Prime Minister Marape discusses women’s issues in PNG with UN Women

Prime Minister James Marape (file image)
Photo: Pacific Islands Forum

Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister James Marape reaffirmed the importance of women’s roles “in upholding the household and raising children” during his meeting this week with the United Nations top diplomat for gender equality in the region.

In a statement, Marape’s office said he met with UN Women’s Asia Pacific regional director Christine Arab in Port Moresby “to discuss issues of women”.

It said the discussions focused particularly on issues of gender-based violence and sorcery related accusations, which remain a major concern in PNG.

“Prime Minister Marape reiterated his government’s stance on universal education for all children of PNG, and support in education through existing government programs such as the free education policy to give equal opportunities to girls and boys alike,” the statement said.

“He continued by further reaffirming women’s important role in upholding the

household and raising children which he said are vital components of a solid foundation for any society.”

According to the UN agency, progress toward gender equality has been slow in Papua New Guinea, which is ranked 160 out of 161 countries on the United Nations Development Programme’s 2021 Gender Inequality Index.

Although nearly half of PNG’s population is estimated to be made up of women and girls, there are currently only three women in parliament.

One of the MPs, Kessy Sawang from the Rai Coast Open electorate, said in August 2023 that PNG did not have level playing field, particularly for women in politics.

“We face a lot of challenges from cultural barriers, money politics, threats and intimidation,” she said.

“If you look at the history of elections in PNG, every time there’s observers and research carried out, a lot of reports come out after every election.

“The issue is we’ve got to act on those reports to actually make the playing field fairer and more conducive for women.”

James Marape had a meeting with UN Women Asia Pacific regional director Christine Arab to discuss issues of women in Papua New Guinea.
Photo: Facebook / Department of Prime Minister & NEC

While Marape’s office did not mention whether this issue was discussed, it said he also briefed Arab about efforts being undertaken by Royal PNG Constabulary to upgrade its operations to be able to better respond to violence against women.

He also advised UN Women that it could “do better by being grounded into the provincial governments structure and working with churches “for better sustainability” of its programs.

_{Images are for reference only.Images and contents gathered automatic from google or 3rd party sources.All rights on the images and contents are with their legal original owners.}