‘Incentive Fund Phase IV’ grants review process underway

The Governments of Australia and Papua New Guinea are currently assessing grant proposals for the funding of new development projects under the PGK150 million Incentive Fund Phase IV (IF4).

An initial meeting of the Strategic Management Group, which contributes to informing the grants review process, has been held in Wewak in East Sepik Province. The Strategic Management Group comprises independent members including newly elected chairperson Valentine Kambori, Dame Carol Kidu and Susil Nelson–Kongoi, working together with representatives from the PNG Government through the Ministry of National Planning and the Australian Government through the Australian High Commission.

A total of 121 proposals have been received in this initial IF4 round from a range of organisations including civil society, research and academic institutions, the private sector and sub-national governments.

The IF4 program provides opportunities for high performing PNG organisations to apply for grant funding of up to PGK10 million to expand the reach, coverage and quality of their contribution to service delivery and economic development. It also includes a new Innovation Fund worth a total of PGK20 million which will support organisations to pilot innovative approaches to development issues.

Acting Australian High Commissioner Ms Bronte Moules encouraged PNG organisations with successful track records of project implementation and accounts that have been fully audited for the last two years to consider submitting a proposal.

“I encourage organisations to look at the information pack, the criteria and take a self-assessment. If you believe your organisation meets the requirements, you might wish to consider submitting a proposal for a grant in the next round,” she said.

Grant applicants who applied before 30 July 2015 in the first funding round will be notified whether their application has been successful in progressing to the next stage of screening by the end of October 2015.

Information on how to apply for a grant under the Incentive Fund Phase IV is available here http://www.incentivefund.org/ or by emailing [email protected]