The core function of the Committee is to host annual quarterly Committee meetings to advocate for Social Accountability in the areas of participatory policy and budget formulation and implementation and provide recommendations to Government through NEC submissions.

Additional activities undertaken by the Committee

Budget and Services Charters

CIMC worked in partnership with PLJP (JSS4D) to produce Budget and Service Charters on Village Courts, Health Centre and Provincial Hospital and Primary Schools and Land Mediators and had them launched. The Budget and Service Charters not only informs and empowers the sectors at their level but also facilitates accountability and transparency.

Open Government Partnership (OGP)

The Open Government (OGP) is a Global Initiative and PNG officially became a Member Country on 28 October 2015 at the OGP Summit in Mexico. As a member state, PNG is required to develop and submit a National Action Plan (NAP). CIMC is to provide a lead role in coordinating the formulation of the National Action Plan of Cluster 1 on Public Participation that requires Citizens Participation in Policymaking. The Governance and Service Delivery Service Delivery Committee has since taken up this role in providing oversight and coordination.

In June 2018, CIMC hosted the OGP High-Level Conference in Port Moresby in partnership with the Department of Foreign Affairs, Institute of National Affairs (INA), and Transparency International PNG (TIPNG). The conference was funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) through the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction. The conference attracted regional speakers from Mongolia, Singapore, India, Indonesia, Singapore, and the Philippines.

The Conference Theme was: “Re-engaging in Open Government Partnership in PNG learning and Building from local and global experiences”

The conference was hosted to facilitate the development of the OGP National Action Plan (NAP) for the country. Although there was a draft NAP that was co-created by an Interagency Committee of Government and Civil Society led by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Transparency International PNG respectively, the draft NAP is now 2 years behind its original schedule.

Failing to meet the NAP submission deadline by 2016 resulted in the Government of Papua New Guinea being given a new deadline, June 30, 2017, to submit a two-year NAP which should end on June 30, 2019. This means that Papua New Guinea was shifted from the “even year” grouping to the “odd year” grouping of OGP countries, which should submit new action plans in 2017, 2019, 2021, and so on.

Since the PNG Government did not fulfill the requirement to submit an OGP-NAP in 2017 PNG now gets shifted back to join the “even year” group of OGP countries and the deadline for submission of the NAP for countries in this grouping is 31st August 2018. Hence there was a need to demonstrate solid progress to secure membership as an OGP member country.

CIMC is a key partner of Open Government Partnership (OGP) in PNG and joins the Civil Society Coalition led by Transparency International PNG to take carriage of the OGP Cluster Commitments on Public Participation, Fiscal Transparency (with the Institute of National Affairs), and Extractive Industry Transparency.

The objectives of the Conference are to:
1. Seek immediate sponsorship for an NEC Submission for endorsement of the PNG OGP NAP 1
2. Bring all stakeholders together to re-engage and support OGP PNG and progress the finalization of the National Action Plan and
3. Create a National OGP Dialogue platform for relevant Government agencies and civil society partners to improve dialogue and enhance partnership in implementing the OGP NAP in PNG.
4. Identify and establish a place to house OGP in Papua New Guinea

Together for Education Project (T4E)                                                                         

Enhancing Access to Quality Elementary Education for Girls and Boys in Papua New Guinea. The Together for Education project is focused on enhancing access to quality elementary education for girls and boys in Central, Madang, and Morobe provinces, with a special focus on literacy and numeracy skills. T4E is supported by the Australian Government in partnership with the Government of Papua New Guinea through the PNG Partnership Fund. World Vision leads the project consortium comprising of ChildFund, CIMC, Library For All Australia, and the University of Canberra.

CIMC is working with World Vision and Child Fund in Madang, Morobe, and Central provinces to develop School Accountability Agreements (SAA) in selected schools. SAA was derived from the Service Charter program developed by CIMC and rolled out for some service sectors (Health, Education, Village Courts, and Land Mediation) in Oro and Morobe provinces a few years ago in partnership with the Law and Justice Sector Program funded by Australian Aid (now is called JSS4D). Service Charter is a public document that sets out basic information on the services provided, the standards of service that customers can expect, and how to make complaints or suggestions for improvement. CIMC uses 17 Social Accountability Tools out of the 21 noted by the World Bank.

Open Budget Survey (OBS)

Assessing transparency and timely release of budget documents and information in PNG. The team is involved annually in Open Budget-related research and assists the Institute of National Affairs (INA) with the annual launch of the results and takes on board the recommendations of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for improvements to ensure an open budget process in the country.

Budget Training Initiative Training (BTI)

Empowering people with budget information for social accountability. In 2019, the Committee completed two pieces of training in partnership with Oxfam PNG in Goroka at the request of the District Administration for NGO leaders working with Oxfam PNG and the Goroka District administration in Eastern Highland Province.

In 2020 three pieces of training were completed for Student Leaders of UPNG, UoG, and UoT in partnership with “The Voice Inc.". The team also ran training in Mendi for the Department of Justice & Attorney General (DJAG) Anti-corruption Pilot Project.

Compiling Budget Information

Compile important National Budget information about the types of grants that are provided to Districts and Local Level Governments and make the information readily available for distribution. This is to cater for information and communication voids that exist at national and sub-national levels. The absence of Government communication and presence between the people and their representatives and the lack of information on budget and specific grants such as PSIP, DSIP, and DSG for the benefit and empowerment of local communities. Through this process, people are informed about their rights and entitlements and how they can engage in participatory planning, budgeting, and community management or becoming members in decision-making bodies and mechanisms.