum Support Project and the Sustaining Peace in Bougainville Project.