Private sector contributes 64pc of total quake funds

OUT of the US$62 million (K209 million) that was required for the emergency response following the February earthquake in the Highlands region, 64 per cent was contributed by the private sector, mostly the extractive sector.
The Humanitarian Advisory Groups latest practice paper on Extractives and emergencies: PNG earthquake response stated that businesses were increasingly becoming major contributors to humanitarian response, providing funding, material resources, access to networks and pro-bono services.
The Feb 2018 earthquake in PNG affected 544,000 people.
In response to the earthquake, the significant geographic coverage and logistics capacity of the extractive (mining) companies meant that they were often among the first responders.
The paper, which was published this month, shines a light on what was achieved – and what can be improved – in collaboration between humanitarian partners and extractive companies.
“The private sector laid the ground for everyone else to come in and tried to push the humanitarian community to bring in volume and scale, whilst the Humanitarian Country Team brought the quality, long-term protection component,” it said.