Project Summary

The Creating Conditions for Peace (CCfP) project is jointly implemented by four participating UN organisations (UNDP, IOM, UNFPA, and UN Women). UNDP serves as the Convening Agency coordinating the overall joint project and ensuring technical coherence across the project. The project builds on the evidence and growing consensus globally, but also borne out through the UN’s recent experiences in the Highlands that humanitarian, development, and peacebuilding efforts are complementary and need to reinforce each other, to respond to the current state of volatility and fragility in Hela and Southern Highlands provinces by engaging earlier to prevent violent conflict and reduce the humanitarian need. 

Through the CCfP project, UNDP aims to implement key peacebuilding interventions, including strengthening infrastructures for peace through enhancing the capacity of traditional/local leadership in conflict management while enhancing intra- and intergroup dialogue and mediation through directly supporting community-level conflict mediation and facilitating local peace conferences. UNDP also strengthens local governance and post-conflict recovery efforts through training of local and provincial leadership in conflict-sensitive development, local-level governance, and decentralisation, facilitating access to basic services, supporting provincial-level conflict-sensitive development planning, establishing feedback mechanisms to enhance institutional accountability and conflict monitoring, and mapping for early warning and early action.

Project Outcomes

Outcome 1: Communities affected by conflict in the Highlands have increased capacity to promote and demand for peace and social cohesion.

Outcome 2: Traditional/non-traditional leaders and service providers have enhanced knowledge and skills to integrate peacebuilding strategies into service delivery in conflict-affected areas in the Highlands.

Outcome 3: Public institutions in the Highlands have people-centred, proactive, and transparent and accountable systems to support effective leadership that promotes peace and security.

Expected Results

1. Support communities in conflict or recovering from conflict with community peacebuilding grants to promote peaceful coexistence, social cohesion, and mutual respect by strengthening cultural, social, and economic relations between communities.
2. Establish local networks to have regular, open, and collaborative conversations about the local trajectory of peace and development efforts and strengthen local civic infrastructures based on increased connections between stakeholders and enhanced access of communities to duty bearers.
3. Support the mediation of existing and emerging inter-group conflicts through facilitated mediation by faith-based organisations.
4. Increase the capacity of local traditional community and tribal leaders with leadership and conflict resolution skills to promote and demand peace and social cohesion. 
5. Connect youth who are susceptible to recruitment into violent conflicts to local labour opportunities through a youth employment counselling service.

Status: Active

Time Frame:

• Project Start Date: 19 Nov 2020
• Project End Date:  17 Dec 2023

Location: Hela and Southern Highlands Provinces, Papua New Guinea

Focal Area: Peacebuilding and Post-Conflict Recovery

Beneficiaries:

• Government of Papua New Guinea
• Hela Province: Local Government, LLGs and Local Communities
• Southern Highlands Province: Local Government, LLGs and Local Communities

Partners:

• Hela Provincial Government
• Southern Highlands Provincial Government
• Catholic Diocese of Mendi (CDM)
• CARE PNG
• Conciliation Resources (CR)
• United Church PNG
• World Vision in Papua New Guinea
• ThinkPlace Australia 

Donor(s):

• Hela Provincial Government
• Peacebuilding Fund (PBF)
• Resident Coordination Office PNG
• Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO), UK

Budget:

• USD 150,000 (Hela Provincial Government)
• USD 2,075,162 (PBF)
• USD 156,910 (RCO)
• GBP 602,000 (UK FCDO)

Project Duration: Thirty-one Months

Contacts:

Ahmad Rashid Watanpahl

Peacebuilding Specialist

Email: ahmad.rashid.watanpahl@undp.org

Yoshinori Ikeda

Highlands Joint Programme Coordinator

Email: yoshinori.ikeda@undp.org