Success Story 1 - Accounting in the mountains of Kiunga

Kiunga is a small district within the region of Western province in Papua New Guinea. The place is one of the most isolated towns, close to the border with Indonesia, with dense forest and wild fauna within the surrounding rivers and villages.

Mrs. Waneau Songoro works as Accounting System Administrator, within the Western Provincial Treasury office in Kiunga since 2009. Previously she was employed as a PGAS Machinist for Middle Fly District Treasury from 2002 to 2003 and was later transferred to Kiunga in 2004 to continue as PGAS Machinist for the North Fly District Treasury up until 2009, when she was appointed to her current position

In the mid 80?s she left school after completing grade 10, deciding to study a secretarial course in Daru, formerly the provincial headquarters for Western Province, later she took basic computing courses in Port Moresby.

The UNDP Provincial Capacity Building (PCaB) Project has been working within the region since 2007 and she was one of the national counterparts that had actively participated in a series of capacity building training programmes in the region. The PCaB project focus its main role on offering on-the-job training, mentoring and coaching as main approaches to build and develop capacities in financial management at the Department of Finance in Papua New Guinea.

Mrs. Waneau is also among a number of officers within the Western Provincial Treasury who have benefited a lot from these various trainings by receiving a wealth of knowledge and skill trainings collectively from the Department of Finance, the Finance Training Branch and the relevant stakeholders of the Financial Management Improvement Programme.

The Provincial Capacity Building Programme, PCaB (II) 2008 to 2011 and its previous phase 1 from 2005 to 2007 have added value to Mrs. Waneau Songoro?s skill gaps. She has been coached and mentored on preparing monthly Bank Reconciliations and Annual Financial Statements accurately and on a timely manner to comply with the Public Finance Management Act and financial instructions.

The Provincial Capacity Building Programme, PCaB (II) 2008 to 2011 and its previous phase 1 from 2005 to 2007 have added value to Mrs. Waneau Songoro?s skill gaps. She has been coached and mentored on preparing monthly Bank Reconciliations and Annual Financial Statements accurately and on a timely manner to comply with the Public Finance Management Act and financial instructions.

At present, she is very well capable to perform her duties effectively and assume new responsibilities. Seeing her potential and capabilities, the Provincial Treasurer has given her added supervisory role by asking her to travel to the district treasuries (3) and offer trainings on how to prepare and compile financial reports. She is conducting trainings to other staff in the same way that she received training from the PCaB project. Thus, multiplying its impact and assuring sustainability of the process.

She just recently, with support of Project advisers, is implementing an innovative delivery of data & information through mobile phones(using Digicel 3G network) within the region, thus facilitating the requirements of timely submission of financial reports.

She is proud to have received support from the PCaB Project, because she thinks that without the UNDP intervention her life most probably would not have changed for the benefit of the regions