Papua New Guinean is home to around 750 tribes, each with its own distinct cultures and traditions.
Visitors flock from far and wide to experience firsthand the unique cultural singsing and customs that set PNG apart from the rest of the world.
The government agency mandated to promote, protect and preserve our cultures and traditions is the National Cultural Commission.
Established in 1994 by the National Cultural Commission Act 1994, the commission has been operating on an ad hoc basis.
Executive director, Steven Kilanda, said after 28 years, a policy is being formulated to guide the NCC in its task to protect, preserve, develop and promote the traditional cultures of the indigenous people of PNG.
This was the reason behind the development of the National Cultural Policy 2022-2032, which is now in its consultation phase.
“There must be a guideline in place for us to coordinate all the cultural programs and cultural activities in this country,” he stated.
“So it’s a big need.
“In the Pacific, Papua New Guinea is the only one that is coming up with this cultural policy.”
The NCC hosted its first consultative workshop in Southern region, then moved on to the New Guinea Islands region and was in Lae for the Momase regional consultation on Wednesday.
They will move on to the Highlands region early next month, then host a validation workshop in the nation’s capital before submitting the policy to the National Executive Council for endorsement.
The commission hopes to launch the policy before the national general elections.
This NCC event was supported by sister agencies in the likes of the Tourism Promotion Authority and the Office of Censorship.
(The newly-formulated National Cultural Policy 2022-2032 aims to protect, preserve and promote traditional cultures like this from the remote Snow Pass mountain of Upper Bundi, Madang Province)