Asia and the Pacific is the world’s economic powerhouse. The tremendous economic, social, and technological progress over the last 50 years has led to many successes. This progress has enabled the region’s developing countries to be recipients of development cooperation, and active partners in providing technical assistance, innovation, and finance for sustainable development, to other countries in the South.

The twelve stories in this publication showcase the depth and breadth of South-South and Triangular Cooperation, across Asia and the Pacific. They illustrate how two or more developing countries, from within the region and beyond, are working to achieve development priorities.

The Papua New Guinea’s Phones Against Corruption initiative led by the Department of Finance and supported by UNDP have received regional and global attention as one of most innovative approach to fight corruption through anonymous reporting using mobile phones. The Phones Against Corruption initiative have received interest from Fiji, Bangladesh, Vanuatu and Solomon Islands who are planning to adopt the system.

This shows how UNDP has played a pivotal role in these partnerships; helping countries share knowledge, expertise, development solutions, and resources.

This Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) has been prepared in support of a project proposal entitled “Establishing systems for sustainable integrated land-use planning across New Britain Island in Papua New Guinea” (the project) by the Conservation and Environmental Protection Authority (CEPA)/Government of Papua New Guinea (GoPNG) to the Global Environment Facility (GEF). As this project is supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in its role as a GEF Implementing Agency, the project has been screened against the UNDP’s Social and Environmental Standards Procedure and deemed a High-Risk project. An ESMF has been prepared for the project at this stage, as the activities have not been fully specified in terms of specific locations and interventions, so cannot be fully assessed for all potential social and environmental risks and impacts.

The ESMF forms the basis upon which the implementing partner will develop their specific Environmental and Social Management Plan, to ensure that significant adverse environmental and social impact mitigation and management measures are implemented and monitored as required.  It identifies the steps for detailed assessment of the project’s potential social and environmental risks, and for preparing and approving the required management plans for avoiding, and where avoidance is not possible, reducing, mitigating and managing the identified adverse impacts of this project.  The Implementing Partner of this project is the Conservation and Environmental Protection Authority (CEPA) under the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Climate Change. A Project Management Unit (PMU) will be established for the implementation of the project and compliance with this ESMF.

Building up on the existing government initiatives and investments, the project aims to reduce rates of agricultural-driven deforestation and biodiversity loss and to establish a sustainable system of land-use planning to guide future land development activities across the island of New Guinea.  The project will work towards achieving this objective by developing integrated landscape management systems, promotion of sustainable food production practices and responsible value chains as well as conservation and restoration of natural habitats through public-private-community partnerships and knowledge management. It will introduce various measures and approaches for improvement within two of the major agricultural commodities within this region - palm oil and cocoa, as well as within existing community conservation areas in New Britain Island – East and West New Britain provinces of Papua New Guinea. The project will directly benefit 7,000 people in the target landscapes through improved livelihoods and incomes of which an estimated 70% would be women.

The full ESMF document in English language can be downloaded from Download Section.

For additional information, please contact Mr. Mirzohaydar Isoev at mirzohaydar.isoev@undp.org