Economic and Public Sector Program

The Economic and Public Sector Program (EPSP) is an Australian Government aid program delivered in Papua New Guinea. EPSP was originally designed in 2009 as a capacity development program aimed at central government agencies in Papua New Guinea: key agencies such as the Prime Minister and National Executive Council, Treasury, Finance, Personnel Man... agement, Auditor General's Office, Internal Revenue Commission, Labour and Industrial Relations, and National Planning and Monitoring to contribute to improved service delivery. More recently EPSP has renewed itself and although still working with central agencies developing capacity we are extending our work to provincial and district agencies in collaboration with another Australian Government program known as the Provincial and Local-level Governments Program (PLGP). Besides trying to improve the flow of money from central agencies to districts where people have fewer services delivered by government, EPSP is also doing some pilot work in PNG with public opinion surveys at national and district levels using SMS and Facebook. We are about to do action research in districts with women's groups to help them understand how they are positioned in their own cultures and how they might go about improving the status of women in village settings. EPSP is an exciting place in which to work. It is innovative and flexible and responsive to immediate demands from Australia aid to improve governance structures in PNG. PNG is hosting the APEC forum in 2018 and EPSP is supporting several officers who will be based in Singapore as part of the organising group for the forum.Read More