AROB

The Universal Church has been present in Papua New Guinea for over five years, and has expanded the work to various locations, which include Arawa in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville.

The very first service in Arawa was held in Tupakas primary school on the 1st of May 2022. Services were held four times a week, until October 2022, when the church moved to Arawa Christmas Park, Patjoen Building, and is now opened daily to cater for the spiritual needs of the community.

For this reason, the Autonomous Bougainville Government will be focusing on improving law and order throughout Bougainville.

President Ishmael Toroama outlined that economic growth and law and order must be taken seriously by the administration and the economic sector departments, primarily the Law and Justice Sector, the Department of Mining and Energy Resources, the Department of Economic Development and the Department of Finance and Treasury.

“Our economy cannot flourish without the stability brought about by enforcing law and order,” said President Toroama.

They play a vital role in communities, supporting the most vulnerable, including survivors of Family and Sexual Violence (FSV) and people with disabilities.

In Haku Village in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, a woman, clearly shaken, tells her story to Village Court Magistrate Anna Sapur and her colleagues.

The visually impaired woman fled her home seeking support on a domestic matter. She is accompanied by a relative and two workers from the nearby Hako Women’s Collective Seif Haus where she had taken refuge.

“It is very challenging to rebuild a society that was traumatised by civil war,” Donavan explains.

“We are faced with many behavioural issues that transpired from the crisis. Many of these issues are affecting the lives of families, children and women in Bougainville.”

Donovan Tami’s role is to prevent and respond to any abuse, violence, discrimination and exploitation of children or family members.

Dr. John Momis, Former Bougainville President and MP for the Bougainville Regional Seat in the PNG Parliament from 1972 to 2005, has expressed his disappointment at what he has described as bribery and money politics played in the 2022 elections in Bougainville.

Dr. Momis was saddened to see how corruption and bribery had destroyed the credibility and legitimacy of PNG national elections in other parts of PNG that eventually swept into Bougainville, ruining the reliability of the results of the just-completed elections there.

Results as if 5.16am this morning are as follows:
1. Timothy Masiu - Pangu Pati - 10, 938
2. Herman Michael - URP - 5323
3. Albert Punghau - PNC - 5242
4. Nehemiah Wesma - Independent - 2749
5. Robert Kebau - SDP - 1709

Updates to follow.

Speaking at the recent launch of the Bougainville Food Security Policy 2022-2035, Dovaro outlined that food is a fundamental need, adding that the policy is homegrown and in alignment with the National Food Security Policy 2000 – 2010.

“People of Bougainville own the policy and it is homegrown because the people in the region were consulted to gauge views to produce this policy to meet the needs of Bougainvilleans,” he stated.

ABG Minister for Primary Industries, Geraldine Paul, congratulated the Department for creating the policy as it is an important development tool.

Drawing on Papua New Guinea’s rich democratic tradition, the launch of UNDP’s Parliamentary Support Programme heralds a new partnership with the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea and the Bougainville House of Representatives of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville.

The package of assistance will work to strengthen collaboration between both parliaments.

It will support members of both legislatures in their efforts to debate matters of public interest as they steward Papua New Guinea’s national development.

NCD Governor Powes Parkop made these statements during the opening of the 3^rd Joint Post Referendum Consultation and Joint Supervisory meeting between the PNG Government and the Autonomous Bougainville Government in Port Moresby recently.

Parkop has also reminded leaders from the PNG Government and the Autonomous Government that it has been a long painful journey for the country and even more so for Bougainville.

“If there is one region that has impacted our country most it has been Bougainville. Prior to independence claim for separation has been simmering.

This follows a five-day training program facilitated by Transparency International PNG (TIPNG) and supported through the Papua New Guinea-Australia Partnership.

The Active Civic Engagement (ACE) program is one of TIPNG’s flagship youth engagement programs designed to foster positive leadership and community values among young people in PNG. 

The program reintroduced participants to the devastating impacts of corruption at the community level and the effectiveness of positive leadership, unity and consultation in addressing corruption.