March 31, 2022
PAPUA New Guinea’s second country validation on implementing the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) Global Standard will commence tomorrow, April 1.
Head of the PNGEITI National Secretariat Lucas Alkan said the ‘validation’ is intended to assess the impact EITI implementation had made in the country in terms of addressing sector governance challenges.
The six months validation exercise will entail an independent and comprehensive assessment with an announcement on the outcome by the international EITI board expected in October.
“Our second country Validation will be a quality assessment on how far we have progressed in implementing the EITI International best practice requirements in PNG,” said Alkan.
PNG was awarded ‘Meaningful Progress’ ranking in its first Validation in 2018 with recommendations to close EITI reporting gaps and this validation will assess how PNG implemented recommendations and other EITI requirements under the EITI standard.
“The validation focuses on the efforts made by the country in implementing the specific requirements as prescribed by the EITI Standard, the lessons learned or challenges faced in the country’s effort to implement these requirements, the progress made in undertaking policy and legislative reforms as recommended through the EITI country reports, and as well as any concerns stakeholders may have in the extractive sector relating to resource governance for better management of the sector,” Alkan explained.
PNG’s validation will be undertaken in 3 phases:
- Phase 1: the staff from the EITI International, the PNGEITI Secretariat and its Multi-Stakeholder Group (MSG) will undertake a desk review of all relevant documentations of the PNGEITI since its inception.
- Phase 2: upon completion of the desk review, staff from the EITI International Secretariat will undertake stakeholder consultations with the intent of drawing up the initial validation assessment report.
- Phase 3: Upon completion of the country consultations, the EITI International Secretariat team will compile an initial assessment report.
An Independent Validator will then review the initial assessment report, do an independent assessment and compile a draft Validation Report.
PNG, through PNGEITI MSG will be given an opportunity to assess and provide further feedback on the draft Report before a final report is submitted to the EITI Board for deliberation and decision making.
“The validation process commences on April 1 (tomorrow) and all stakeholders from key government entities, industry players, civil society organizations and development partners are requested to provide necessary information and support when contacted during the consultation process to ensure PNG achieves a good scoring in this second round of assessment,” said Alkan.
