Five NGOs to get funding

By ELLEN TIAMU
FIVE non-governmental organisations in the country will receive funding from Australia under its AusAID-funded Strongim Pipol Strongim Nesen (SPSN) programme.
They were chosen out of 3,000 local organisations that bid for grants.
The five NGOs – Catholic Diocese (Lae), Save PNG (Markham district, Morobe), ADRA, Lady Lourdes Primary School (Maprik, East Sepik), and Environmental Health Development Agency (Lae) on Monday attended an implementation briefing and funding deed signing at the Melanesian Hotel in Lae.
That followed a two-day SPSN workshop for the successful funding grantees organisations from Mamose.
SPSN is a new partnership between the governments of Papua New Guinea and Australia aimed at enabling civil societies together, with state and private sectors, to better meet the needs and priorities of men, women and children in the country.
The programme applies a “democratic governance” approach in response to development problems through the principles of participation, legitimacy, equality, transparency, accountability and responsiveness.
SPSN deputy programme manager Martin Syder said AusAID had decided to shift its aid programmes towards LLG wards and district level so that money was used at grassroots level.
Syder said more fun­ding would be used through NGOs to streng­then the capacity of chur­ches and business orga­nisations.
Greater focus will be placed on alleviating poverty in more needy areas in the country.