Morata settlement in Port Moresby is a sprawling multi-ethnic community inhabited by a mix of Port Moresby’s low-income and middle-income households, the unemployed and those engaged in informal economic activities.
PNG NRI’s Issues Paper No. 40 highlights he situation of young people in Port Moresby’s Morata Informal Settlement and what the government could do to keep them from social evils.
The paper was compiled by Research Intern Julian Melpa and Dr. Francis Odhuno, Senior Research Fellow at Papua New Guinea National Research Institute (PNG NRI), and provides insight into the challenges faced by the youth and reforms needed to assist them at the Morata settlement and elsewhere in the country.
The outlines the lack of job opportunities and lack of source of income, have led some youth from Morata settlement to engage in criminal activities to sustain themselves and their families. In order to keep the youth away from social evils, the government should consider providing the youth:
- More facilities for job opportunities through engaging the youth in community service projects;
- Financial support through youth loan schemes to start their own businesses; and
- Entrepreneurial training opportunities to enable the youth to have more knowledge on how to manage a business in an efficient and effective manner.
The paper stated that the initiatives being promoted here using Morata in Port Moresby as a case study can be applied elsewhere in PNG to address the problem of youth unemployment.
The Publication can be accessed on the PNG NRI website https://www.pngnri.org.