Options for Bougainville’s Autonomy Arrangement: A Study from a Global Comparative Perspective. Research Report

The aim of this report is to provide insights regarding the substance of autonomy regimes worldwide with a view to identifying and illustrating options for the status of Bougainville within Papua New Guinea. We provide a brief assessment of the current autonomy arrangement within Papua New Guinea from a comparative perspective. The report thereby focuses on three issues of crucial importance: the entrenchment and implementation of self-government for Bougainville, the autonomous powers of the island region, as well as mechanisms of intergovernmental relations with the national government and conflict management. This assessment then provides the basis for us to highlight, from a comparative perspective, alternative options between status quo and full independence. As we regard the transfer of any “model” arrangement as a whole as unfeasible, we focus on specific key elements pertaining to the three above-mentioned issues.