UN Women Deputy Country Representative, Caroline Nyamayemombe commended members of the Village Courts of National Capital District and the Human Rights Defenders, at the level of commitment they demonstrate.
She was the special guest at a graduation of Village Court Chairpersons and Magistrate on Friday 13 January at the Holy Family Anglican Church hall at Hohola, NCD facilitated by the PNG Human Rights Defenders’ Association.
Nyamayemombe expressed deep admiration and said she was very humbled to be invited by these organisations to witness those who are with the people on the ground performing their duties with none or very minimal resources.
“But what’s humbled me today is because I think I made a big decision, when I said its ok. Let’s see how we can support this organization and make things work. Therefore, I am very proud of you Linda. You are one of those stories that make me feel like being so far away from my country,” she said, as she complimented Director of PNGHR Defenders Association, Linda Tule.
“When you are seeing this type of work and organizations that are really committed to making a difference in their communities is very humbling. We have many organizations but not all of them are sincerely making a difference.
“Therefore, I want to congratulate you for being faithful with little. You have been very faithful with little and my prayer for you is that God will expand your territory of influence.
“Now coming to the things I’ve heard today I want to appreciate that the Village Court in Papua New Guinea is in my view probably the most important court, because every person wherever you are has access to Village Courts.
“All the other levels of justice are good but they may not be actually accessible to everyone. So when you are serving in a Village Court you are holding a very important position because everybody is able to access justice because of the decisions we make,” she said.
UN Women is the first international organisation to recognize the important work of the Village Courts in the country and the Human Rights Defenders especially in the support of the fight against Violence against Women and girls.
Thus the funding of a Training of Trainers course at the Pacific Institute of Leadership and Governance (PILAG) for training facilitators and the training of Village Court officials on the Human Right Defenders course.