Papua New Guinea's economic growth has outpaced the majority of economies in Southeast Asia and the Pacific since 2007. Its development challenges, however, remain daunting, and it lags behind other countries in the region in terms of per capita income and achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. This raises the question of how the country can make its economic growth high, sustained, inclusive, and broad-based to more effectively improve its population's welfare. This report identifies the critical constraints to these objectives and discusses policy options to help overcome such constraints.

Increased global demand for land posits the need for well-designed country-level land policies to protect long-held rights, facilitate land access and address any constraints that land policy may pose for broader growth. While the implementation of land reforms can be a lengthy process, the need to swiftly identify key land policy challenges and devise responses that allow the monitoring of progress, in a way that minimizes conflicts and supports broader development goals, is clear. The Land Governance Assessment Framework (LGAF) makes a substantive contribution to the land sector by providing a quick and innovative tool to monitor land governance at the country level. The LGAF offers a comprehensive diagnostic tool that covers five main areas for policy intervention: Legal and institutional framework; Land use planning, management and taxation; Management of public land; Public provision of land information; and Dispute resolution and conflict management. The LGAF assesses these areas through a set of detailed indicators that are rated on a scale of pre-coded statements (from lack of good governance to good practice). While land governance can be highly technical in nature and tends to be addressed in a partial and sporadic manner, the LGAF posits a tool for a comprehensive assessment, taking into account the broad range of issues that land governance encompasses, while enabling those unfamiliar with land to grasp its full complexity. The LGAF will make it possible for policymakers to make sense of the technical levels of the land sector, benchmark governance, identify areas that require further attention and monitor progress. It is intended to assist countries in prioritizing reforms in the land sector by providing a holistic diagnostic review that can inform policy dialogue in a clear and targeted manner. In addition to presenting the LGAF tool, this book includes detailed case studies on its implementation in five selected countries: Peru, the Kyrgyz Republic, Ethiopia, Indonesia and Tanzania.

2011 Updated Reprint. Updated Annually. Papua New Guinea Oil & Gas Sector Energy Policy, Laws and Regulations Handbook

This book critically examines the relationship between the United Nations Organization and the small states of the Pacific islands. It provides an in-depth coverage of the United Nations, coupled with how Pacific Small Island Developing States interact. It covers three themes, the first one being the position of the UN on the Pacific Islands, which examines the role of the many UN organs, agencies and programs in strengthening individual countries and the region as a whole. It examines the manner in which the UN’s activities have benefited Pacific nations, territories and peoples. The second theme deals with the Pacific states in the UN, and examines the participation of Pacific nations and territories in the UN’s various organs, agencies, and programmes. It analyses the contribution they have made to the effectiveness of the organization, as distinct from the benefits they have sought to gain from it. The third and last theme deals with small states in global public policy, taking a broader look at how small states are faring within the UN system in the age of global discourse on shared public goods/public policy concerns.