SERVICES: National Platforms
Papua New Guinea
Community Engagement Working Group
Context: Following the 2018 Highlands earthquake, a Community Engagement Working Group (CEWG)was established to facilitate two-way communication between humanitarian responders and affected communities. Meeting on an ad-hoc basis, the group supported organisational and coordinated accountability mechanisms and services to all seven clusters, including a Community Response Map, common messages, mass communication and inter-cluster dialogues facilitating coordination of community engagement activities. The CEWG was connected to the National Disaster Centre, via the PNG Disaster Management Team. It was led by the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office.
National and international actors involved: Family and Sexual Violence Action Committee (FSVAC), Consultative, Implementing Monitoring Council, Highlands Humanitarian Hub – NGO Consortium, Child Fund; World Vision International; FAO; IOM; UNICEF; UNDP; UNFPA; UN Women; WHO; WFP; OHCHR; Care; Digicel (international, private sector); PNG FM; Caritas; Red Cross; Save the Children.
Opportunities and challenges: Not being part of the existing humanitarian coordination structure, the group required significant set up and advocacy for buy-in. There was no emergency funding available for community engagement, so funding had to be channelled through an agency, limiting inter-agency coordination and engagement and flexibility for delivery. In addition, there was limited capacity in-country to sustain the working group beyond the main response to the 2018 earthquake.
UN Humanitarian Communication Group
In early 2020, the Disaster Management Team leveraged the UN Communications Group to establish a humanitarian communication group that engaged the DMT’s non-UN members, including NGO and church communications focal points. The aim was to support the National Department of Health and WHO to broaden COVID-19-related preparedness messaging to include other affected sectors, such as education, food security, protection, and water, sanitation and hygiene. The team also provided support to translate COVID-19 messages into local languages, to monitor and address rumours and also provided technical support to the national hotline call centre, including developing a Kobo survey for operators to track commonly asked questions.
CCEA scoping study and training workshop
In July 2022, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) PNG Office and CDAC Network published a study entitled: Yumi Wok Bung Wantaim (We work together): The status of communication, community engagement, and accountability in humanitarian action in Papua New Guinea. It provided a number of recommendations and actions for decision makers, planners, and operational focal points to improve communication and engagement with disaster- or crisis-affected people. The study recommended that the PNG Disaster Management Team establish a community engagement working group that is eventually nationalised, drawing on recent learning from establishing similar multi-stakeholder platforms for CCEA in the Pacific region.
In October 2022, a training workshop on Communication, Community Engagement and Accountability for Managers and Programme Leads was held in Port Moresby in an effort to support greater inter-agency collaboration and coordination towards more systematic and consistent response-wide CCEA. The workshop set the foundation for developing a more consistent, coordinated and sustained approach to strengthening CCEA knowledge, capacities and skills in local, provincial, and national organisations. It was also the basis for establishing a network of CCEA supporters and practitioners to promote CCEA in emergency and development programmes and decision-making processes. A workshop report including a list of participants is available here.
