Co-Chair of the Committee, Governor for East Sepik Province, Allan Bird, commended the second and final report of the Special Parliamentary Committee on Gender Based Violence to Parliament on Thursday 21 April.
Co-Chair of the Committee, Governor for East Sepik Province, Allan Bird, commended the second and final report of the Special Parliamentary Committee on Gender Based Violence to Parliament on Thursday 21 April.
The report captures the committee’s final reflections and recommendations that will provide guidance to the officials across the country in addressing Gender Based Violence.
In his opening remarks, Governor Bird said, “Gender-based violence is one of the most critical issues facing this country. Any person who wishes to be elected to represent the people must be ready to take action to end GBV.”
In May 2021 the Committee held its first public hearing, followed by the second in March 2022. The first report was tabled in August 2021 and the second and final report tabled on Thursday 21 April.
“When we first held our hearings in May 2021, I got the sense that officials were surprised at our questioning because many were not used to being held to account for the work they are supposed to be doing as public servants. However I am impressed with the engagement we had at our second public hearings in March 2022. Most officials came very well prepared with many teams equipped with written submissions that responded directly to each of our recommendations,” said Governor Bird.
There are 75 key recommendations stated in the Committee’s report. Governor Bird urged all Members if the House to go through the full report, while highlighting three main recommendations.
“Firstly, the committee calls on the government to urgently establish the National GBV Secretariat by recruiting the CEO and the 10 staff that are needed to immediately start rolling out the National GBV Strategy.”
The second recommendation asks for the release of funds for GBV for 2022 since K7.93 million was allocated to DfCDR but only 1 million kina released.
“K1 million has already been released by Treasury but our Committee encourages Treasury to release the bulk of the funding before the caretaker period commences, to enable to DfCDR to disburse the funding to their partners, to progress implementation over the next 6 months.”
The third significant recommendation and area of urgent attention urged by the committee is the need to strengthen access to justice for GBV survivors by involving the response of every single institution involved in the justice process.
Governor Bird said, “From our Committee enquiries, it remains clear that every single part of the justice process remains under-funded and under-staffed in relation to addressing GBV.”
Bird adamantly stated that GBV perpetrators could not continue to operate with impunity.
“We have to make sure that justice is served and that perpetrators know that there will be consequences for their bad behavior,” said Bird.