Empowering women to influence change and shape the future is also a key area of the Oil Search Foundation leadership program.
In a transformational journey to develop capability, two women from Hela and Southern Highlands recently completed a 6-month leadership and management course aimed at enhancing their leadership and management skills in their workplaces and communities.
Rebecca Puruma, Koroba-Kopiago District Health Manager at the Hela Provincial Health Authority; and Sr. Pauline Rex, Officer in Charge of Maternal Child Health Clinic at Pimaga Rural Hospital, began their journey into becoming empowering leaders in May of this year.
Supported by OSF and the Hela and Southern Highlands Provincial Health Authorities who released them to attend, these women participated in a leadership and management course organised by the Business Coalition for Women in partnership with WINGS Education PNG. Having completed three sets of week-long contact sessions and practical exercises at their workplaces, these women are now ready to drive further change in their field of work.
“These are inspiring women who have gone through the program, learned new skills and have been empowered to address leadership challenges in their roles,” notes OSF’s Scholarship & Leadership Program Manager, Karlyne Pukaikia.
“The training helps participants understand the leadership challenges specific to being a woman in a professional setting and seeing a positive pathway forward for developing their leadership capacities.”
“The course was rewarding but challenging as well,” says Sr Pauline Rex. “It focused on the importance of practising integrity, accountability and transparency as essential leadership traits. I appreciated the risk identification and management component of the course; this will help me identify and manage risks at my workplace”.
“For most of our communities in PNG, being a woman and taking lead is not easy because of our cultural norms, where leadership is at most times, seen as a man’s role. This course has encouraged me to utilize my skills and knowledge as an educated Papua New Guinean woman, and especially as a health worker who will not only serve people but lead change and improve health standards through my profession and in my social setting”.