UN women

The Informal Economy Voice Strategy 2018-2022, launched by former Secretary for the Department of Community Development and Religion (DfCDR) Anna Kavana Bais, and was PNG’s first official strategy on informal sector.  

The strategy provides the opportunity for the informal economy participants to voice their concerns on issues affecting them in their data to day activities.

The consultation will include review of the:

The partnership is being established under UN Women’s Women Make the Change programme, which focuses on supporting and promoting women’s political participation and leadership in the country and will be implemented with support from the Government of Australia and the Government of New Zealand.

The Political Leadership Academy for Women will work closely with a small cohort of women in each cycle to provide those who are already in subnational political positions with training, skills building, mentorship and learning exchange opportunities.

Facilitated by UN Women and the Department of Community Development, Youth and Religion, the workshop discusses the challenges and priorities related to women’s political participation and leadership.

The workshop started on Tuesday, the 13^th of July, at the Lae International Hotel.

Scheduled to end on Thursday, it gathers women leaders from the region, including 2022 intending candidates, to network and share their ideas and experiences in relation to PNG’s political landscape.

Among them were four female journalists who were awarded for their coverage of the sensitive issues.

Every year, UN Women and UNAIDS organise the Media Awards for Excellence in Reporting on HIV and Gender-Based Violence.

This is to recognise the high standard of balanced sensitive reporting by local media personnel on GBV and HIV issues in Papua New Guinea.

Under this year’s theme of ‘Hear My Voice! My Story!’, four female journalists and a Yumi Sanap Strong representative were awarded on November 5^th.

With an aim to target this population, UN Women together with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) hosted a free mini concert yesterday, in collaboration with the Sanap Wantaim Youth.

The public concert was used as a platform to push the message that every person has a role to uphold human rights in the country.

“…to find out what these rights are, what they mean to us and to bring change to the country. A lot of issues we face today are linked to human rights violation, especially violence against women, which we advocate against,” she said. 

Speaking during the UN AIDS and UN Women media awards night, his eminence stressed on recognising the efforts of journalists and linking to the work of churches in relation to HIV and AIDS in society.

“Seeing what the journalists are doing, you encourage us to be with you and help you to bring the message out clearly to the people of PNG, knowing that we are united to address these recurring issues in the country.”

As part of the Safe Public Transport Program, Ginigoada (UN Women NGO partner) has worked in collaboration with UN Women to provide safe transport options for women and girls in Port Moresby.

Starting yesterday, the women-only bus will not only guarantee a safe commute for women and girls, but also save time. 

“As they grow up, girls must be exposed to a broad range of careers, and encouraged to make choices that lead beyond the traditional service and care options to jobs in industry, art, public service, modern agriculture and science.

“We have to start change at home and in the earliest days of school, so that there are no places in a child’s environment where they learn that girls must be less, have less, and dream smaller than boys.

From February 22 to 25, more than 200 urban experts and community leaders from all continents including Port Moresby will gather in Mexico City to share evidence-based approaches, tools and best practices to make urban public spaces safe and empowering for women and girls. 

This platform provides participating cities a unique opportunity to exchange lessons learnt, good practices and build strong partnerships.